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windvexer · 10 months

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Hey Chicken!

I have a question. In your opinion are there any fundamental differences in the way one would communicate and interact with a deity or with a spirit?

Also, do you have any tips for suspending disbelief when it comes to spirit work? I really want to believe, but my agnostic roots are making it hard sometimes.

Thanks! Fern

Hello, Fern.

I do not perceive any difference in communication between gods and spirits. The line between what constitutes a god and what constitutes a spirit is nebulous, and further shifts depending on culture and personal beliefs.

A fun, but perhaps intimidating, aspect of neopagan spirituality is that you are empowered to pick and choose your own beliefs. But, inasmuch as spirituality is an integral part of how you perceive the universe around you and your role within it, these beliefs shouldn't necessarily be picked up without a pretty good reason for wanting to do so.

Beliefs aren't all or nothing. You can take them out for test drives. Ask yourself what you are looking for in your own spirituality.

Beliefs about incorporeal beings are vast, contradictory, and sometimes mutually exclusive. You do not have to buy every single belief about spirits at the dealership.

I recommend starting with whichever one takes you from point A to point B. A nice reliable vehicle.

If your point A is, "spiritually I feel unfulfilled and I want there to be more to the world," then perhaps point B - where you would like to end up - is, "the universe is full of spiritual life, some of which is capable of awareness, and which I can connect with in a real and meaningful way."

If this is your point B, then a belief which may deliver you there is animism.

But you do not have to say, "okay, I'm an animist then." You can take it out for a test-drive.

You can say to yourself, you know what, I'm going to get in the driver's seat and take a cruise through my next couple weeks as if animism is real.

And see if you dig it. Do you like the way the vehicle drives? Do you like the view from the driver's seat? Does the suspension carry you across bumpy roads? Does it come with an early-alert system that helps you navigate life?

Maybe. Or maybe not. You can take that bad boy back to the dealership and give the keys back.

Maybe it's not animism. Maybe it's just one god. If one certain god was definitely real, what would that be like for you? Drive it around for a few days and see. Does that vehicle of belief challenge you to be a better person? Does it check your flaws, promote your virtues? Does it provide relief and comfort during stress, or empowerment during adversity?

I'm not really a proper pagan, or a pagan at all if you ask me, but I am a spiritual person. My witchcraft sometimes intersects with my spirituality, but sometimes it doesn't. I am currently finding there to be a pretty big difference between them, though.

I believe it is vital for us all to have agency in our own spiritual beliefs. Some are thrust upon us, like landslides that alter the face of our inner landscapes, which we must learn to navigate around, or build roads through.

But, if you are in a situation where you have the privilege of choosing your own beliefs, they should be those which make navigating your inner and outer landscapes peaceful, enjoyable, and fulfilling. They should be beliefs which help us to always feel at home, or to provide shelter from the storms of life.

This is apart from witchcraft, which is standing at the liminal boundary between the inner and the outer, pulling at the threads we find there. We spool up the yarn and we make something from it, which weaves both the inner and the outer together in something gestalt and more real than either thing on its own.

Witchcraft and sorcerous work demands more than just what is within. It spins yarn also from the threads of what is without, and demands a certain level of synchronicity between the two. A clever spinner may be able to make yarn from the most discordant threads, but nonetheless there must be compatibility.

This is a rigorous, demanding exercise. It is a skill which must be learned through learning, practice, and outright trials. It is where we hammer the ore we have found within ourselves and test it for brittle impurities.

It is not a drive through the landscape. It is not peaceful navigation of the Within.

And it is probably a bad idea to immediately apply the verification and proof required for successful sorcery, to spiritual beliefs themselves.

"This vehicle of belief sure does handle well on the highways of life, but I haven't yet been able to use it for applied sorcery, so it must be broken" is no way to go through life.

Spirit Work, as a skill, bunches up in wild skeins in that infinitesimal, infinite veil between what is within us and what is without us. When we draw on it, we tug at our inner beliefs and begin spinning them with our outer verification.

Here is the problem:

If your inner landscape only has budding, first-year sprouts, pulling on that yarn is just going to rip them up from their roots and knit them into a half-finished set of mittens that will stall out forever because there was never enough within you to finish it.

"I was never able to make a whole set of mittens, so this vehicle must be broken."

Or perhaps,

"I was never able to find a way to spin the Threads Within with the Threads Without, so this entire brand of wool must be a scam."

Sometimes, you've just got to let your inner landscape grow wild for a season or two before you try to harvest its bounty. Let what is within push against what is without. Build little spirit houses. Make shrines. Pray. Behave as if they are real.

Explore it. Get to know it. Learn all about it, without demanding it reveal to you how to spin it into yarn. Learn within yourself how it should best be handled and worked with, when the time comes.

Isn't it the tiniest bit thrilling, to let your beliefs push outwards without burdening them with work, to demand your beliefs do a job, to prove to you the spinner that the yarn is of high enough quality and quantity to pass muster?

Perhaps what is within needs a little confidence that it is free to grow without being uprooted and sacrificed to the spinning wheel. Maybe what is within is eyeing the threshing machine and the sharp spindle, and deciding that sprouting is the wrong way to go.

And, anyway. If that inner growth advances forwards in all the wrong ways, take the car back to the dealership. It was only ever a test drive to begin with.

#answered #spirits #tbl

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lifephilosophys-blog · 4 months

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في عمق أفق الحياة، تتلاقى الكثير من الأرواح والأشخاص، كل منهم يحمل واقعه الخاص، وجهد البحث عن المعنى والارتقاء. هناك من يعيش في عالم سطحي، يعجز عن التواصل مع نفسه قبل الآخرين. يقتصر وجوده على حدود جسده فحسب، ولكن الروح تبقى معلقة بعيدة عنه. يمر بالأيام وهو يتجاهل صوت قلبه واحاسيسه الداخلية.

وفي هذا المحيط الواسع، هناك من يعيش حياته بكامل تركيزه على أشياء ثانوية، فاقدا الاتصال بأعماقه وأحاسيسه. قد يكون محاطاً بالماديات والهموم السطحية، لكنه يعيش في عوالمه الداخلية المُظلمة. يشعر بعواطفه وأحلامه وتطلعاته كلحظة، لكنه لا يستطيع تحقيق تلك الاتصالات الحقيقية التي تغوص في أعماقه.

ثم هناك ذلك الفرد النادر، الذي تجاوز حدود الجسد ليشمل وعيه كل طبقات الوجود. يعيش هذا الشخص وسط الوعي والتفاعل مع كل شيء من حوله. يحتضن جسده وروحه على حد سواء، ويبحث دائما عن الاتصال بالله والعالم من حوله. هو في طريقه إلى التناغم الحقيقي، حيث يكون كائناً واحداً مع الكون. يفهم الإيقاع الحيوي للحياة ويجد التوازن بين المادة والروح. يظل جسداً ووعياً، شكلاً وموضوعا، ذاتاً وآخرين في نفس الوقت.

رحلة الوصول إلى هذا التناغم ليست سهلة، فهي تتطلب تفاعلاً مستمراً بين الجسد والروح والذهن. تتطلب القدرة على الاستجابة للسلام الداخلي والبحث عن الهدوء والوعي بالحاضر. الفرد الذي يحاول الوصول إلى هذا المستوى يتجاوز القيود التقليدية للحياة ويسعى للتواصل الداخلي بدرجة عميقة.

في هذه الرحلة، يتعلم الفرد كيف يتجاوز الحدود المحيطة به وكيف يستكشف السيطرة على ذاته بحيث يصبح مركز اتصال بين العالم الداخلي والعالم الخارجي. من خلال الإدراك العميق للذات وتحقيق التوازن بين الجانبين، يمكن للفرد أن يحقق التناغم والسلام الداخلي.

هذا المستوى من التوازن والاتصال الداخلي لا يأتي بسهولة، ولكنه يستحق المجهود والتفاني. يتطلب الأمر التفكير العميق والتأمل وتعلم القبول والسماح للانفتاح والتواصل مع العالم من حولنا. إنها رحلة مستمرة لا تنتهي، ولكنها تمنح الفرد قوة أكبر وفهما أعمق للحياة ومكانته فيها.

في النهاية، هذه الرحلة تعني أيضا الوصول إلى الله بالنسبة لمن يحققها. فالاتصال الداخلي والتوازن الحقيقي يمكن أن يكونا مفتاحًا لفهم وجود الإله والجانب الروحي في الحياة. يمكن للفرد أن يكون متصلاً بالله والعالم من حوله في نفس الوقت، شكلاً وموضوعًا، ذاتًا وآخرين.

In the depth of life's horizon, many souls and individuals intersect, each carrying their own reality and striving for meaning and elevation. There are those who live in a superficial world, unable to connect with themselves before others. Their presence is confined to the boundaries of their bodies only, while their souls remain distant. Days pass by as they ignore the voice of their hearts and their inner sensations.

In this vast environment, some live their lives entirely focused on secondary things, missing the connection with their inner depths and feelings. They may be surrounded by material concerns and superficial worries, yet they live in their own dark inner worlds. They feel their emotions, dreams, and aspirations constantly, but they are unable to achieve genuine connections that delve into their depths.

Then there is the rare individual who transcends the boundaries of the body to encompass their consciousness with all layers of existence. This person lives amidst awareness and interaction with everything around them. They embrace their body and soul equally, constantly seeking connection with God and the world around them. They are on their way to true harmony, being one with the universe. They understand the vital rhythm of life and find balance between the material and the spiritual. They remain body and consciousness, form and substance, self and others at the same time.

The journey to achieve this harmony is not easy; it requires continuous interaction between the body, soul, and mind. It demands the ability to respond to inner peace and seek tranquility and awareness of the present. The individual who strives to reach this level surpasses the traditional constraints of life and seeks deep internal communication.

In this journey, the individual learns to transcend the boundaries surrounding them and how to explore self-control in a way that becomes a center of communication between the inner world and the outer world. Through deep self-awareness and achieving balance between both sides, the individual can attain harmony and inner peace.

This level of balance and internal connection is not easily attained, but is worth the effort and dedication. It requires deep contemplation, meditation, acceptance, and openness to communication with the world around us. It is an ongoing journey that does not end, but it grants the individual greater strength and deeper understanding of life and their place within it.

In the end, this journey also signifies reaching God for those who achieve it. Internal connection and true balance can be a key to understanding the presence of the divine and the spiritual aspect of life. The individual can be connected to both God and the world around them, forming a unity of being while still maintaining their individuality.

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eldritchamy · 9 months

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fine fine FINE ill sign. what the hell is uneiverse about? one moment youre talking gay vampires killing mob bosses and the next youre talking tiers of angels/deities going so high our universe is imperceptible. i have no idea how these combine but im so curious as to how

Pleasure doing business with you, I'll take good care of that soul. Now that you've paid a fair price, let's live up to my end of the bargain, shall we?

"The Uneiverse" isn't really about anything, it's just a setting. The term is derived from the fact that the story I want to write primarily takes place on a world called Une. And Une exists in a multiverse a lot like a cross between DND's Cosmic Wheel and MTG's endless planes in the Blind Eternities. Think a layered multiverse (like the "Outer Planes" in DND which consist of the various celestial and fiendish planes, and others, and the "Inner Planes" consisting of the Feywild and the Shadowfell and the Prime Material plane. Imagine a system like this but based on something closer to MTG's color pie instead of the Alignment Chart), except instead of having only ONE Prime Material Plane, there are endless realms existing on the same LAYER of the universe that would be considered Prime Material Planes (the "Inner Realms" if you've seen me mention it in tags).

The TL;DR is that the multiverse exists in layers as the elements of creation were divided into smaller and more complicated pieces, which interact and intersect and recombine into much more complicated things. There are levels of existence (at the level of the Cosmic Progenitors and up) for which matter and physicality aren't really a thing anymore, but what you would think of as the physical, material existence of the multiverse begins with the Prime Spheres. These are the pure elements, the most basic ingredients of creation. There are currently SIX Prime Spheres (I'm strongly considering making it eight), each with both an element and an aspect, and each with an Outer God tied to its nature. These elements exist as opposite pairs (currently 3 sets, but I'd like to make it 4).

I won't give you the names of the Spheres (even though they're really cool, just with the ever-growing threat of AI data mining, I'd rather not put the names out there to get scraped), but I can give you the color pairs:

White is Sky/Air/Heaven and Order Blue is Water/the Abyss and Equilibrium/Flow Black is Shadow and Death* Null (represented as purple) is Vacuum and Entropy Red is Fire and Passion/Will Green is Earth and Life

The opposite pairs are White/Null, Blue/Red, Black/Green

*A while back in some tags, maybe the first post I ever tagged as Uneiverse-related, I think I mentioned the goddess aligned to Black, and how she feels that thinking of her as the "god of death" is a crude and small way of putting it, almost bordering on insult from how limited a perspective it is. Eternity thinks of herself as the veil between what is known and what is lost, the moment of transition between life and renewal, the thing you most fear but can least run from, the god of all things ever known and every secret taken to the grave, the infinite night that exists in the blink of an eye, the process of transition and "recycling" one stage of existence into another, she is every soul at the moment between what it was and what it will become, she is all things lost and what all things are destined to find, etc etc. My colors are not a perfect translation of what the colors represent in MTG. My version of black is more like what MTG would think of as Blue/Black multicolor.

Also, none of the elements are "evil" or malevolent. They just exist. If creation is pure light, the Prime Spheres are the distinct colors you would see when it's separated by a prism. They have no moral value to them. They are simply the ingredients of existence.

But anyway, I needed a shorthand term for that multiverse, and so I named it the Uneiverse. Seemed fitting.

But now to answer your question properly...

The STORY arises from a single concept of two characters that I came up with way back in like 2017. The initial concept was little more than a vibe: a warlock and a druid, or black magic and green magic witches, who live together in a little cottage that combines their magical styles. They had sentient, literal "spider plants" as an eco-friendly alternative to pesticides, paperweights that look like skulls with glowing eyes, etc. They each had a cat familiar: one a ghostly, spectral black shadow cat and the other quite possibly a cat shaped clump of sentient moss. The cats recently had kittens that sprouted mushrooms and gave off luminous spores when they purr or bounce around the house causing mischief. Outside the glamour that hides their cottage they keep something like a chia pet that's shaped like a skull, as an inside joke.

I called these characters Doom and Bloom.

Years later, I ended up joining my first DND campaign (still ongoing), and adapted these characters for it. So Doom and Bloom became Ash and Aria. I play Ash as a shadow-themed subclass ("Nightshade") of the Witch class I homebrewed for 5e. Aria Vernus is her wife, a Woodborn witch.

Here's where shit gets fucky.

In my ceaseless hunger to worldbuild harder, I spent the weeks in the lead up to our first session crafting myself a backstory for Ash. It ended up being like 12,000 words and Ash wasn't even born yet. If that's any indication of how the rest of this went. I had basically created a backstory for her MOTHER, Lailah.

I can give you the DND version of it as a summary.

Lailah was a Monadic Deva in Elysium. They are the strongest angels physically, and the most attuned to the neutral aspect of the Good alignments: they won't knowingly deal with Evil beings, but they are the most likely to peacefully interact with Neutral ones. Thirty years ago, there was a war in the Outer Planes and the Nine Hells were attacking the heavens. Lailah was an IMMENSELY powerful divine warrior (mechanically, she's a CR 10ish creature with at least 16 class levels in Zealot Barbarian and 2 in Fighter, and she has a custom Artifact level weapon so she's ABSURD) who laid waste to the Hells' forces. Until one day she found a succubus hiding in Elysium, and was about to kill her but realized the succubus made no move to fight back. This got her curious. The succubus explained that she wanted no part of the war, she only used the chaos surrounding it to make her escape from the violence and backstabbing and politics of the hells, and just wanted to get away from the conflict. Lailah was unable to kill a being she could see was not evil, and instead she listened and began to sympathize. What are now succubi used to be angels themselves, called Eros, and were made to bring love to mortals. But you cannot touch a life without it touching you back. And the gods felt that the touch of mortals had changed the Eros from what they were created to be, and they became beings ruled by passion rather than order, so they were cast out from the heavens and became Succubi.

You can see how quickly I started diverging from DND lore into building my own mythology for everything.

Anyway, Lailah and the succubus became briefly entangled, and the more Lailah learned about the succubus' past, the more it troubled her that it sounded like she had been wronged. The Eros were created for a purpose, and then punished for carrying it out. And in the moment Lailah began to wonder if it was the gods themselves who were wrong, she was burned herself and fell from Elysium. She was cast out and landed in Malbolge as an Erinyes. There she met another Erinyes who had been waiting for her. A former Movanic Deva from Arborea who had the gift of second sight (and I have a LOT of mythology developed around the nature of time and fate and the relationship between potential and possibility and branching timelines because of this character) and knew she had to fall herself in order to help Lailah raise her daughter.

Surprise! Lailah's pregnant. So Lailah spent the next ~4 years with this other fallen angel in the Nine Hells, where her little ember of hope in the darkness was born, and she named the ember Ash.

Eventually Lailah and Ash were able to leave, and they ended up in a wild, untamed forest in a forgotten corner of Ravnica. Ash grew up in the woods where she met another little tiefling from the druid village nearby, and they became best friends. So Ash and Aria have known each other their whole lives.

For reasons I left open to my DM, Lailah went missing when Ash was 15. She and Aria couldn't get help from the druids and made their own plans to go to the city on their own, and they ended up making a home there. Ash became a leather worker and Aria primarily works in animal rehab. They live in a big tree that Aria grew herself into a living home, with their two familiars (Hades and Persephone), their familiars' kittens, and a rotating cast of animals. Hannah the Possum has become an infamous side character in campaign for sneaking away from her babies to steal peanut butter and other treats from the cupboards.

Anyway, the campaign itself involves our characters joining a transguild organization that helps mediate inter-guild conflicts on Ravnica and work as ambassadors to visitors from other planes, because in our version of Ravnica a lot of permanent planar portals have been opening up in recent times (we're about 5 years after the War of the Spark in the MTG timeline, which is INCREDIBLE because it means our DM accidentally predicted the Omenpaths in the post-March of the Machines story several years in advance, and that's FAR from the only time she's been ahead of Magic Story). We're also dealing with the fact that the players have started sparking, because it turns out we're all (except possibly Ash) Planeswalkers. Ash, being a full blooded magical creature descended from two fallen angels from the Outer Planes, may have an innate inherited ability to traverse planes without a spark, but that remains to be discovered in game.

As part of writing Ash's backstory, I created additional backstory for Aria. She was part of her own adventuring party 5-6 years ago, and her group became widely known, feared, and respected for handling jobs beyond the ability of most adventuring groups. And I basically backstoried a whole other campaign into existence, culminating in that group actually taking part in the War of the Spark by fighting Bontu, one of the god eternals. I could spend another 6,000 words on a play by play but the tl;dr is that my tieflings are polyamorous and Aria was in a relationship with a newly sparked Planeswalker at the time, and she watched that partner die in front of her when Bontu harvested her spark. Aria went into a blind rage, used Shapechange to turn herself into a gold dragon, and then had a kaiju battle with a zombie god while the rest of her team scrambled to keep her, and themselves, alive. Fen (Arcana cleric) came up with the idea to pin Bontu down with Immovable rods, and the two martial classes in the party had to get close to help do it. One of those was Cass, a dhampir soulknife rogue/shadow monk who was born on Fiora but made her way to Ravnica by way of Dominaria sometime before The Great Mending made planar travel inaccessible to non-planeswalkers. Cass had to bite Bontu for a boost of strength (because she's Dex based), but in the chaos Bontu also managed to grab HER, which created an unusual feedback loop where the Elderspell tried to pull the soul out of her body, but since she was resurrected by extraordinarily powerful necromancy (which is how she became a vampire, after she was murdered on the night of her arranged wedding), her soul is a bit more stuck to her body than most, so by feeding on Bontu's blood, she actually managed to survive long enough for Aria to make Bontu let go, leaving Cass with a "dislocated" soul and, in the process of siphoning Bontu's essence, she accidentally acquired one of the stolen sparks (most likely that of Aria's lover). Because the Immortal Sun was on at the time, and her soul was not quite right, that spark didn't activate until a week or so later.

AAAAAAAAAAANYWAY, I'm obsessed with vampires so obviously Cass was my favorite character that I made for Aria's backstory party, so I ended up giving Cass her own backstory, wherein she was born to a failing mob family as the only one who could produce an heir, but she was too gay and moody (and psionic) to be okay with that, so her father plotted with the father of her arranged husband to have her killed. Her maidservant (who she was in love with), Gisella Bathori, overheard them laughing about it on the night of the wedding and tried to save her, but was fatally stabbed in the process. Ella used her dying breath to carve a sigil into the floor - a very powerful sigil based in the magic of creation itself, which rearranges the energy of the Prime Spheres into intent, and with a little blood (okay a LOT of blood, much of it her own), she begged the universe to "not let Cassandra die". So Cass wakes up in the back of a truck before her killers can dump her body, and long story short she kills a guy, goes home and finds Ella's body, fails to understand how the sigil worked, and then kills all of the people who just got to her house (the other two men who helped kill her plus a lawmaster and finally her father) before cleaning herself up, taking some essentials and valuables, kicking one of the bodies for good measure, and running away forever. She spends the next few days hunting down the rest of both families before escaping the city and finding her way to Dominaria (and ultimately Ravnica).

So Cass is my backstory character's backstory character. And I LOVE her. Also, when Cass kicked that last body? she shuffled some blood around and triggered the sigil again without knowing it. So unbeknownst to her, Ella ALSO got raised as a vampire. And she didn't find out about it until her spark activated 122 years later and she ended up back on Fiora.

SO.

Obviously. I backstoried pretty fucking hard. And got really attached to these characters. And what basically happened is I started developing this alternate version of my characters' story that ran parallel to (but significantly diverged from) the campaign. So I had this running in my head for a while and was calling it "story mode" for like "this is how these characters and their stories would work if they existed ENTIRELY inside my own mythology and worldbuilding instead of playing within the mechanics and narrative structure of a DND campaign" and eventually that started spinning faster and faster until it developed its own magnetosphere and became a whole world. And then a multiverse for that world to fit in.

Lailah in Story Mode was not a Deva, she was a Brachiel: an angel of storm and lightning, which falls under the "Emanations" (middle) tier in my angelology (as did the Eros). Eternity may address Ash as a "Daughter of Emanations". And while Ash might come off as having a little bit of a "half angel half devil" vibe at first, strictly speaking what she actually is is a BORN fallen angel, a being caught somewhere between two Prime elements, and ends up self-actualizing as a secret, third thing, because nothing born can live forever and while she is biologically pure fallen angel, she was not CREATED through divine means as angels were, she was born as a mortal. She's a little bit complicated because she looks like one thing (the equivalent of a tiefling) but that's not really what she is, and what she really is is a lot harder to explain in a neat and digestible way. Which is why I've said in tags that she kinda comes off as baby's first OC if you only know the elevator pitch (her parents were an angel and a succubus) but the reality is a lot more complicated in a much more interesting way that's not super easy to explain unless you're telling it to a person who already wants to listen.

So now I have a whole story in my head about a woman who just wants to find her mom, but she's caught up in this grand threat to the multiverse itself, when all she wants is a nice quiet life with her family but she lives in a world where the veil between the realms only thinned recently, and the magical "races" are all humans who were variably affected by the energies of different worlds, and some are viewed less favorably than others (the aasimar equivalent are sometimes called "blessings" because their parents view it as such to have a child influenced by the divine, while the tiefling equivalent are seen as about what you'd expect, etc). So there's vibes of marginalization and surviving in a world that isn't super thrilled that you exist, and mommy issues, and a theocratic government that's not great and is secretly using the power of faith to try to turn the head of state into a god, and all the while my poor beleaguered angel's bastard has to cope with the fact that a god on a level her tiny electric meatball consciousness cannot BEGIN to comprehend just asked her for help, (because, in her words, "𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔠𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔱𝔬𝔫 𝔡𝔬; 𝔴𝔢 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔭𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔳𝔢") and now she's stuck working with a handful of other people who were ALSO assigned to this task, and all of it sucks but at least her long-suffering wife is there to kick some ass while she pretends her own trauma isn't destroying her from the inside.

(To get more technical, There's A Big Problem™ and while the Outer Gods have orders of magnitude more power than they'd need to fix it, souls are concentrated areas of the Potential of Creation and have a kind of WEIGHT to them, metaphysically, that influences the world around them (which is how magic works), and a fragment of creation as "large" as an Outer God would effectively alter reality around itself on such an enormous scale, almost like gravitational lensing, that for them to interfere in our layer of the multiverse that directly would essentially reorder existence around their presence to a degree that they deem unacceptable. So between not having a great perspective of what the problem is DOING to our layer and not being able to really ENTER the layer of existence where the problem needs to be solved, they need a solution that can operate on the correct scale to restore the balance without causing unfathomable catastrophic collateral damage in the process, and thus, The Gods Need Our Help™. And the characters have to figure out how to deal with this while navigating their own problems in a world that's got its own human sized bullshit going on. THAT is the story I want to write. Cass might have her own story as a book 2. Empath, a story I used to tag about sometimes and involves a spaceship I invented the concept for based on real math that allows it to only exist outside of itself, would be book 3.)

Two of the other ensemble cast are heavily adapted from characters from the campaign, one a pretty direct translation of a PC and the other a cross between another PC and an NPC, both of whom have awkward crushes on the aforementioned PC, and the NPC in particular gives off the most intense friends to enemies to friends to lovers yearning vibes I have ever seen in my fucking LIFE, and the new character I've spawned out of those two is going to be sort of like a siren with synesthesia, so bask in the flavor of THAT concept for a hot minute. If you even care.

Basically there's going to be a "main character" for each of the colors in the cosmogony, and that will be important in ways you don't need to think about right now.

Hey did you know that wizards suck, actually?

So anyway the Uneiverse is basically a multiverse in which the Prime Spheres represent the basic elements of creation, and from them the Composite Spheres were created, each a combination of two (or more? currently I only have the two-color combinations named) of those elements, and as creation divides and recycles itself in a grand eternal process of revision and recombination, you have the Inner Spheres which make up the multiverse as MTG imagines it: an infinite cosmos of varied realms, made of all the elements in minutely different quantities and combinations.

And in one of those realms sits a hectic little world called Une, where a lot of things get weird and a scared little girl just wishes her mom was here to make it all better.

#Uneiverse #Ash #Aria #Cass #Lailah #eldritch OCs #Was this the answer you were hoping for? I'd hate to have taken that soul for nothing.#also enjoy that Eternity quote that's one of many insane things that she says. the scene with her is gonna be WILD.#I've been told I write from the perspective of a god *weirdly* well #also. *technically* the gif is not a lie. enjoy that thought.

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metaphysicalpistolsoraclemine · 4 months

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Dragon Awakening

There are 13 Dragon Beings that are enveloped in the Earth crust, that have been here for eons of time as Guardians of the Ley Lines, ready to awaken and protect the Christ Child once the Cosmic Dragon births the Golden Dragon Egg and it hatches or cracks open. They have remained asleep in the Earth until the tipping point of global awakening occurs when the Mother of Dragons returns as her fullest divine emanation in her Cosmic Mother Christos Sophia Dragon body. The 13 primary Dragon beings serve as massive energy reservoirs for transmitting an assortment of vital forces and golden fire elementals through their dragon breath, transmitting beautiful shimmering liquid plasma fire waters, living light codes, spiritual vapors, divine aether and pearlescent substances from the Eye of God into the ley lines. Each of the Dragons embody their own astrological correspondence or cosmological principles that interact directly with the main ray creation system located in Ursa Major. We could say that the Cosmic Christos Suns send forth their ray principles and astrological correspondences through the 13 primary Dragon bodies enmeshed within the planetary matrix, so they can release these solar consciousness frequencies and geomantic codes into the layers of the Albion Lightbody.

The Mother of Dragons is the original Cosmic Dragon which oversees the four dragon realms in the middle world, inner world, outer world and core of creation domains that make up the entirety of the Universal, Galactic and planetary consciousness. The Cosmic Mother Dragon also oversees the millions of dragon eggs that are intended for activating the lightbody of human beings and for the spiritual benefit of the various species existing on the planet. We have noted that the Cosmic Mother Dragon is also overseeing the functions of the gatekeeper Dragon being that was in the middle world domains of the Universal Mother Dark Matter Matrix.

Approached with divine respect, reverence and a loving heart, earthly Landscape Dragons are benevolent but as awakening protectors they are fiercely powerful as the untamed natural forces of the Earth. There are many more planetary landscape dragons and astrological dragons with assorted purposes that are located all over the planet to be discovered on the next stage of our awakening journey. Some of them appear to have massive golden bodies with crystal eyes that appear as a variety of colored jewels or gemstones. At this time eight of the primary 13 Dragon beings in the planet have been brought into awareness as the Easter event activates the Saint Michael Line. This begins a Dragon Awakening at the intersection points that are made between Saint Michael Mount in Cornwall, England and Mont-Saint-Michel on the Apollo line in France.

The unification of these Dragon Lines generates new geomantic expressions as it undergoes the solar heart twinning of rhomboid diamond grid patterns into a global hierogamic union event. This new planetary activation comes with the restoration of the Triple Solar Christ Mary in her Universal Ankh Rose Body which produces sacred marriage with the Triple Solar Masculine Christ united through Melchizedek-Metatron-Michael. Their Christos-Sophiaoffspring is a massive Cosmic Dragon Egg that when hatched, will initiate in the grids a powerful pineal-pituitary integration referred to as the Pearl Activation. The Dragon Awakening is happening in the following areas of the planetary grid.

#dragondreamers #dragonawakening #yearofthedoagon #metaphysicalpistol #oraclemine #godsovereignfree #jeminthehologram #ascensionglossary #ascensionmechanics #energeticsynthisis #gsf #ascension

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meadowsabound · 2 months

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i’ve had this idea bouncing around my head for a while about uzi going to different universes of MD fanfics. she would have had this big confrontation with cyn in her own body that leads to her solver powers going haywire. she’d end up accidentally blasting herself into another dimension. through this she’d gain higher access to reality code. when she gets back to her universe she resets copper-9 to just after her fight with the solver and kicks its ass.

The Universes

basically every dimension is like a computer and the things within them are programs.

reality code is the program the universes use to function. the solver uses a relatively low degree of reality code to do the things it does

every universe is like a different model of computer and these models aren’t meant to interact

because these models don’t interact there’s no way to tell one from the other without actually going there besides them feeling slightly different somehow

each universe has an antivirus that purges and destroys foreign programs. raila learns this the hard way. by almost getting destroyed by the antivirus

takes anywhere between a month to a few years for the antivirus to find raila because universes are big

outsiders cannot change the universes they enter. if they do they will create a scenario that the universe wasn’t able to anticipate due to the unforeseen variable. in this case the universe will essentially freak out and collapse in on itself

if these changes are undone before they have lasting effects then the universe is fine. like if raila killed v then reset her after a minute or two it’d be fine

Uzi/Raila

in the first universe she’s blasted into uzi starts going by raila after her railgun because it was too confusing with 2 uzis. this is the name she uses in universes that already have an uzi

in this universe she changed to many things and the universe collapsed. raila just barely escaped in time

in order to avoid confusion with other uzis raila puts her hair in a low pony and wears an oversized gray sweatshirt that hangs to her knees and still has the low battery and crossbones graphic. she still wears her beanie

when she travels to another universe her docking point where she enters the universe is that universe’s uzi. if uzi is not in the universe for whatever reason then it defaults to n

can use all powers solver can including holograms the weird crab arm things and hacking other drones + more

one + more is the ability to reset things. she can basically revert a programs code back to a certain point.

originally raila still got overheated by using too much of the code at a time. overtime she gained more and more experience resulting in the backlash fizzling out until raila could code freely

raila’s solver symbol has evolved into the code symbol

the middle hexagon becomes a six-point star made of smaller and larger three-point stars. smaller arrows protrude from the points of the smaller star and bigger arrows from the bigger star. one inner circle goes through the smaller arrows and an outer circle goes through the larger arrows. there are circles in the middle of each arrow head that intersect the circle

when raila codes the arrows and by extension their stars rotate along their circles

code doesn’t have multiple configs. just the one

moves around on floating platforms that she sits on. platforms made from code and are invisible aside from purple outline

raila spends like 15 -20 years wandering the multiverse looking for her world. in that time she makes a lot of friends across the multiverse

gives off chill big sister vibes

refers to herself as a helpful observer

#murder drones

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thebirdandhersong · 1 year

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Beauty's room offers her a view of "the now re-established garden and beyond that the great forest"--she gets to see that divide between two worlds. Beauty herself finds herself standing between intersections of ideas, states of being/growth, contrasting elements or themes, etc. throughout the story, either as an observer or as an active participant:

"I was becoming more boy than girl" (McKinley 47) and the way the men treat her like a boy rather than a lady, like her sisters

her family's change in social status and circumstance (from city life: wealthy and affording help to country life: working with their hands and living simply and humbly)

she is born the youngest of the family vs. she chooses to be the protector of her family

her family's house is at the edge of civilization, where the town meets the enchanted forest

Beauty, when she leaves her home to go to the Beast, is not quite a woman yet but also no longer a child

the silence in the castle vs. the laughter Beauty brings into it

Beauty's two names: "I welcome Beauty and Honour both, then" (McKinley 147)--and how these are not presented as opposing each other; there is beauty in the way she honours her family and her word, and there is an honour in the intellectual, physical/skill-acquiring, character/inner, and developing outer beauty she has been bestowed with

#groupbeautyread #i am still in essay mode weeks after finishing finals but you know i'm okay with that #i WOULD like to write an essay on this at some point anyhow

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ardn716viviandoan · 5 days

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Week 12 Presentation Analysis

Blurb:

Kuya is a photography series challenges the traditional gender roles and societal norms, speaks to the struggle for acceptance within the Asian LGBTQ+ community within Aotearoa.

The photographs take on a personal story of a young bisexual Filipino male, Marius. The photobook serves as a narrative that showcases the complex intersections of culture, family dynamics, and queer identity, emphasising the significance of support, acceptance, within both familial and societal contexts.

The term “Kuya” refers to the older brother in Tagalog, symbolising the pressure and expectations placed on older siblings, and embodies traditional assumptions of masculinity. This photobook empathetically explores Marius’s inner and outer worlds, capturing his struggle with feeling trapped and not meeting the expectations of being an older brother or making his immigrant parents proud.

Wordmark:

The Kuya wordmark incorporates a strikethrough, symbolising Marius's rejection of traditional expectations and labels. This design element represents Marius's journey to challenge conventional roles and pressures as an older brother in a Filipino family.

The strikethrough symbolises his struggle to break free from societal norms and embrace his authentic identity, despite cultural and familial expectations. It effectively communicates the conflict between external perceptions and internal reality, emphasising the courage required to redefine himself.

Colour:

The images were initially shot in color and then edited to black and white with a dark grey tone. This choice symbolises an ongoing, unspoken issue, suggesting that these struggles are hidden and left in the dark. The monochrome palette emphasises the shadowy nature of these feelings and internal conflicts.

Emotional Tone:

Intimacy and Vulnerability: The black and white colour and soft focus of the images should convey a sense of intimacy, using softer lighting and closer shots to capture the raw emotions.

Isolation and Protection: Showcasing Marius in closed, isolated spaces within his home (like a corner of a room) to show the feeling of him protecting himself from the outside world.

Visual Representation of Insecurity:

Clothes and Fashion as a Shield: Using clothes and fashion to express Marius's attempt to hide his true self. The layering of clothes can represent the layers he uses to shield himself from societal judgment.

Body Language:

Hugging Himself: Posing Marius hugging himself emphasises his need for self-protection and comfort, illustrating his withdrawal from the outside world.

Closed Off Posture: Positions that show Marius curling into himself or covering his face represents his desire to hide and protect himself from society.

Scratching Skin: Capturing Marius scratching his skin symbolises his discomfort and self-doubt. It's a physical manifestation of his internal struggle.

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gautam-101 · 25 days

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Celestial Whispers: Astrology and Dream Interpretation

Introduction

In the vast cosmos that surrounds us, lies a tapestry of celestial bodies that have intrigued humanity for millennia. Astrology, the study of the positions and movements of celestial bodies, has long been intertwined with human culture, influencing beliefs, decisions, and even interpretations of dreams. Dreams, mysterious windows into the subconscious, often carry hidden messages waiting to be decoded. When astrology and dream interpretation converge, they offer a unique lens through which we can unravel the mysteries of our inner and outer worlds.

In this exploration, we delve into the intriguing realm where astrology and dream interpretation intersect. We'll uncover how the positions of planets, stars, and cosmic energies influence the symbolism present in our dreams, and how decoding these messages can provide profound insights into our lives. Join us on a celestial journey as we decipher the whispers from the stars and unravel the secrets of the night.

Also read - Exploring Ancient Wisdom of Vedic Astrology and Palmistry

The Cosmic Symphony: Understanding Astrology

To comprehend the connection between astrology and dream interpretation, we must first grasp the fundamentals of astrology itself. At its core, astrology operates on the principle that the positions and movements of celestial bodies in the cosmos can influence human affairs and earthly events. The zodiac, divided into twelve distinct signs, serves as a celestial map, each sign imbued with unique qualities and characteristics.

The arrangement of planets within these signs at the time of our birth is believed to shape our personalities, tendencies, and destinies. Furthermore, the ongoing dance of celestial bodies continues to exert its influence, guiding the ebb and flow of our lives.

Dreams: Portals to the Subconscious

Dreams have long fascinated humanity, serving as conduits to realms beyond the waking world. From vivid landscapes to enigmatic symbols, dreams offer a glimpse into the subconscious mind, where thoughts, emotions, and memories intertwine in a surreal tapestry.

While the interpretation of dreams has been subject to various cultural and psychological frameworks, one intriguing perspective involves viewing dreams through the lens of astrology. Just as celestial bodies influence our waking lives, they are believed to cast their cosmic influence into the realm of dreams, infusing them with symbolic meaning that mirrors the energies present in the cosmos.

Chat here: Chat with astrologer online

Decoding the Celestial Messages: Astrology in Dream Interpretation

When astrology and dream interpretation converge, a rich tapestry of symbolism emerges, ripe for exploration. Each celestial body and zodiac sign carries its own unique energy and symbolism, which can manifest in our dreams in myriad ways.

For instance, dreaming of the moon may symbolize emotions, intuition, and the subconscious mind, reflecting the lunar influences that govern our inner world. Similarly, dreaming of Mars, the fiery planet of action and passion, may signify a call to assertiveness or the need to confront challenges head-on.

By understanding the astrological symbolism present in our dreams, we can glean deeper insights into our inner workings and the cosmic forces at play in our lives. Just as astrologers interpret the positions of celestial bodies to forecast events and trends, so too can we interpret the celestial messages woven into our dreams to navigate the complexities of existence.

Embracing Cosmic Guidance: Applying Astrology and Dream Interpretation

Armed with the knowledge of astrology and dream interpretation, we embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment. By paying attention to the celestial whispers present in our dreams, we gain a deeper understanding of our subconscious desires, fears, and aspirations.

Moreover, we can harness this cosmic guidance to navigate life's twists and turns with greater clarity and purpose. Whether seeking answers to pressing questions or simply seeking to understand ourselves on a deeper level, the marriage of astrology and dream interpretation offers a potent tool for personal growth and enlightenment.

Conclusion

In the symphony of the cosmos, astrology and dream interpretation intertwine, offering profound insights into the mysteries of existence. Through the lens of astrology, we perceive the celestial dance that shapes our lives, while dream interpretation unveils the hidden messages encoded within our subconscious minds.

As we decode the celestial messages from the stars, we awaken to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the forces that guide us. Armed with this cosmic wisdom, we navigate life's journey with clarity, purpose, and reverence for the interconnectedness of all things.

May we continue to explore the boundless depths of the cosmos, guided by the celestial whispers that illuminate our path and enrich our souls.

Have any questions? Speak with an astrologer: Download the App Now

#chat with astrologers

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orangeoutreach1 · 4 months

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Beauty Care Products

In a world where self-care has become an essential aspect of our daily routines, beauty care products have taken center stage, promising to enhance our natural radiance and boost our confidence. The beauty industry has evolved significantly, offering a plethora of products designed to cater to diverse skin types, tones, and concerns. In this journey towards self-love and care, let's delve into the captivating world of beauty care products and explore the secrets they hold for unlocking our inner radiance.

1. The Art of Skincare: Nurturing Your Canvas

The foundation of any beauty routine lies in skincare. From cleansers that gently remove impurities to serums that deliver potent ingredients, each step plays a crucial role in nurturing and pampering our skin. Explore the magic of cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and serums, tailored to address specific skin needs, promising a radiant and youthful complexion.

2. Makeup Mastery: Enhancing Natural Beauty

Makeup, an art form in itself, allows us to express our creativity while highlighting our natural features. Dive into the enchanting world of foundations, concealers, eyeshadows, and lipsticks, each beauty care products carefully formulated to accentuate your unique beauty. Discover the latest trends and timeless classics that empower you to embrace your individuality with confidence.

youtube

3. Haircare Havens: Nourishing Your Tresses

Beautiful hair is a crown we all wear, and the right haircare products can transform our locks from dull to dazzling. Explore shampoos and conditioners that cater to your hair type, styling products that redefine your look, and treatments that revive and nourish. Uncover the secrets to maintaining luscious, healthy hair that reflects your inner vitality.

4. Fragrance Fascination: Capturing Hearts with Scent

Beauty care extends beyond the visual realm, embracing the power of scent to leave a lasting impression. Dive into the world of perfumes, colognes, and scented body care products that evoke emotions, memories, and a sense of luxury. Discover fragrances that resonate with your personality, making every day a sensory journey.

5. Holistic Wellness: The Intersection of Beauty and Health

True beauty radiates from within, and holistic wellness plays a pivotal role in achieving that glow. Explore beauty care products, wellness teas, and mindful practices that contribute to overall health and vitality. Discover the symbiotic relationship between inner well-being and outer radiance, creating a harmonious balance in your beauty routine.

Conclusion: Embrace Your Radiance

In the tapestry of beauty care products, each item weaves a story of self-discovery, empowerment, and celebration. Whether you are a skincare enthusiast, a makeup maven, or a fragrance aficionado, the world of beauty care products invites you to explore, experiment, and embrace your unique radiance. As you embark on this journey, remember that beauty is not just skin deep; it is an expression of your authentic self, waiting to be unveiled and celebrated. Embrace the elegance, glow with confidence, and let your beauty shine, inside and out.

#skincare #skincare products #healthcare #Youtube

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jcmarchi · 4 months

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Opening the doorway to drawing

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/opening-the-doorway-to-drawing/

Opening the doorway to drawing

On the first Friday in November, the students of 21A.513 (Drawing Human Experience) were greeted by two unfamiliar figures: a bespectacled monkey holding a heart-shaped message (“I’m so glad you are here”) and the person who drew that monkey on the whiteboard: award-winning cartoonist and educator Lynda Barry, whose “Picture This” was a central text on the new interdisciplinary course’s syllabus.

As the afternoon’s guest speaker, Barry welcomed each arrival, her long gray braids swinging, pens dangling from her neck. Within minutes, she had everyone — even the course’s instructors, anthropologist Graham Jones and visual artist Seth Riskin — settled around tables with their eyes closed, drawing giraffes.

When Barry asked participants to open their eyes and hold up their giraffes, the room filled with laughter over the menagerie of stubby legs, irregular necks, and erratic spots.

“It came out better than I thought!” one student exclaimed.

“Watching people draw with their eyes closed is fantastic,” Barry beamed. “It’s like being in the room with everyone dreaming.”

“Picture This” contends that everyone can draw; children do it unselfconsciously up to a certain age, Barry writes, but all too often conventional qualms put a stop to this expressive and deeply human practice. Jones saw evidence of this when the class convened in September.

“When we went around the room asking students what they wanted to get out of the class, about two-thirds said something like ‘I used to make art, but I don’t have time to do it anymore,’ or ‘I didn’t feel like I was good enough at it,’” he recalls. “For some students, we’ve been opening up a doorway to a set of experiences that’s been shut for a long time.”

Senior Charles Williams, a computer engineering major, counts himself among that group. “This class breathes back into you the creative and artistic expression that is too often lost as we grow up and mature,” he says.

What it means to be human

Newly offered last fall, Drawing Human Experience was supported by a cross-disciplinary class development grant from the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). It was co-presented by MIT Anthropology and the MIT Museum Studio and Compton Gallery.

It is the second CAST grant shared by Jones and Riskin. In 2019 they co-taught 21A.S01 (Paranormal Machines), which explored how humans can use interactive technologies to create experiences beyond everyday life. That course left them eager to delve further into the intersection of their disciplines at the most essential level.

“Drawing is deceptively simple,” Jones notes. “You can do extraordinarily complicated things with the kind of media that everybody has immediately at hand.”

The course’s syllabus opens with a declaration — “We do not accept distinctions between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ drawing” — and a hint of what students would work toward: “We draw to give our inner world outer form, to create a zone of communication between both us and ourselves, and ourselves and others.”

The course bases students’ grades on their sincere investment in investigating that zone of communication — developing their own visual language along the way — rather than a mastery of photorealistic representation.

“The difference between an ordinary drawing class and this class is that it puts the quality of mind before technical skills,” says Riskin, manager of the MIT Museum Studio and Compton Gallery (where the course met), as well as co-instructor of a long-running class on vision in art and neuroscience.

Jones is a professor of anthropology who researches how people use language and other media to perform and interact.

“On the deepest level, anthropology asks the question ‘what does it mean to be human?’” he says. “What we’re trying to do in this class is allow the students to ask this fundamental anthropological question by going very deeply into their own experience.”

The instructors divided the course into three modules: abstraction, figuration, and diagrams. In the third unit, Jones lectured on the use of diagrams in anthropology to visualize complex social structures such as kinship and gift-giving networks. “Diagrams organize thinking,” Jones told the class, “and they organize people around that thought process. They’re one of the most profound inventions in human history.”

While diagrams the students encounter elsewhere in their studies might aim for the precise presentation of facts, Riskin urged them to consider the term more expansively. “Ambiguity is a very powerful vehicle in art,” he reminded them. “If there’s not ambiguity, maybe it’s not art anymore because there’s no role for the viewer’s imagination.”

Students discussed the work of artist Christine Sun Kim, who uses infographics for social commentary, as in her series of pie charts on “Deaf Rage” that have been exhibited at the MIT List Visual Arts Center and internationally. Then they partnered up for an exercise, documenting their changing relationship with a classmate before, during, and after a getting-to-know-you conversation. The resulting diagrams resembled swirling plasma, mushrooms releasing spores, spiky plants emerging from seeds — nary an x- or y-axis in sight.

The essence of drawing

Between classes, students completed “D-Sets” (drawing-based problem sets) in the hardbound sketchbooks they’d received at the start of the semester. D-Set number four, for example, had them practice gesture drawing — employing rapid, broad strokes — while observing passersby in a public space. The goal, explains Riskin, was “not to capture the many details that accurately represent the human form, but rather in two or three seconds to capture the whole, the gestalt, of a human figure.” He and Jones designed several such exercises for “training immediacy” — an antidote to the self-critical, goal-oriented attitudes that turn many adults away from the act of drawing.

“The assignments helped me think more about drawing to convey, rather than to represent,” says junior Jaclyn Thi, a computer science and engineering major. “They made drawing much more enjoyable overall.”

While students were urged not to overthink the process of putting marks on paper, class meetings provided a social, supportive space to reflect on the results.

“The second class was kind of a shock,” Jones remembers. “We had come up with this whole plan about how they were going to exchange their sketchbooks, and we had prepared all of these prompts. But as soon as I said, ‘OK, turn to somebody next to you who hasn’t seen your work,’ the room immediately erupted in conversation. They talked for half-an-hour about the drawings, and we had to cut it off. It was like the floodgates opened.”

During a peer feedback session in week six, the students clustered around the studio’s plain wooden tables, which had been pushed together to form a large surface. They gazed down at nearly two dozen sketchbooks splayed open to the latest D-Set: gesture drawings conveying emotional connections to important figures in their lives. Some pages were covered in thick, moody smudges, while others crawled with wispy lines, and a few clean white pages bore only a few bold marks.

Several students singled out a classmate’s drawing, remarking how its confident charcoal strokes — suggesting short hair, glasses, the slight curve of a smile — managed to evoke a sense of lightness and joy. Riskin addressed the artist: “Maybe the drawing surprised you a bit because it was easy? You were just with the person and the drawing came out as an expression of that,” he guessed, eliciting a nod of recognition. “That, to me, is the essence of drawing.”

Sophomore Kanna Pichappan, a brain and cognitive sciences major and anthropology minor, looks back on that assignment as one of her most challenging. “I chose to depict Goddess Durga, a deity from the Hindu tradition who motivates me to live with courage, inner strength, and a commitment to righteousness,” says Pichappan. “I was apprehensive that my drawing might not turn out the way I envisioned. Until this class, I hadn’t even realized that a depiction of a figure’s form is not the same as experiencing the feelings the figure inspires. That D-Set helped me establish new habits: drawing what I feel, rather than what something should look like.”

Weeks later, when choosing a subject for her final project, Pichappan decided to return to exploring the goddess’s role in her life “from a place of creativity and freedom.” The course, she says, made that possible: “It helped me shift from the belief that art is created to represent something, towards the understanding that drawing can be a powerful way of deepening and enriching our understanding of our personal human life experiences.”

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