#Celestial Messiah

[scarlet--wiccan]

Marvel’s Voices: Identity (2022)

The Primeval Paradox, w. Holt; illust. Zama, Kniivila

Mantis confronts, and accepts, the last missing piece of her psyche, which had taken on several forms, including that of her son, Sequoia. Integrating the missing piece restore’s Mantis’s natural human skin color. 

#Mantis #brandt #guardians of the galaxy #sequoia #celestial madonna #celestial messiah

[vasquez-rocks]

in the spirit of "o'brien doesn't actually suffer the most, it's just that all his suffering takes place in special Suffering Episodes": a complete ranking of ds9 characters by how much they suffer

(including recurring guest stars but not villains. i don't care how much gul dukat suffers. he could get hit by a fucking bus for all i care!!) 1. kira nerys. undefeated galactic suffering champion. literally goes back in time to find out if her mom died in a concentration camp when she was a small child like she thought and somehow the answer she gets is, to her, EVEN WORSE THAN THAT. o'brien could never.

2. odo. lab experiment childhood, spends 5 seasons pining tragically for the station’s most eligible terrorist, seeks his family only to find out they're genocidal maniacs, every small innocent being he tries to parent either dies or runs away, he has to return to said family to end a war! odo suffers so much actually??

3. benjamin sisko. loses his wife, becomes an unwilling messiah, forced to leave his family (the most important thing), etc.

4. miles o'brien. ok fine sure he does suffer a lot. not like kira does tho!!

5. garak. most of his suffering is pre-show but that suffering is BAROQUE. and then daddy never tells him he loves him and he indirectly causes his mother’s death

6. nog. after 6 seasons of minimal suffering, our baby boy suffers a LOT

7. jake sisko. not counting "the visitor" (it was a different timeline!). if the show put Jake through any additional suffering, i would wail and cry. His primary sufferings are pre-show (mom's death) and end-of-show (dad is gone and can't say when he'll return), but they are significant. at least he has, and loves, a wonderful stepmom!

8. kassidy yates. SPEAKING OF. her primary suffering is going to jail for the standard federation prison sentence (6 months, which is also what garak got for attempted genocide!!!!!), but then also losing her beloved husband to the celestial temple like almost immediately after, which is kind of a lot

9. keiko o'brien. a lot of miles’ suffering is hers also, and also she gets possessed by a demon after spending the first few seasons trying to find a new fulfilling job despite her husband moving her, a botanist, to a barren space station on which all life withers

10. jadzia dax. happy-go-lucky sex worm who has never experienced a "problem" until gul dukat throws a death basketball at her at age 35, so idk it evens out

11. julian bashir. gets kidnapped a lot and has a backstory so angsty that it's hard to tell whether he's even technically the same person he once was. HOWEVER, he's a goofy lil sexual harasser which makes it very easy to overlook his suffering!

12. worf. virtually all of his suffering is his own fault and he universally responds to it by creating more suffering for his own perverse ends. however, he does get disgraced from his people (his fault), lose his wife (not his fault but also why was she the only person left on the station when she literally FLIES THE SHIP most of the time??), and refuses to ever have fun (his fault)

13. leeta. perky and happy. in a great marriage. loves her stepson! unionized her workplace! however she is not at the bottom of this list because she is (a) a child of the occupation and (b) has to put up with fuckin quark

14. ezri dax. contrary to her frequently expressed beliefs, many things are easy for ezri

15. quark. when he suffers it's hijinks

16. rom. rom's character development is entirely positive. he goes from being the put upon idiot brother to the self-actualized leader of his people who has a son who loves him and a beautiful wife. the worst thing that happens to him specifically is probably when he masturbates so hard he almost dies and even then the result is he becomes a hero to labor in both his world and ours. things go ludicrously well for him at every turn. he is the winner of ds9

#ds9 #deep space nine #star trek #jadzia dax #kira nerys #benjamin sisko #odo #ezri dax #julian bashir #worf #miles o'brien #suffering #the human condition #also bajoran condition i guess #rom #nog #quark

[sihayadunee]

🌘 THE ECLIPSE a UNION of OPPOSITES 🌒

an analysis of the mythic motifs in dune part two through the lens of mythologist joseph campbell, and some predictions for dune messiah

• Divine Couple

• Death and Rebirth

• Redemption Through Divine Union

• House of Atreus

• Lunar-Masculine / Solar-Feminine

• Goddesses

THE ECLIPSE

This motif has been connected to Dune since the first film’s promo, especially with the concluding track of Dark Side of the Moon accompanying the initial trailer. Some fans believed this theme had been dropped as it wasn’t very present in the first film. However the eclipse continued throughout the promo of the second film. This was because Part Two is where the real pay off is, already in the first 10 minutes.

This concept is intrinsic to Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation. Since the first film I have been saying that Dune embraces the Lunar-Masculine (Paul) and Solar-Feminine (Chani). However beyond just that, Dune: Part Two showcases multiple pairings of the lunar-solar dynamic.

But before we jump into that, let’s establish the meaning of an eclipses in general mythology. Typically they are a symbol of death and renewal. Common interpretations have a beast devouring the sun, or a celestial couple evading or pursuing one another. These interpretations are consistent over and again in Dune.

What we will see, is that the greater Imperium holds a Solar-Masculine identity, but when it comes to Arrakis there is a distinct shift to the Solar-Feminine archetype.

PAUL as the MOON

There are an innumerable amount of connections. Bull motifs are reoccurring throughout the first film, where he grew up on a water world. After all, the moon is associated with the tides. He takes the name Muad’Dib, and one of the moons of Arrakis has the icon of a Muad’Dib aka Desert Mouse visible on its surface. And ultimately, Paul experiences rebirth in Part Two.

The bull is a figure of sacrifice which aligns very well with the lineage of House Atreides which can be traced back to the House of Atreus and it’s curse of familial murder, betrayal and symbolic consumption. Sacrifice of the children in each new generation.

IRULAN and the GOLDEN LION THRONE

Starting here is a good place, because it shows the transition of the Solar-Masculine of the wider Imperium toward the Solar-Feminine of Arrakis. Irulan Corrino of House Corrino is the daughter of Emperor Shaddam who sits on the Golden Lion Throne. His reign is coming to a close as Paul rises on Arrakis, and with no male heirs Irulan his eldest is the successor destined for marriage. In this way Irulan becomes the embodiment of the Lion Throne, and her determination in Dune Messiah to produce Paul’s heir becomes clear. That function of the Queen Mother and how that feeds back into the Solar-Masculine as the King becomes tied to the lion and the throne once more.

In particular I would say her story is best reflected in the myth of the goddess Cybele who falls for Attis and when he falls for a mortal girl Cybele plots betrayal. Something for which she later feels guilt and tries to make amends for (Children of Dune).

PAUL and JESSICA

Their dynamic is incredibly complicated, but I think the opening of the film during the eclipse sums it up very well. You follow the path of the moon as it covers the sun, and as it meets its full coverage Paul is the one taking action in the fight against the Harkonnen. However as the moon passes by and the sun takes over again, Jessica emerges to save Paul’s life.

This was intentional by the filmmakers, as is revealed in the Art and Soul of Dune Part Two, DP Greig Fraser identified the exact time, date and location in order to shoot the sun as it appears directly behind Rebecca Ferguson.

Jessica represents the sun on Arrakis, and in this scene we see how the moon dies into the sun to be reborn in their dynamic. It also lines up with motifs of the sun goddess giving birth to the sacrificial bull. Sacrifice toward this death and rebirth.

What we see is the separation of mother and son that brings them back together in the same place. Paul takes the lead and rejects his mother’s influence, but she leads him toward the death and rebirth he must experience, and this brings them back to a common understanding.

This is also why having Jessica sit the Atreides “throne” in the finale instead of Paul (who did so in the book) makes mythic sense. Because again we return to the Solar-Feminine mother as the throne, and her son as king. But in a different context here then what Irulan aspires toward.

A SYMBOLIC UNION aka THE BULL SACRIFICE

The House Harkonnen family seal in the books is the griffin, which makes his introduction in a gladiator arena killing Atreides even more appropriate. Feyd’s birthday is also associated with a solar event. Because ultimately Feyd is the matador and Paul is the bull.

What works so fantastically about the dual, is how it is bathed in the sunlight. After all, the sun figure (day) is facing off against the moon (night) figure in this sequence. Plus the bull was the eventual demise of Paul’s grandfather who was a matador. This takes place at sunrise, and it’s a dual for the throne, where whoever is victorious inherits the Golden Lion Throne. The

Denis specially describes the dual as a symbolic union, and it works on multiple layers. This bull sacrifice, is in essence the quote from part one of “when you take a life you take your own” so Paul killing Feyd is penetration, intimacy, it is rebirth.

It is also reminiscent of how Campbell describes the sun-moon twins of Navajo myth:

The two, Sun-child and Water-child, antagonistic yet cooperative, represent a single cosmic force, polarized, split, and turned against itself in mutual portions. The life-supporting sap-power, mysterious in the lunar rhythm of its tides, growing and decaying at a time, counters and tempers the solar file of the zenith, life- desiccating it its brilliance, yet by whose heat all lives.

— Joseph Campbell's Commentary from "Where the Two Came to Their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial" by Jeff King and Maud Oakes

DESERT SPRING TEARS and DIVINE UNION

There is a section in the Dune Encyclopedia that talks about the foundation of the Bene Gesserit beliefs. In particular the teachings of a certain ancestral memory personality, called Inanna (yes that is the name of the Sumerian goddess who was also in a divine union caught between life and death glad you asked) about the Kwisatz Haderach. It basically establishes that the entire premise of the Bene Gesserit and the Kwisatz Haderach is in essence the Divine Couple.

It specifies two mirrored dynamics the son saved/resurrected by the mother and the husband saved/resurrected by the wife. Inanna called them Au Set and Au Sar. The Kemet names for Isis and Osiris. The idea of the Bene Gesserit would have this as the mother of the KH, and the Corrino princess he would have married. But with things thrown off course, it represents outside their control.

In Dune, we see it between Paul and Chani. Like Isis who has the solar disc and Osiris who is tied to water and death, her lover has died and she is the one to revive him.

Furthermore the concept of mythical tears can be found in the goddess Freya (who arguably is compatible with sun-goddess motifs) who weeps when her husband Odin is lost to her.

But perhaps most compatible—the healing tears of a phoenix. A bird archetype similar to Isis as bird. This is where the yin-yang dynamic of Chani and Paul becomes most apparent, since the serpent is synonymous with the bull and therefore Paul who “makes peace with Shai-Hulud” encompasses the dragon (yang) as a complement to Chani’s phoenix (yin).

In the behind the scenes of Dune Part Two, the Maker Temple is said to be designed like the infinity symbol with the two circles (one of sand and one of water). Sand being death and water being life, but also the reverse. As the sandworm thrives in the sand but is drowned in the water. And Paul is stuck between life and death, literally laying between both pools, when Chani comes to resurrect him.

This film literally has three kisses. Their first kiss when Chani says she will show him the way of the Fremen, their second kiss on screen when she says he will never lose her before going South, and the third symbolic kiss of life.

This marriage/death is also foreshadowed in Paul’s visions in Part One when Chani kisses him and then stabs him. Which is where we return to Isis and Osiris because Paul’s death state (dying again as we established, after killing Feyd, similar in a way to Set and Osiris) is where we will eventually get the twins Leto II and Ghanima with Leto II being the Horus in this equation.

As the Pink Floyd lyrics say, the sun is eclipsed by the moon and this is captured in the heartbreak Chani feels over losing Paul and losing her people to the Lisan al Gaib. The Fremen way of life has been eclipsed and over taken by the Atreides and the Bene Gesserit. Here we see more of the concept of that beast devouring the sun from the beginning, verses the celestial couple dynamic.

Chani leaving the residency chamber is also reminiscent of certain myths like Amaterasu going into hiding, or the Inuit folktale about the sun goddess fleeing her moon god brother/lover who pursues her.

However the Dune Encyclopedia also talks about the concept of redemption (which is why in the film Mohiam asks Margot if Feyd is capable of redemption) of the “mate savior”. The Kwisatz Haderach. They would bring about a release from bondage through redemption and rebirth.

Which is relevant to the dynamic of Paul and Chani in Dune Messiah for Denis, because he has said Paul is going to be looking to save his soul in part three, and how Paul and Chani come back together won’t just be explained away off screen between films. It will be that continued cycle of rebirth, through redemptive love. Rebirth as a whole in Dune is worth its own discussion, since all the different Jungian descriptions of it can be found within this universe.

CONCLUSION

The eclipse, a lunar-solar dynamic representing the union of opposites, is very significant in Dune Part Two and sheds a lot of light onto what we can anticipate next in Dune Messiah, particularly in regards to the central romance between Paul and Chani and the changes Denis has made from book to screen.

#joseph campbell #dune part two #dune #dune 2 #dune movie #dune 2024 #divine union #mythic romance #mythology #eclipse #paul atreides #paul x chani #chani kynes #bene gesserit #goddesses #inanna #goddess #lunar masculine #solar feminine #house Atreus #curse of Atreus #redemption #timothée chalamet #zendaya #feyd rautha #austin butler #lady jessica #rebecca ferguson #florence pugh #irulan corrino

[edaxii]

Angeluz.

He is a celestial being from a world beyond the heavens (Paradigm).

He is a morally grey character as he is inflicted with a continuous stream of dark cosmic energy that is being harvested by a certain group within Paradigm (he is their chosen messiah; born into it).

Had fun drawing him. No reference on this one just an idea that came in mind although someone did say it looks like Cosmo (which I kinda see)

Let me know about your thoughts, ideas, commentary wtv as always

Check here for the art process: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeaFVu5a/

#sketches #character art #design #digital art #drawing #graphic design #art #illustration #digital drawing #artists on tumblr #fantasy #original character #original post #character #original work #not fanart #original art #original charater art #my ocs <3 #oc #oc art #ocs #my ocs #my art #oc artist #my oc stuff #my oc art #my oc character #oc artwork #digital artist

[beebopboom]

Always an Angel, Never a Man

Intro post - where we discussed some more Wizard of Oz parallels and some of the title sequence

Now though we are going to dive deeper in the character that is the Metatron, and for that we are going to be going into The Book of Enoch and who he is as an angel - at least for this part

Background info

I've said this before but I’ll reiterate here - yes I know that Neil has said…somewhere that the Metatron has always been an angel in reference to someone asking about Enoch - but I don't think we can throw all the books away especially when it seems ideas have been pulled from them.

This actually started out as a question of whether or not the Metatron had come down to Earth and paraded around as Enoch to further his agenda - and well, it was a start.

So for the most part there seems to be two explanations for the origins of the Metatron - one: he was always an angel - two: he was the human, Enoch who was then turned into the Metatron. Each of these versions vary from religion to religion but for the most part that’s the gist of it

ha yeah right you know me time for probably unnecessary long explanations to the best of my ability

Disclaimer (I guess): These explanations are not going to stick to just one religion and are going to be summaries to the best of my ability - summaries are the devil how tf do people do this all the time

Also this is quite long - it took me about ten minutes to read through

The Metatron

The Voice of God, King of Angels, Prince of Divine Presence, Prince of the World, Prince of the Countenance, lesser YHWH, Angel of the Veil

Just some of the titles that have been attributed to the archangel known as Metatron - the list could go on

Created before or along side fellow archangels - including Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel - he is considered to be above them and the one they defer to. He sits at the hand of God as their scribe and is one of the few angels able to see beyond the veil God sits behind, able to look upon and hear God. He is said to have immense Power and Wisdom

His main job is to write down the good deeds of both Heaven and the Earth and record those in the Book of Life. He is said to have connections to both the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life therefore having a special interface between the two realms, physical and celestial - he is a bridge between God and humanity. He is a patron angel of children, giving them the knowledge they had not received and can be said to have been the angel who led the people of Israel through the wilderness. He is in charge of guiding the souls ascending to Heaven.

He is often attributed to roles God, Jesus, and even the Archangel Michael has had - to the point where there is a story of Rabbi Elisha calling out that there were two powers in Heaven and the Metatron is punished by 60 fiery lashes and unable to sit in Gods presence again for not correcting the assumption

Which leads us to the other origin story for him and that is-

Enoch

Now he has one mention in the Bible in the book of Genesis and it is only to say he no longer walks among men because God took him. This then spawned the Book of Enoch - which is really three books. Among other stories that I will get into later - it is the story of a man that was so righteous God took him so he didn’t experience death and made him an angel with all the same roles as we just went over.

This book covers things such as the concepts of fallen angels, a Messiah, Resurrection, the Final Judgement, and a heavenly kingdom on earth

………we aren't going to talk about the Nephilim

But there are these angels called the Watchers who have banded together and turned away from God. Enoch is shown the destruction and knowledge these angels have put upon humanity and shown the four archangels and their task to go about fixing the Earth. Enoch is then tasked with telling the Watchers that they shall have no peace or forgiveness for sin. He then goes on to see the universe - the Earth, the cosmos, and both Heaven and Hell - guided by angels. He sees the fiery pit that is where the Fallen are held and the river where all the dead souls await Judgement. He is shown the cornerstone of Earth and the pillars(mountains) of Heaven, and on the highest one sits the throne of God. He is told the secrets of the stars and is shown the hierarchy of Angels. 

He goes on a few journeys through the Heavens and eventually turned into the angel Metatron - which some would say this is a reversal of the Fall of Man, where Enoch is given that “spark" back. Upon reaching the 6th sphere of Heaven the angels call out to God asking why he has been brought to Heaven and God answered that he was righteous and worth the rest of the people - this is placed in flood times I forgot to mention

But why is any of this important? Well we are working with around 10 minutes of screentime people - crumbs I tell you, crumbs.

What really got this going though was Metatron saying this when referring to his outfit and corporation

"This calls for much less attention, though”

This implies the Metatron knows how to blend in - with humans and angels……and demons

But particularly with humans - further proven with the line

"I've ingested things in my time, you know”

Whether or not this is true he is really pushing this in front of Aziraphale and Crowley - clothes and food wonder why - it’s almost like it’s reminiscent of another conversation, one between Aziraphale and Gabriel back in season one at the Sushi restaurant.

Anyway though - the Metatron may not have had the transformation from Enoch but the story is still relevant to who he is as a character - it’s actually a great combination of the two

In season one he only appears as a floating head but I want to start with right before he appears

Four lights come down and four pointed stars start to appear

The thing is I think these are meant to represent our archangel council

The number four and its connection to the Metatron has been sitting in the back of my head for a while now - it's a common grouping in good omens with the horsepeople, the them, the angels, and the demons - but I think it's also a call back to Enoch and the four archangels that guided him, here me out - I mean it’s four colored lights surrounded by stars cmon

The only one missing is Raphael. In season one he is replaced with Sandalphon - who has a special connection to the Metatron with a similar origin story as Enoch and is said to be his twin brother. In season two he is replaced with Saraqael who is also mentioned in the Book of Enoch, one of the only places to do so.

This council though is the last stop before reaching the Metatron - so they have to come first. Four angels at the trial and four (active) angels when he appears in the bookshop. Sensing a theme of needing four angels.

Aziraphale then asks if he is God which is quickly corrected by the Metatron saying he is only the voice and to speak to him is to speak to God which then Aziraphale calls him a presidential spokesperson - and yeah that all tracks for what we know to be his role, just no mention of the other things he is in charge of

Which let’s take a quick break to point out that the Metatron is supposed to guide souls into Heaven - Heaven is very much empty, where are you taking them our dark clothed angel hmmm?

Season two though we really get a look into his character

In the trial we get to see a bunch of floating heads and yet his is still different, as he has no body. He is still concealed with no corporation - behind that curtain

Now we have two instances of this both in Heaven and Earth - not something we see with anyone else who all have a corporation to move about - besides when Aziraphale gets discorporated but even then he is still shown with his whole see-through body. So here is that special interface playing out - his way of showing his position off and maintaining an air of mystery

An interesting thing to note during his speech is him saying that for one prince of heaven to be cast down to hell makes for a good story - in the habit of telling stories about fallen angels there Metatron?

Now we’ve analyzed the coffee shop scene to death and I don’t particularly have anything to add so we are just going to keep truckin

But the bookshop - the bookshop tells us so much.

He walks in and hardly anyone recognizes him - only Crowley and Saraqael. And this makes sense, he’s in a corporal form - out from behind the curtain. The thing that made him special, that put him above other archangels - he’s removed it. They’ve probably never felt his full essence and it’s not like it’s going to set off alarm bells when they are the same rank as you, essentially. Then Crowley describes him in terms he knew Aziraphale (and others) would recognize - finally cluing everyone in 

But why Crowley and Saraqael? What makes them special?

I’ll admit I don’t have a clear answer for Saraqael - for why they are different. Only a theory that they are one of the angels that he has keeping an eye on the angelic deeds he was told to keep track of - perhaps even the corporations that are being used, when one is needed and whatnot

Crowley though is a Fallen Angel - the series goes through great lengths to stress this point - this term. You may remember that this is the term used in Enoch to describe the Watchers. The group of angels that turned away from God and Enoch then had to inform them of their fate.

It’s been sprinkled in throughout the series that Crowley only ever asked those “damn fool” questions and went his “own way” with hints that those questions were never asked to God. Which leaves the Metatron. The Metatron who Crowley has seen.

"Oh I know you. Last time I saw you, you were a big, floating giant head, mind.”

The last time implying there was a Before - before the beginning perhaps.

So let’s say God gives this criteria of what qualifies as a rebelling angel which then the Metatron is supposed to carry out the acts of punishment - except he’s an angelic scribe not a fighter so he gives this confrontation job to fellow archangels, let’s say Michael, and tells them this what God told them to do, while he works on the way to make it actually stick - through the Book of Life and finally activating the threat of this book by crossing the angels out causing them to lose their names, their status, their place in paradise

and then comes in this pretty high ranking angel, a prince perhaps, asking these questions that just happen to fit into this criteria but different in the way that they don’t want it all to end and you still turn him away

(I’m probably going to do a whole other thing about the connection between Crowley and the Metatron but for the sake of not derailing this post even more I’m just going to move on)

The Book of Life - The Metatron is said to be the angel that writes in it - records all the names of the beings doing good deeds in both Heaven and Earth. He hears all, sees all, and he’s going through past exploits. And yet has only just recently made a move - he truly is a King

He immediately calls Michael out for their “you’ll be erased from existence” spew saying they don’t have the authority for that and sending them away - implying he does have the authority and he’s here to offer a way for that not to happen**

And here on out we get to see some interesting characteristics. The Metatron has always been one to offer shallow praise - even back in season one - and he is shown to be openly revered and feared. He has this all seeing - big brother affect on all the angels. He is said to see everything it’s only a matter of what and when he chooses to use it. And use it well he does - he’s manipulative with praise and interest, with the knowledge he reveals. He is also in the nature to wind them up and watch them go. I’d say this is a twisted take on the Patron Angel of Children. 

So when you take out the parts of those two versions of Metatron’s backstory that we know are not canon to Good Omens and mush it all together - this could be a narrative that comes out

But I want to take a quick dip back into his clothes before rounding this off. He is dressed in darker colors, usually associated with demons, there is just no way to ignore this. An angel with duality written into their clothes - An angel that can go into Hell - An angel that is supposed to guide souls to Heaven and yet there are none but there is an overflow in Hell - An angel that created the back channels.

Now hear me out - I know we are heading into a crack theory area.

Back in season one when Michael brings forward the pictures of Aziraphale and Crowley they say they got them from the Earth observational files - something that the Metatron would be in charge of as the angel tasked with the Book of Life - and ask Gabriel to use the back channels already knowing they were going to.

Michael is the only angel we really see have any connection to these back channels, through the phone and actually going down to Hell. Michael is also very quick to take up the Supreme Archangel spot without explicit permission, a role apparently the Metatron is able to assign. It almost like the Metatron has given them special permission before….

Why would Metatron have use for those back channels though? Well gotta put those human souls somewhere, not that he particularly wants to deal the predictable and dim humans - and why not make sure all plans are running smoothly for the inevitable next War.

There is also this concept called the Humbling of the Metatron - has it already happened or is that where we are heading? All I know is we have a lying***, manipulative, exploitative Angel on our hands

and I truly think that he has made his moves and revealed his cards - it’s only putting it all together

**I really don’t think the Metatron has access to this book like he is foretold to have, like he acts like he does - at least not anymore

***When he orders the coffee he asks for a dash of almond syrup but when telling Aziraphale he says a hefty jiggle - such a weird thing to lie about there Metatron

————————————————————————

This series is mainly just going to be exploring the character that is The Metatron with pretty much every route possible. I’m not trying to say which is the correct conclusion because this character could really go in any direction. This is just for fun. I tired to get all the religious stuff as correct as possible but there is always the room for error, things I’ve missed, etc

but anyway for the next part we are going to dive into another big influence over our series and characters, as Crowley calls them - Occult Forces.

part 2 is out!!

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens character analysis #good omens analysis #good omens theory #the metatron #aziraphale #crowley #archangel michael #archangel uriel #good omens saraqael #good omens metatron #metatron

[mariacallous]

Kate Middleton and the Baltimore Bridge collapse were just warm-ups. For conspiracists in 2024, the total solar eclipse taking place on April 8 is their Super Bowl.

Over the past few weeks, social media channels, Telegram groups, and conspiracy-focused message boards have been flooded with every conceivable wild allegation about what will happen when the moon blocks out the sun.

The rare astronomical event has proved incredibly fertile ground for conspiracists to express their wildest fantasies, and they have theorized about everything from the end of the world, to the secret deployment of balloons to poison the population, to occult rituals and even the imposition of martial law to usher in a “new world order.”

Far-right trolls and extremists in particular have been using the total solar eclipse to push their belief that a group of “elites” is using the event as cover to impose new controls on the population. The theory has been promoted by figures including disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Sandy Hook shooting conspiracist Alex Jones, who in recent weeks has posted numerous videos and comments about it on his X account, racking up millions of views.

“Major Events Surrounding The April 8th Solar Eclipse,” Jones wrote. “Masonic rituals planned worldwide to usher in New World Order.”

Authorities along the path of the eclipse in the US have issued warnings about loss of cell coverage and electrical outages. Additionally, some towns have already declared an emergency, and National Guard troops have been put on standby. This has made the conspiracists only more convinced, even though the preparations in these towns have often been centered around the huge influx of tourists expected to congregate on April 8. For those deep in conspiracy land, the context doesn’t matter.

“I think [it’s] another test,” one user of the far-right message board known as The Donald wrote this week. “See how many follow orders and how close they are to declare martial law without a fight.”

On Telegram, one well-known conspiracy influencer known as the Health Ranger, who has 75,000 subscribers, wrote that the eclipse “sure would be the perfect cover story if our terrorist government wanted to take down the power grid and cause mass chaos while blocking all citizen communications. Kinda convenient if you want to declare martial law and unleash a dictatorship before Trump can win in November.”

Many conspiracists have also focused on other coincidental events happening on April 8, all of which add to the supposedly portentous nature of the day.

There are dozens of examples being shared online, but among the most quoted involve the fact that the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) will be firing up the Large Hadron Collider on that day for the first time in two years. Many online are linking the celestial event to the restart of the device that, more than a decade ago, found the Higgs boson, which many misleadingly label the “God particle.”

If that wasn’t enough, NASA is launching three satellites as part of its Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission. Unfortunately for NASA, Apep is also the name of an ancient Egyptian snake god associated with darkness and destruction—a coincidence that conspiracists have decided is relevant. A celestial body known as the devil’s comet will also be visible to the naked eye during the eclipse.

Finally, many have linked the eclipse with the imminent sacrifice of red heifers in Israel, a practice that some Jews and evangelicals believe will variously herald the construction of a Third Temple in Jerusalem, the return of the messiah, or the end of the world.

“Red Heifers from Texas have arrived in Israel where they will be sacrificed during the Solar Eclipse,” the operator of a prominent conspiracy channel on Telegram wrote this week in a post viewed more than 120,000 times. “At the same time, CERN will be opening up demonic portals.”

Videos citing all of these coincidences have been posted by conspiracists—as well as many Christian evangelical pastors and churches—and have amassed millions of views on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok in recent weeks.

“There are many indications that the total eclipse in America on Monday is the start of something big,” a renowned UK-based QAnon promoter told his Substack subscribers in an email on Thursday. “Whether the day itself is obviously epic—Nibiru? ETs? DNA activation?” (Nibiru is a conspiracy-laden reference to a predicted cataclysmic encounter between Earth and a large planetary object.)

Sovereign-citizen guru David Straight has also posited a wild conspiracy called Operation Balloon, claiming that the government, using the eclipse blackout as cover, will deploy balloons filled with poisonous gas. Straight didn’t, however, explain why the government wouldn’t just do this at night, when it’s also dark and people are typically not staring at the sky.

One image showing the path of the eclipse passing over more than a dozen significant landmarks has also been shared widely online. Among the landmarks are the birthplaces of former president Bill Clinton and former vice president Mike Pence; the site of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; the site of the 1993 massacre in Waco, Texas; and the location of former president John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

As one UK-based dyed-in-the-wool conspiracist wrote on X last weekend, in a post that has been viewed 7.7 million times: “That’s a hell of a lot of coincidences right there.”

There is, of course, absolutely no evidence to back up any of the conspiracies being outlined by these individuals and groups. But if they are unable, or unwilling, to marvel at a celestial phenomenon that has been enjoyed by humans for centuries, that probably warrants at least some introspection.

[jessicatredes]

i was tagged by @chloefrazer (like a week ago woops) to do this oc association - thank youuuuuuu!! i chose my bby boy raylan grace for this

tagging @newbordeaux @raphaelsboudoir @malefiicarum @jennystahl @chuckhansen @elvves @gwynbleidd & anyone else who wants to :-)

ANIMALS.

buzzards, coyotes, ravens. scavengers that feed off the dead.

COLOR.

black, orange, greens, & browns. flashy and muted shades.

MONTH.

august; when the days are hot and the nights are chilly.

SONGS.

jealousy, jealousy - olivia rodrigo; i'm so sick of myself when you die - mgmt; i'm not that nice pls pls pls let me get what i want - deftones; haven't had a dream in a long time god complex - violent vira; i wanna be the messiah, pariah / the one who never dies

NUMBER.

13.

PLANTS.

spanish moss, rye, foxglove, hemlock.

SMELLS.

stale air, petrichor, cigarettes, cheap cologne.

GEMSTONE.

conch pearl.

TIME OF DAY.

sunset.

SEASON.

summer.

PLACES.

amusement parks, empty parking lots, convenience stores at night.

FOOD.

cheap food; prepackaged items like instant noodles and white bread. plates left untouched, barely picked at. gum & mints.

DRINKS.

coffee, energy drinks, slushies, cheap wine.

ELEMENT.

earth.

SEASONINGS.

rosemary, paprika, nutmeg.

SKY.

hazy desert sunset.

WEATHER.

humid.

MAGICAL POWER.

time manipulation.

WEAPONS.

favors blades & pistols, but would rather talk his way out of confrontation.

CANDY.

sour or hard candy.

METHOD OF LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL.

the unreliable for travel to different parts of the colony. he doesn't mind foot travel for long distances over land.

ART STYLE.

romanticism & retro art.

FEAR.

sleep; has insomnia due to anxiety of sleeping from the deep space freeze. also hates eating corporation food. he's afraid he'll always be pretending he's someone else and always feel the need to lie.

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE.

sirens, nixies, will-o-wisp.

PIECE OF STATIONARY.

napkin with shitty handwriting scrawled on it.

THREE EMOJIS.

🚀🥍🪽

CELESTIAL BODY.

pluto's moon, charon.

#myocs* #oc: capt hawthorne #thanks again!!! #this was honestly really fun to try and think of ray in all these aspects lol

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Guided Blight • Asphyxiant Blessing • Murmuring Foul Spring • Derelict Satellite • Burning Apparition • Eroding Shell • All Bells Ringing • Urchin Thrones • Industrial Messiah Complex • Reeking Tunnels • Non-Atomism • Celestial Hierarch

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: full of hell #language: english #decade: 2020s #Deathgrind #Power Electronics #Mathcore #Grindcore

[emperorverse]

The Emperor-Verse: The Great Change

For the sake of The Great Cosmic Sphere, for all worlds that were and were yet to be created, The Celestial King had came down from The Heavens to the Firstborn Sphere, to The Silent World. Among a chosen people, born of a chosen man.

By the power of The Breath of Life, with the fiat of the woman who would be The Sapphire Queen, he was incarnate of her and became a Son of Adam and his true name was revealed.

He gathered disciples, he preached to the people, he healed the afflicted, he began his following. He was hailed by The Chosen People, ‘Messiah! Messiah!’ They cried, fanning palms at his coming.

But Among The Chosen People, the Elders rejected him. They did not understood The Messiah’s coming was not merely for them, but for those they even looked down upon, those whom they believed he would trample and vanquish.

So they wanted to do away with him.

Offering a traitor rewards, they captured him

Had him sentenced to death and handed to authorities

The flogged him, scourged him, mocked him, forced him to carry a tree, the instrument of his execution.

Many who were praising him, spat and cursed him

They tied him down to a tree, driving nails in his hands and feet

“Forgive them Father! Forgive them!”

The King Cried Out

The raised him up for all to see

“Save yourself! Save yourself!”

The mob jeered

Yet…this was to the will of The-Emperor-Of-All-That-Is…

The King cried out again

“Father! Into your hands, I commend my spirit!”

The sky blackened, the sun dimmed

The King Breathed

“…It is finished…”

He bowed his head and perished

The Earth quaked, a veil was torn, the King’s side was pierced and water and blood flowed…

And his cleansing soul echoed from that tiny silent world through the cosmos, cleansing it and all in it, each world, and each life…

After the silence, the faithful took him down, and laid him in a tomb

And yet it did not end there

The King’s soul descended into the edge of the Cosmic Sphere and freed the righteous and innocent souls held captive…

The Bent One and his Eldila and Oreyeseu scream and trembled with rage and fear…

And on the Third Day, when his work was done, The Celestial King returned restored and glorified…

So we Acclaim

Hail to our King!

The Celestial King!

Son of The-Emperor-Of-All-That-Is!

He died for each world!

Died for each life!

And rose again by The Breath of Life!

#crossover fanfiction #fanfiction #easter #‘The Celestial King’ #catholic #happy easter

[thewitcheslibrary]

Kök Tengri - Mythology and information

In Old Turkic, Tengri signifies God or Sky. Tengri, also known as Gök God or Kök Tengri, is the ultimate spirit of the sky, according to Tengricism. The Orkhon Inscriptions, where Tengri is the earliest deciphered term, give early proof of the significance of this notion.

Tengri, the great sky god, is the most revered Turkish divinity. While the majority of Turkish history has been polytheistic, Tengriism has existed as a monotheistic religion for millennia. Tengri, also known as Kök Tengri or Gok Tengri, is the first primordial deity and creator god. We don't know what he looks like, but he's all-powerful and fair. Later beliefs of the deity, no likely inspired by more contemporary philosophies, saw him as the force of good in opposition to Erlik's evil.

History-

Tengri was the Göktürks' national god, also known as the "god of Turks" (Türük Tängrisi). Tengri's mandate established the Göktürk khans' authority. These monarchs were widely considered as Tengri's sons, representing him on Earth. Tengrikut, kutluġ, and kutalmysh were titles given to monarchs who were believed to have gained kut, a spiritual energy provided by Tengri.

Prior to foreign intrusions, the Turkic idea of tengri was viewed as the heaven or the will that controlled the heavens, most likely a force. This resulted in the notion of a personal being. Initially, when Turkic people took over other religions, the term tengri became the name of a (personal) deity or "higher being"

Engri was the primary deity worshipped by the ruling elite of Central Asian steppe peoples from the sixth to ninth centuries (Turkic peoples, Mongols, and Hungarians). It lost significance when the Uighuric kagans declared Manichaeism the state religion in the eighth century. The Huns and early Bulgars spread Tengri religion over Eastern Europe.

Engri is thought to be the supreme god who created everything. In addition to the heavenly deity, they had smaller divinities (Alps) who served Tengri's objectives. Gök Tanrı was the father of the sun (Koyash) and moon (Ay Tanrı), also known as Umay, Erlik, and occasionally Ülgen.

Mythology-

Tengri was the most important deity in the Turkic pantheon, in charge of the celestial realm. Tengri is said to be related to the Indo-European sky deity *Dyeus, and the organisation of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion is closer to that of the early Turks than to the religion of any Near Eastern or Mediterranean nation. In Christian Turkish, Tengri refers to Jesus' father, who is known as "Tengri Oghli" (Son of God) and "Mshikha Tengri" (Messiah God). Tengri is likened to both Allah and Khuda. Apart from foreign religious influences, as far as is known today, the original Turkish understanding of Tengri was "heaven" or a spirit governing in heaven. This spirit was most likely conceived as a power, similar to "mana" in contemporary ethnology.

The most important current evidence of Tengri worship is contained in the Old Turkic Orkhon inscriptions from the early eighth century. These inscriptions, written in the so-called Orkhon script, provide information about the Turks' legendary beginnings. The inscription dedicated to Kul Tigin includes the following paragraphs (in the translation supplied by the Language Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan): "When the blue sky [Tengri] above and the brown earth below were created, between them a human being was created." My forefathers, Bumin Kagan and Istemi Kagan, ruled over humanity. They controlled the people according to Turkish rules, led them, and prevailed" (face 1, line 1); "Tengri causes death. The Old Turkic phrase "Öd Teŋri yasar kisi oγlu qop ölgeli törürmis" (face 2, line 9) and "You passed away (lit.: 'went flying') until Tengri gives you life again" (face 2, line 14) refer to the creation of humans with the intention of death. The ancient Turkic people believed that Khagans ruled by Tengri's will, as stated in the Orkhon inscriptions: "I, Tengri-like and Tengri-born Turk Bilge Kaghan, succeeded to the throne at this time" (Old Turkic: Teŋiriteg Teŋiride bolmuš Türük Bilge Qaγan bü ödüke olurtum).

Tengri, according to one Turkic story, is a clean, white goose who always hovers over an unending stretch of water, representing time. Ak Ana ("White Mother") screams out to him "Create" beneath the ocean. To alleviate his loneliness, Tengri produces Er Kishi, who is not as pure or white as Tengri, and together they build the universe. Er Kishi transforms into a demonic figure who attempts to deceive and entice others into its darkness. Tengri adopts the name Tengri Ülgen and withdraws into Heaven, where he attempts to guide humans through sacred animals he sends among them. The Ak Tengris inhabit the fifth level of Heaven. Shaman priests who want to achieve Tengri Ülgen never get beyond this stage, where they communicate their aspirations to the divine guides. Returns to Earth or to the human level occur on a goose-shaped vehicle.

What he's associated with/his symbols-

 the sun, the moon, the top of yurts, the wolf, and the deer. The wolf and the deer are the common ancestors of most of the populations that participate in the Tengri religion.

#pagan witch #witch #witchblr #witchcore #witchcraft #beginner witch #turkic pantheon

[doomedandstoned]

BLACK PYRAMID Release First Single from Astounding Comeback Album

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

One of the albums doom metal fans can legit look forward to in coming months is the return effort from Massachusetts legends BLACK PYRAMID, one of the most visionary, commanding, and influential bands of the first two decades of the 21st century.

That may sound like some heavy lauding, and it is, but the band continues to live up to their reputation in their first new album since 2013's Adversarial.

Today, Doomed & Stoned brings you the world premiere of the first single "Bile, Blame, and Blasphemy" from the upcoming saga, 'The Paths of Time Are Vast' (2024).

The song begins with gentle electrified picking of a motif that's immediately accessible, met by warm bass tones and tapping cymbals. After introducing us to the main theme, it's developed with the full power of the band -- complete with swaying, downtuned riffs, Sabbathian trills, an unrelenting rhythm section, and the heroic vocal attack of Andy Beresky.

The chorus brings me back to the doom classic "Mirror Messiah" from the band's first album, 'Black Pyramid' (2009), which was (and continues to be) a hallmark of the genre. I love the sound of rolling chords during the breakdown and the solo is replete with depth and emotion. There are long stretches of instrumental work that simply buoy the imagination.

"Bile, Blame, and Blasphemy" introduces us to a narrative that runs throughout these 8 tracks, giving us lyrical clues as the record progresses. It is indeed "an epic tale of loss and redemption, death and rebirth, fire and frost."

Black Pyramid's The Paths of Time Are Vast is nothing short of sheer conviction from the band, giving the evolving medium of metal a much needed shot in the arm as the year progresses. It digs deep into the craw and you may find yourself thinking about it even when it's not rumbling the stereo speakers. Album of the Year contender for damned sure.

Look for Totem Cat Records to release Black Pyramid's fourth full-length on May 3rd in vinyl, CD, and digital formats, with pre-orders beginning soon. Stick it on a playlist with High on Fire, Elder, Stoned Jesus, and Aleph Null.

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Evoking the molten, sludgy tones and the immersive atmosphere of their self-titled debut album, Black Pyramid greatly expands upon what worked wonders in the past, then seeks the transcendent path, pushing each element of their alchemistic sound to its unparalleled cosmic conclusion.

Slated for a May 3rd release, “The Paths of Time Are Vast” features Andy Beresky on guitar and vocals, Eric Beaudry on bass, and Andy Kivela on drums. This lineup of the band is now the longest running incarnation, actively gigging and touring since 2018, all the while honing their collective songcraft and solidifying their onstage chemistry. Working with Justin Pizzoferratu (Dinosaur Jr, Witch, Elder) at Sonelab, the band sought to capture the same visceral magic and sonic wizardry of their live performances onto tape, and then embellish in the psychedelic decadence of studio experimentation.

The resulting production is equally immense and ethereal, massive and otherworldly, elemental and insubstantial, as much an earthquake as an astral projection. Each song embodies the power trio’s raw energy, atavistic power and impassioned performances, juxtaposing elaborate arrangements with fiery free form improvisation.

Although past Black Pyramid albums were conceived as collections of stories told through individual songs, this marks the first time that the band has composed an album which tells a single solitary story. Utilizing both musical themes and lyrical imagery, “The Paths of Time Are Vast” relates an epic tale of loss and redemption, death and rebirth, fire and frost. This album is your golden ticket to voyage beyond the realms of birth and death, to take the journey through the many doors of radiant reality and dark dimension, to tread the celestial pathways carved in the carcasses of the stars, and to finally taste the vastness of time and space.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

#D&S Debuts #Black Pyramid #Northampton #Massachusetts #doom metal #Totem Cat Records #HeavyBest2024 #D&S Reviews #Doomed and Stoned

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

A Real, True, Extra-Verified Account of Ficino Preaching on the Magi and the Star that Guided Them

Marsilio Ficino, priest-mode, at the pulpit: A star shall come out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. With these words Balaam, in the book of Numbers, foretells the coming of the Messiah.

Lorenzo de' Medici: at least he's talking about the bible this time.

Ficino: Balaam lived in the Eastern area, where the Magi lived too, and among them there were some priests very skilled in astronomy who ruled the people. Thus, they were attentive students of sky signs and had noticed the event that, according Balaam, would be showed by the prodigy of the star.

Angelo Polizianno: oh, oh, astronomy was mentioned within five minutes of the start of the sermon. You owe me five lire, Lorenzo.

Giovanni Cavalcanti: you all owe me, actually. I guessed it to the exact second.

Angelo: you live with him and read his sermons, you're not allowed in our betting pool.

Ficino: Eventually, when Jesus was born, an extraordinary comet shone in the highest part of the sky. What scholars thought about such a comet is stated by Origen in Contra Celsum, when he refers to what he read in the book of the Stoic Cheremon, that in some cases comets can indicate happy and prosperous events. The one shining at the time of Augustus and Jesus' birth has this nature.

Lorenzo: oh thank god a church father was mentioned. First time in a month he's not treated Plato as a church father.

Giovanni: but it makes him so happy!

Ficino: Calcidius, the Platonist, attests the same, referring us to several stories about stars. There are also tales, more sacred and venerable, which state that neither illness or death were heralded with the birth this certain specific star. It was clear to all, rather, that the holy coming of God was heralded and it would bring the grace of redemption to mankind.

Lorenzo: and THERE'S the Platonism.

Ficino: I must pause here to request the peanut gallery to stop talking. Really, Giovanni, I thought you said you had this under control.

Giovanni: sorry. continue.

Ficino: In judging the comet to be prosperous and healthy, in fact, the witnesses recognized that it comes from the nature of the Sun, Jupiter, and Venus. It is taught that when a comet's colour is dark, it is Saturnian, and heralds plague and famine. When it is of the same colour of fire, it is a Martian and foretells battles and fires. Indeed, the greatest part of comets are of these two varieties. In fact! the fire and impetuous strength of Mars draws terrestrial fumes higher, in the upper part of the air, near the Fire sphere where they burn.

Giovanni: this isn't a Ficino Astrology lecture, honey, you're in church

Ficino:

Ficino: anyway. So. When Eastern astronomers, in December, saw a comet rising in the beginning of Sagittarius, they judged it a benevolent apparition, because it shed golden rays, being of Sun nature, silver rays because of Jupiterian nature, and mixed rays because of Venusian nature. Maybe Jupiter, too, was in that moment in the beginning of Sagittarius. The Sun, if others are right in their calculations, was in the middle of the sign. Maybe Venus, always near to the Sun, was in the last degree of the sign.

Lorenzo: am I in church or am I at the Florentine Studio?

Angelo: neither, we're at Ficino and Cavalcanti's after we've all had two bottles of wine each.

Giovanni: .... not inaccurate

Ficino: This celestial configuration caused great admiration and great quarrels. Which is what you are going to get if you don't shut up.

Giovanni: please continue.

Ficino: Thank You. Because of  the position of Jupiter, Sun, and Venus, the Magi judged the one whose birth was heralded would be a rightful king of greatest fame and very merciful. But, because of the Sun, he could not be very rich. How will he be both a great king and poor? Considering Jupiter rising in the angle of the geniture, they judged the nativity very favorable; but sterile because of the Moon in the first facie of Virgo, being the stress on a virgin rather than a pregnant woman.

Angelo: this is very precise. were you there?

Ficino: So I believe that the comet, not natural but divine, was moved, and lighted by the Archangel Gabriel. It was Gabriel in fact that announced John, Christ’s forerunner, to Zachariah and Christ to Mary; it was him to show to the Gentiles the birth of Christ and the place where it occured; and through the Gentiles he persuaded Jews too. And under the form of a star informed the students of stars, and through the light of the star, derived from the Sun he guided them towards the Sun.

Lorenzo: church, Ficino! You're in church!

Giovanni: oh he likes to play with fire. don't worry about it.

Ficino: The astronomers brought gold to the just born king, because they judged him having a Sun nature, with perfumed incense they indicated the grace of Venus, with myrrh they indicated a life under the influence of Jupiter, unaware of putrefaction.

Angelo: magi or astronomers?

Ficino: they're both.

Lorenzo: are you self identifying with them? pagans who find Christ?

Ficino: I'm not answering that. As I was saying, they gave him the gold because he was a king, the incense because he was a priest, the myrrh because he was God. ... It is likely the comet was an Angel; how an Angel in human guise guided Tobias travel, in the same way the Angel under the guise of a comet guided the journey of the astrologers towards Christ.

Giovanni: you didn't take my edits in this part did you? is the comet guided by an angel or an angel?

Ficino: and you aren't listening. It is an angel disguised as a comet. It's Gabriel. Look, don't worry about it.

Angelo: so which of you started saying "Don't worry about it" and passed it on to the other?

Ficino & Giovanni pointing at each other: He did.

Angelo: don't worry about it?

Giovanni: right. Don't even worry about it.

Ficino: As I was saying. The Angel, turned toward the East, promptly directed the comet towards Persia (as in, he as a comet directed his light towards Persia), in order to guide from there the Magi to Christ. From here Isaiah said: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of  the Lord is risen upon thee.  And people walk  in your light. 

Lorenzo: we are back to the Bible! praise be!

Ficino: We have been discussing the Bible the entire time, Lorenzo!

Lorenzo: I've been hearing a lot of stars and magic men. So...

Ficino: Now, what has been said about the sign of Christ being that of Sagittarius was based on the calculation of someone else. In my opinion, Christ's sign is more rightly that of Virgo. While Christ was born, necessarily one of the twelve signs was rising, and I don’t know which sign is more appropriate to give the One who is born from a Virgin than Virgo. 

Giovanni: I love when he does vague drive-bys on other people's astrological readings of Christ's birth.

Angelo: is this a usual occurance at home?

Giovanni: it's pillow talk.

Lorenzo: church! we are in church! oh my god!

Ficino: you're normally not so prudish.

Lorenzo: we're in a church!

Lorenzo:

Lorenzo: wait, you're saying Jesus is a Virgo? But he was born in December.

Angelo: He doesn't seem like a Virgo. Pices is more my read.

Giovanni: Leo. Trust me. He's a Leo.

Ficino: VIRGO. I'VE ASSIGNED HIM VIRGO. It makes sense! Trust me!

Giovanni: If we're just randomly assigning him things not based on his being born in December I still maintain Leo.

Ficino: Was he born in December? Were you there? Do people in ancient Judea have a winter lambing season? Thank you. So. To wrap up. The light which comes from the Good is spread through all the spirits and is beneficial and beatific. It directs us towards the Good and teaches us Stillness (which is God). And it makes it possible that we love the Good and rejoice in it.

Lorenzo: platonic again, we've gone full platonic-letters-from-Marsilio again.

Ficino: Whatever particular Good a man has within him is the image of Good itself. Men without charity, the ones tormented by envy, are starting to fall into darkness and away from the benefits (Goodness) of Light. Since they hate Good, they therefore suffer within Good which is a heartbreak for what is hell but an absence of the Good which is God? Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lorenzo:

Lorenzo: was that last bit a drive by at anyone in particular?

Giovanni: don't worry about it.

Lorenzo: If it's about me, I swear to god -

Angelo: annnnnd it's time for the Credo and for everyone's running commentary to stop.

Ficino: THANK YOU.

--------

note: Ficino's sermon language is taken from an actual sermon he gave on the star that led the Magi to Christ.

#marsilio blogging #this is pure shitpost #highly self indulgent of me #marsilio ficino #giovanni cavalcanti #lorenzo de medici #angelo polizianno #someone hire me to write a tv show about this time period in Florence I'd be so good at it

[gaoau]

A future for silent gods

Raison d'Être warnings — none. word count — 443

prev. — next.

This was just plain ridiculous. [Name] had dropped by the day before, why was she visiting the store again?

It was clear, from where Kazutora stood attending to one of the cats, what [Name] wanted out of these frequents oh, I was just passing by and thought I'd say hi. This time, however, she had brought her dog with her. Seemed like she was heading to the park and made an unnecessary detour to the shop. Seeing as there weren't any customers—common at this time of the evening—Chifuyu stepped outside to greet her. And there they stood, outside the shop, chatting like good old friends while Chifuyu entertained the excited dog jumping at him.

But it was too much for Kazutora to bear. This was just plain ridiculous and absolutely painful.

At first, he really couldn't wrap his head around why Chifuyu didn't find her eyes as off-putting as he did, but now he saw. [Name] didn't look at Chifuyu the same way she looked at him, but neither did she look at Chifuyu as if he were a person. If Kazutora was art study material in her brain, then Chifuyu was a god, a savior, a messiah, anything sacred that she didn't dare taint.

It wasn't an overstatement at all. Judging by the way she grinned so widely and her eyes glimmered with too much enthusiasm, she was definitely interpreting Chifuyu as the man who created the universe and aligned all the planets in his hands just for her. Which, yes, Kazutora didn't completely disagree with, seeing as Chifuyu had stuck his neck out for him and helped him out despite each and every one of his past mistakes, but then again, he didn't look at his boss as some superior, celestial being.

He didn't hate [Name], really. In fact, he didn't even dislike her. When she had smiled and nodded at him as if he was an actual human being, sensing his discomfort, he even thought for a moment that maybe she wasn't that bad. Surely she wasn't making him feel uncomfortable on purpose. But that didn't mean he was okay with having her around so often. Especially not when she looked at Chifuyu as if she needed him like he was the oxygen she breathed.

It was painful to watch. Chifuyu talked and talked and talked and [Name] listened so intently, laughing until her lungs lost all air, brushing her fingers on his shoulder to give him a playful shove, sporting warm cheeks despite the weather. Kazutora really didn't like the implications her gaze brought.

#Raison d'Être #Tokyo Revengers #Matsuno Chifuyu #Chifuyu #Matsuno Chifuyu x Reader #Chifuyu x Reader #Tokyo Revengers x Reader #tokrev #tokrev x reader

[thekillingmoonmoon]

Hello darlings!

Due to my wee hiatus, I managed to miss my blog’s anniversary, my 350 follower milestone and I’ve barely made it back in time for my birthday. So, I’m throwing one huge celebration to say thank you. Thank you for supporting me, and thank you so so so much for sticking around til I came back

HOW IT WORKS:

The power is in your hands! Throughout the month of August, you will have the opportunity to vote on the next two series and decide on whose story I get to write. The highest voted ideas for each manga will be written next.

AND

I will draw one username at random from the list of voters to receive a personalised fic request.

What do you need to do to win:

Be over 18 (no minors allowed)

Be following me

Vote for one or more categories in the event

VOTE HERE

THE CONTESTANTS

jujutsu kaisen

1. ceremonials

looking for heaven, found the devil in me

Pairing: Geto Suguru x Reader x Gojo Satoru Warnings: NSFW, smut, blood, violence, death, religion, mlm (the geto x gojo is strong) Length: 5+ chapters #CeremonialsAU It's been ten years since Riko died. Ten years, and the Church of Light has fallen into a darkness that even the Holy Sun and Moon fail to illuminate. The Church is waning, and it needs the power of to Star Maiden to survive, the power it so tragically lost a decade before. But much has changed since Riko was chosen as the Star. Shadows run through the veins of the Church, tainting the blood of its proselytes, corrupting even the light of their Messiahs.

And you have been chosen. The new Star. The Holy Maiden chosen to lead the Celestial Church back into the Heavenly light. Despite the fractures in your own glow. Despite the shadows lurking in the wake of your new comrades.

2. cherry wine

Sweet and right and merciful I'm all but washed In the tide of her breathing.

Pairing: Vampire!Choso x Vampire Bride! Fem!Reader Warnings: NSFW, smut, brief descriptions of violence, blood, death, strong themes of religion, death, blood, Length: 5+ chapters #CherryWineAU There is a castle, high on the mountains above the town, where the Lord lives. No-one knows his name, but the townspeople fear him, fear the dark, fear the thought of him in the dark. He is to be your husband, he is to be your death.

3. cigarette daydreams

Funny how it seems like yesterday As I recall, you were lookin' out of place Gathered up your things and slipped away No time at all, I followed you into the hall

Pairing: Bodyguard!Fushiguro Toji x Naoya’s Fiance!Reader Warnings: NSFW, smut, blood, violence, death, “infidelity”, misogyny Length: 5+ chapters #CigaretteDaydreamsAU

Toji has nothing to live for. No wife, his kid sold off, and no job. Until he gets a call from the people he hates the most, the Zen’ins. You’re sweet, a little bit naive, and about to be dragged into the worst family in Jujutsu history. But will Toji escort you to your doom?

4. bad reputation

A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation

Pairing: Biker!Sukuna x Stripper!Reader Warnings: NSFW, smut, descriptions of violence Length: 3 chapters  #RoadhouseBluesAU His name burns, scorching your tongue hotter than his kiss. You know better than to follow Sukuna into his Hell, but what if you fall for the flame?

tokyo revengers

1. the city

don't call it a fight when you know it's a war

Pairing: Toman Timeskip! Hanma Shuji x Fem! Reader / minor Kisaki x Reader Warnings: NSFW, smut, drugs, blood, violence, death, guns, sex work, “infidelity”, Reader is as off the rails as Hanma Length: 5+ chapters #TheCityAU Your life ended the day you were sold to Toman. Your life as the eldest daughter of a Yakuza Legend ended, but you lived on, as the forgotten property of Kisaki Tetta. Forgotten, abandoned, until Hanma Shuji stumbled, bloody, beaten, and laughing, into your boring world.

2. wishlist

I wish I was a radio song, the one that you turned up

Pairing: Bassist! Akashi Takeomi x Fem! Reader / a little Guitarist! Wakasa x fem! Reader Warnings: NSFW, smut, childhood friends to lovers, idiots in love, brief descriptions of violence, brief descriptions of drugs, grunge Length: 5 chapters #WishlistAU The Black Dragons started as a dream, a dream born in the Shinichiro’s grease-stained motorcycle workshop, born between beaten-up machine parts and the strings of Shin’s old guitar. Now, the Black Dragons are legends, returning home after a record-breaking world tour. Five years have changed you, but your childhood crush on Takeomi hasn’t.

3. villains of circumstance

There's no magic bullet, no cure for pain What's done is done, 'til you do it again Life in pursuit of a nameless prey I've been so close, I'm so far away It's so hard to explain, so easy to feel I need you now, nothing is real Save me from the villains of circumstance Before I lose my place

Pairing: 1920s Gangster! Tokyo Revengers x Fem!Reader (character to be decided) Warnings: NSFW, smut, brief descriptions of violence, drugs, sex work and death Length: 5+ chapters #VillainsOfCircumstanceAU There is a life of gold and glamor deep in the grease and grime of the downtown districts. There is no law, only the lawless, and the lowlife gangsters who run the show. Lowlifes, murderers, and thieves, and you’ve never been in better company. Because here, in the darkness and the dirt, you can fulfil your dreams and desires. [same format as RoadhouseBlues AU]

4. gun in my hand

Why did love put a gun in my hand? Oh, was it for redemption? Was it for revenge?

Pairing: Bonten! Hitto Kakucho x Undercover Detective! Fem!Reader x Tachibana Naoto Warnings: NSFW, smut, violence, guns, drugs, death, Sanzu, grief, blood, mental health Length: 5+ chapters #GunInMyHandAU They took your partner, so you’ll take down their entire world. With the help of your friend, and fellow detective, Tachibana Naoto, you infiltrated Japan’s most dangerous organisation, Bonten. With the sole goal of tearing Sano Mikey’s empire apart from the inside, you find yourself rapidly losing touch with yourself and your morality as you get more and more entangled with the organisation’s earnest third-in-command

DISCLAIMER: all work here is original, please do not copy, repost, or use without permission. All images/gifs are either my own, sourced from popular media, or retrieved from royalty-free sources.

#KillingmoonLunarNewYear #toji x reader #choso x reader #gojo x reader #geto x reader #ryomen sukuna x reader #hanma shuji x reader #takeomi akashi x reader #kakucho x reader #naoto x reader #ran x reader

[shunsellon]

The Vexos as religious leaders... But what religion may Vestal have? A Roman-esque cult to the leader? A monotheistic one telling them to "enlighten the impure" with colonization? Do they worship the Six Warriors, or do they know about the Code Eve? Or did they worship a similar set of beings they then identified with the previous seven? Is all of that at once? 1/2

2/2 Does that mean Shadow maybe conducted sacrifices to Exedra, while Mylene believed Frosch to be the same as a water deity they worshipped back in Vestal? Does Volt think Bakugan deserve the same rights as them because they're all children of the Code Eve? Does Lync "realize" the current monarchy is unworthy of their title and decides to help Alice in the hopes then a true king deserving of worship would follow? Is Gus so enamoured with Spectra because he believes him to be a Messiah? Idk 3/2 Did Keith believe he was this figure that was promises to bring an era of enlightenment and prosperity to Vestal, and that's why he changed his appearance and name? Ok, this question and the Gus one are pretty much cannon... But idk, I think this is fic material

this got long LMAO i love talking about the connections of religion to the state and social psychology so this just got me talking. under the cut so it won't clog everyone's blogs

i def think vestal lacks any solid indication to what their religion may be, if any. the most we get is the origin of their people's name but that doesn't come from anything in-canon, it's from irl history. BUT there's also the theme of their bakugan being named after greek/roman deities - helios, vulcan, hades, brontes/bronte. altair and vega (jpn name of elico) are named after stars. from this, i'd give them a polytheistic religion, maybe one modeled after ancient greece and rome. this would inform much of their collective psychology.

also, in the rare time that i'll ever back up the wikia, here's their note on zenoheld's name which i can see happening due to the pattern of vestal referencing ancient greece and rome:

Zenoheld's name is possibly a mis-transliteration of Xenoheld. Xeno- derived from the Greek ξένος (alien, foreign) and -held, with connotation of ownership, Zenoheld's name therefore means "ruler of the cosmos/foreign lands".

here's my problem with making bakugan/the brawlers deities in any possible vestal religion - if they were deities in the vestal religion, why then do vestals enslave and colonize the bakugan? aren't they supposed to be holy beings, to be given reverence to? by all accounts, hydron turning 5/6 of the original bakugan to stone (and planning to turn shun and marucho in bronze statues) should make him and the vexos the worst heretics ever. i don't think they know of the existence of code eve, either. vestals (namely spectra and clay) only get in contact with neathia by the near end of the season, and it's through fabia's encrypted message.

also, if they worship the bakugan, they should have a longer exposure to bakugan, but the timeline shows that the bakugan only came in contact with the vestals the same time it with humans, which was three years. keep in mind that religion more often than not is the justification of monarchies throughout history - japanese emperors claimed they were descended from the celestial sun goddess amaterasu, the zhou dynasty had the mandate of heaven, sultans trace their ancestry to the prophet Muhammad, and european monarchs were always in junction with the churches. even today, the world's remaining absolute monarchies either have islam or christianity as a state religion, at least if you count the vatican. but zenoheld is an old man and is the fourth of his name. it just doesn't line up with the given timeline.

spectra and gus are interesting because spectra canonically refers to himself as a god/aims to be a god, and gus' reverence for him is honestly so much like a god and its believer. gus saying spectra showed him the "light of hope," gus saying spectra gave him a reason to live after he lost and was aimless, spectra "converting" gus in a cathedral-esque setting with a painting of helios in front of them. very much religion-like. if there's any religion or belief system in vestal, it's whatever spectra and gus have going on. gus' reverence for spectra is also what supports spectra in his bid to rule vestal and the rest of the known world - it's a version of the divine right of kings.

#bakugan #bakugan new vestroia #vestal #bakugan meta #meta #anonymous #answered

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

May 26th - Mantis

The heroine known as Mantis is the daughter of Gustav Brandt and Lua Nguyen. While a child, she was trained by the alien Priests of Pama, a religious sect of the Kree who believed in the prophecy of the ‘Celestial Madonna.’  Excelling in her martial arts studies, the young woman earned the name ‘Mantis.’ as the protectors of the Cotati, the Priests of Pama enhanced Mantis’ mind, giving her telepathic abilities. On her 18th birthday, she was mindwiped and was given false memories of a childhood as an orphan in Vietnam, in order for her to experience a regular human life, which was believed be an aide for her to become this Celestial Madonna.

Mantis met The Swordsman in Viet Nam where the one-time villain was hiding out and trying to find new direction in his life.  Mantis encouraged him to rededicate himself toward becoming a hero and the two ventured to The United States where the pair aided the Avengers.  Both were offered previsional membership in The Avengers and embarked on a number of adventures.  

Whereas The Swordsman very much loved Mantis, she was merely fond of him.  Rather it was her Avengers teammate, The Vision, whom Mantis pined over.  It was only after The Swordsman sacrificed his life to save Mantis from Kang that she discovered that she loved him as much as he did her.  

The Swordsman was buried in the sacred garden of the Cotati in a rural region of Viet Nam.  The sentient Cotati plants had taken root in The Swordsman’s body, reanimating him as a composite being that was both the original Swordsman as well as a part of The Cotati.  Mantis chose to accept her destiny and become the Celestial Madonna; she married the Swordsman and together they conceived a child prophesied to bring about a resurgence of the Cotati race.    

The Priests of Pama took away Mantis’ son when he was a toddler so to teach him the ways of The Cotati.  A restless Mantis went on further adventures.  She had a vision foreshadowing the Annihilation Wave and situated herself so to become an ally of StarLord and the new Guardians of The Galaxy, aiding the team in helping to defeat the threat.  Mantis continued on as a member of The Guardians throughout the Skrull Invasion and subsequent War of The Kings event.  

Years later, Mantis’ son, Sequoia, oversaw the forestation of oxygenated Blue Area of The Moon.   Sequoia and his father, The Swordsman, were able to convince The Avengers that the Kree and Skrull Empires were seeking to exterminate the Cotati as a means of cementing their union.  This was actually a ruse; Sequoia meant to fulfill his destiny as the Celestial Messiah and purge all animal life from the earth, thus making it a paradise for the flora-based Cotati.    

Mantis returned to earth in the battle against her misguided son.  She helped the Avengers and Fantastic Four prevail while also ensuring that her son was not harmed.  In the end, Sequoia and the rest of the Cotati were transported to a secluded planet in uncharted space, where they could live in peace without posing a threat

A version of Mantis has featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe portrayed by actress Pom Klementieff.  The heroine first appeared in Avengers Vol. 1 #112 (1973).

#365 Marvel Comics Heroes #Mantis #Avengers #Guardians of The Galaxy #Pom Klementieff #cut-out #paper art