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fangsandfeels · 7 months

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Yo, I didn't expect the game to mention my boy Hoar in any capacity

Imagine my surprise when it did:

Naturally, that tiny cameo means it's legit for me to shamelessly spam headcanons on Jerra's possible connection to Hoar.

Of course, I had to choose the most cringe edgelord/most edgy cringelord among the Forgotten Realms pantheon that is Hoar, the Doombringer, and the Poet of Justice. I’m not even joking here: Hoar is an angry petty bitch who sits in his edgy domain with booming thunders and heads on pikes while being salty about not getting a god of war portfolio in Unther. Like, this is meme is not a meme in Hoar's case, this how he probably talks:

youtube

Needless to say, Hoar's followers are just as cringe, brooding in their temples, remembering their grievances and planning their revenge. On top of that, he is the former exarch of Bane and the buddy of Beshaba (the goddess of misfortune and bad luck who ruins people's lives for the most insignificant of reasons).

So, Jerra is certainly not his faithful follower or loyal paladin. If she was, let's just say Astarion would not have gotten away with pulling a knife on her that easily. Also, him trying to bite her at night? Hoar would be pissed off at Jerra telling Astarion off and then letting him sink his fangs into her anyway. As a good devout, Jerra would be expected to bite the vampire's neck in return because Hoar's direct dogma is all about following Equally Matched Aggression standards to an extreme.

But in a world where everyone is influenced by deities and follows some (because the alternative is the Wall of the Faithless and you do NOT want to be condemned to the Wall) Jerra praying and leaving offerings to the Poet of Justice still makes sense, both in the context of her actions and even her acceptance of Astarion.

+ His tenets are actually pretty based. Violence begets violence, but kindness is repaid with kindness. Treat people like you want to be treated, don't commit evil acts for the sake of evil because this path leads to ruin and self-destruction. Meaningful gestures and actions matter more than words.

+ There are several different churches of Hoar scattered across Faerun, each squabbling over who understands Hoar best. So, there is a lot of in-fighting going on, which gives plausibility to the idea of more watered-down followers just minding their own business and keeping away from more intense brothers and sisters in Hoar.

+ Hoar is not that worried about looking righteous or valorous. It’s the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law, that must be upheld. So, it’s not about you looking good when you deliver the vengeance the person deserves. It’s about sending a message. Accordingly, poetic justice is encouraged. Yes, killing the duergar who enslaved a Deep Gnome and made him serve them drinks is good. But lacing the drinks he serves with deadly poison, so the slavers die vomiting their own blood and guts after smugly grabbing mugs from their captive's hands and laughing in his face? Wonderful. Priceless. Deserved.

+ Probably most important: Hoar doesn't mind the undead. At least, he doesn't seem to abhor them like Tyr or other gods of goodness, and his clergy has a rather interesting approach to the undead and necromancy. The dead deserve to be heard and avenged just like the living. Doombringers (the elite battle priests of Hoar) can raise the corpses of victims who died with the wish for vengeance on their lips as revenants - nothing is better than beating a murderer or a serial killer to death with the crowd of raging revenants who lost their lives because of them. Also, if a Doombringer is killed unfairly, they, too, rise as a revenant as a final "fuck you" to their murderer. But Hoar's tolerance for the undead doesn't stop there. The lore even mentions a vampire follower of Hoar (on the bad guys' side, but still). So, even if Jerra merely follows the diluted image of Hoar shaped by her mentor, she is used to speaking with the dead and didn't bat an eye at He Who Was when she first met him. Accordingly, it was relatively easier for her to think outside the box with Astarion and judge him through the prism of his deeds instead of his nature. Her philosophy is less about "there are inherently evil creatures that are KOS and inherently good creatures that deserve multiple second chances" and more about "there are many evil things in the world, lots of them are less obvious than the others"

In general, I don't think that Jerra draws her paladin powers from Hoar. Even though she ends up with several huge grudges against the Absolute, Raphael (when she promised to rip out his mocking tongue, it wasn't an empty threat), and the Emperor (oh she does NOT like the Emperor), she is still way too forgiving and patient to be a full-blown Hoarite. She pays her respects, certainly: her mentor followed the Poet of Justice, which was why they even met - all the time while the Flaming Fist and City Watch, the seemingly dedicated followers of Tyr and Helm, looked the other way. But her Oath was to herself, first and foremost.

However, if Hoar was more chill, I would have headcanonned that Jerra draws powers from his domain, which confused him greatly when it happened for the first time, but then he decided to allow it in a "Listen, if this mortal is so dedicated to her idea of vengeance, she raged her way into my domain, this is going to be good" way.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 oc ramblings #i probably got lot of this shit wrong #still need a dnd adult #Youtube #hoar dnd #paladin dnd #oath of vengeance #bg3 oc: jerra

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ghostfvcker · 7 months

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brother talk to me abt zirse

HEHE

Zirce is my dnd character I made for a dnd campaign with my father. I love her to pieces-- neutral good warlock/cleric with a heart of gold. She's a lonely child, abandoned at a lonely elven temple that had been repurposed to worship Kelemvor after the singular cleric there witnessed his death and ascension to godhood. She was raised completely alone by a 900 year old elf, Alasthan, at the end of his life. She made her other friends with the "spirits" of the graveyard, taking the names and blurbs on the sides of headstones and making up a guy about it to play pretend.

The only other friend she makes is with her Patron, Vyallniir-- a relic of the Thousand Year War LITERALLY 25000 YEARS AGO, Vyallniir was a powerful giant wizard general who devoted himself undying to his cause, by becoming a lich (known as a Drugar). That was literally over 25000 years ago. He is still stuck, was disabled beyond recovery about 600-400 years ago, when he incited riots that raized Alasthan's home-- the elven ruins-- to ash and rubble. He's been stuck in solitary confinement for that long, when Alasthan realized he couldn't turn or kill the monster he was forced to let it be. Zirse fell into his lap once and has been fascinated with him ever since, insisting to talk and listen to the old bag of bones talk about his life.

Zirse is like, the very epitome of forgiveness. Vyallniir finds forgiveness in the eyes of this scruffy haired human for atrocities she can't even imagine, and it warms his cold dead heart. He eventually sends her on a journey to become as strong of a warrior as she can, so that she can break into the iced-over remains of the giant stronghold where his phylactery is kept and put him out of his misery.

She got her cleric multiclass after witnessing so much needless death and destruction. At a temple, she prayed for their soul's safety, prayed that she might steel her heart, and offered rites for the many dead she'd found along the way. She slunk into the catacombs to be at peace with the silence of the dead, and that's when Kelemvor found her, and made her his cleric after so long.

Kelemvor is a death god of judgement, who abhors undead. Zirse's only friend, putside of her caretaker and her ragtag team of adventurers, is a fucking Lich. She walks this tightrope line between the two of them, trying desperately to be right by both without fully pleasing either, and it puts so much strain on her, and its just fascinating.

Thank u so much for asking about her hev i haven't thought about her in a minute. Clerlock brain baby

#forgotten realms #oc: zirse of loudwater #my fave #i love her #thank u so much hev!!! i wuv u #also if you see any typos in this no u didn't im typing this on my phone

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hunterartemis · 3 years

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Vishakhatantra Headcanon #4: Standard wand woods (Pt : 1- Satvik Sect- Talent of Preservation)

Wands and wand woods have very paradox history in Indian Wizarding society. When the School was erected for the first time, the energy of the nine planets became too volatile for spending such massive amount to build an institution. Because the excess energy of all of them were “Masculine” they simultaneously tried to preserve and destroy each other. At that moment, daughter of Venus, Lady Devyani suggested that the place needed a dire need of feminine energy to cancel out the excess. She was a great alchemist and summoned 27 yonis (womb) three for each planet and asked the planets to channel their energy in a specific way: one with the principle of creation, one preservation, one destruction, signifying the three universal energies (Satva, Raja, Tama). when the energy was channeled, each yoni took the shape of a tree and planted themselves in various unique places. These 27 trees took the excess energy and they were imbibed with magical properties, which were identified as the precursors “first wand trees”

Although having every magical properties those trees were never used as wands. They were simply regarded and revered as guardians of the school, and harming even one would bring catastrophe. Wands were introduced into Indian Wizarding society when Portuguese and Dutch merchants came to trade spices at the western coast of India. Despite the Muggle India was being colonised by Europeans for nearly 200 years and Mughals before it for 500 years, Wizarding Population of India reclused themselves deeply and Vishakhatantra became impenetrable by external forces for Saturn's Tamas. The Wizarding Population of India deeply detested western influences as they saw their muggle brothers crumbling under western forces, but eventually they considered taking up the wand with changing time. The wand soon became widespread in India, but people use it alongside ancient wandless methods as it is more versatile. Some of the wand woods that are exclusive to India (and sometimes imported from other South Asian Countries) are given below.

The Nine Planet constellation cycle goes like this: South Node, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, North Node, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury.

WAND WOODS (Part 1: Satva Set)

Kanjiram (Poison Nut)

Kanjiram or Poison nut is extremely important in Indian Wizardry. It blooms in winter and produces a very foul smelling flower. But it’s fruit is quite delicious. Poison nut is highly prized in Ayurveda for both making medicine and poison. In Wizarding Herbology it is also called the “Indian curare” for it’s lethal potency. Poison Nut’s paradoxical nature chooses a wizard who is unassuming, introverted yet cunning: a lethal weapon hidden in plain sight.

A wand made of poison nut is a staple requirement in ritualistic death magic. Despite it’s Savtik nature it’s greatest spell is the “Killing curse”. Thus it is a paradoxical and quite unstable wand in a incompatible wand. The wielder of this wand would be innocent yet impulsive, short tempered yet merciful. This wielder can also be aloof, detached from the material world and quite careless about outer splendour. Healing spell, ayurveda, Occlumency is some of the best performed arts in this wand

Element: Fire and Shadow

Nature: Bendy

Gana: Deva

Energy: Masculine

Best for: Charms, Ayurveda, Unforgivable Curse, Healing Spells, Occlumency

Associated Zodiac(s): Aries

Associated Constellation: Aswini (Exaltation point of Sun)

Affinity with the House(s): Punarvasu, Bhadrapada

Associating Planet: Ketu (South Node of the Moon)

Best Wand Cores: Hair of Asvini (Indian Centaur), Poison of Sarpa, (Humanoid snake), Unicorn tail hair (western)

Svet Simul (White Silk Cotton)

Svet Simul is an near-extinct plant, which is an albino twin of the Red Simul. This tree is revered because it’s association with Tantrik meditation, refinement of mind and harnessing the complete power of the feminine. White silk cotton is extremely coveted in Wizarding community to make water-repellant luxurious fabrics and thus it is also associated with luxury and regalness as well.

Whoever wields the Svet Simul wand would be very regal natured, perfectionist person with keen for researches with the taboo and forbidden arts. They would be also associated with power harnessed through mastering sexuality. Needless to say they are greatly charming, well versed in written texts of profane and elevated alike and brings intellectual edge to their sensuality of the ways. The strongest art in this wand is Charms and Sanjivani Vidya. Western Alchemy and Ritualistic dark magic can also be performed well in this wand. The nature of the wand is steadfast, and it will bend only to the powerful.

Element: Fire and air

Nature: Obstinate

Gana: Nara

Energy: Feminine

Best for: Charms, Sanjivani Vidya, enchantments

Associated Zodiac(s): Sagittarius

Associated Constellation: Purbashada (delta Sagitarii)

Affinity with the House(s): Yajurmitra

Associating Planet: Venus

Best Wand Cores: Phoenix tail feather, hair of veela, (Western), Hair of kinnar, Iris of Mohini (Indian Enchantrix) (Indian)

Bael (Indian Woodapple)

Bael is the third holiest tree in Indian Wizardry. Bael or Indian Woodapple are filled with thorns, rises to greatest of heights, has thin and nimble branches and have three leaved foliage formation that makes it look like three eyes of Lord Shiva. The Bael wand chooses someone who is visionary, highly intuitive, self reliant but somewhat misunderstood for the hard appearance. Like a Bael fruit, which hides sweet mellow flesh under hard exterior, Bael wand wielders are soft and gentle inside but strict and harsh outside.

Air spells, Sky magic and Fire spells are best in this wand. It is also the wand of hardships and learning through frugality. They are not the best Care of Magical Creature practitioners but they are at par with Banyan and Peepal wand holders when it comes to Divination. They are also very formidable in Battle magic.

Element: Fire and Light

Nature: Flexible

Gana: Deva

Energy: Masculine

Best for: Spirit fire, Astronomy, Divination.

Associated Zodiac(s): Sagittarius, Capricorn (cusp)

Associated Constellation: Uttarashada (Zeta Sagitarii) (Debilitation point of Jupiter)

Affinity with the House(s): Uttarashada

Associating Planet: Sun

Best Wand Cores: Phoenix tail feather, Unicorn tail hair, (Western), Hair of Pakshiraj (Indian Hippogriff), Silk of Kokonod (Blood Lotus) (Indian)

Sundari (Looking glass mangrove)

Grown in the Mangrove forest of Bengal Delta, Sundari is an extremely resilient tree. It can withstand heavily saline and nearly marsh-like soil, hard wind and extreme weather. Thus is often chooses a wizard who has all those qualities. It is said that a Sundari wand provides all the resilience of the tree into its owner and the wizard who wields it often is immune to many diseases, has high enduring quality, patience and long life. Sundari wand wielders have the potential to be warriors but they often choose the path to the psychic world because of its connection to the element of water.

Sundari wand has greatest affinity with battle magic as well as mnemonic magic. It gifts wizards with powers to see beyond the apparent and reveal the truth and beauty behind it. Magic that connects the emotions with the outer world are the most powerful in this wand. The wielder has the potential to be a strong empath if not a legillimence by birth. Transfiguaration is another branch of magic that Sundari is comfortable performing. Sundari is easy to master and it’s loyalty is fixed once earned.

Element: Water

Nature: Reasonably springy

Gender: Feminine

Gana (tribe): Rakshasa

Triguna: Satvik

Best for: Charms, Enchantment, Legillimency, Divination

Associated Zodiac(s): Capricorn

Associated Constellation: Sravana (Aquila)

Affinity with the House(s): Anantasoumya

Associating Planet: Moon

Best Wand Cores: Unicorn tail hair, Hair of a mermaid (Western), Scale of a Makara [Capricorn], Silk of Indivara [Blue Lotus] (Indian)

Arjun (Indian Myrtle)

The Arjun tree is called the “Guardian of the Heart” in Ayurveda and it is very powerful medicine for any blood related disease. Its bark is white colour and extremely beautiful looking. The Arjun tree always choose someone who is sanguine and lively natured, extroverted and always goes by his own heart despite the society. Arjun wand wielders are great at making friends and they often make great medics. They are either very fascinated with blood or they do jobs where blood is somewhat involved; thus they can either be great magical Surgeons or Warriors.

Arjun Wand is great for Earth and Martial magic. Cutting and Severing magic can also be performed well in this wand; if the wizard’s Mars is at Cancer (debilitated) then he would better succeed at butchering and Magizoological Taxidermy instead of surgery and martial jobs. Arjun wand is very stubborn and hard to master. Its loyalty depends on the domination of its master; it always chooses a dominating personality.

Element: Earth

Nature: Hard

Gender: Masculine

Gana (tribe): Rakshasa

Best for: Battle Magic, DADA, Care of Magical Creatures, Surgery

Associated Zodiac(s): Virgo, Libra (Cusp)

Associated Constellation: Chitra (Spica) (Debilitation point of Venus)

Affinity with the House(s): Kshatragam

Associating Planet: Mars

Best Wand Cores: Dragon Heartstring, Dragon blood, Hippogriff Feather (Western), Tail hair of a Vanara,(Indian)

Moringa

Moringa is a draught resistant, middle length tree which produces bitter tasting fruit which is very medicinal in nature. Moringa is used mainly to treat fever and small pox, yet it is widely enjoyed as a vegetable. Moringa is also the home of many malefic spirits, especially pretini (female ghosts), and it is abhorred by rural muggles at night.

Moringa wand produces very powerful illusion magic, because of it’s association with the female ghosts, who are master enchantresses that lure people in night to their death. Moringa wand wielder is somewhat of a “my-pace” kind of people and is very receptive to strong energies, ideas and branches of learning. They are also very stubborn individuals that enjoy public life and all that it offers and are very adept to manipulation. The loyalty of Moringa is fixated, despite it’s often frivolous nature and it performs Transfiguarion, charms, illusions and enchantments well.

Element: Air

Nature: Flexible

Gender: Feminine

Gana (tribe): Deva

Best for: Transfiguration, Charms, Alchemy, Seal drawing

Associated Zodiac(s): Libra

Associated Constellation: Swati (Regulus) (Debilitation point of Sun, Exaltation point of Saturn)

Affinity with the House(s): Rahavyasa

Associating Planet: Rahu

Best Wand Cores: Unicorn tail hair, Veela hair (Western), Hair of Mohini, Eye fibre of Kinnari (Indian)

Banyan

Banyan is the most sacred tree in India. It is considered the tree of enlightenment and higher spirituality. The branches and the vertical hanging roots are both used in wandmaking. Despite being the first choisiest wand wood, Banyan branches are very hard to harvest because it is the home of many powerful magical species, and it can only be harvested if the species allow them.

Banyan wand chooses a visionary wizard who is selfless, devoted and wants to do good in the world. Legilimency, Spirit Fire, Applied Divination, and Patronus charms are exceptionally powerful in this wand. It is the hardest to turn to Dark Arts and hardest to win as well. The loyalty of Banyan wand is unfaltering.

The symbol of Vishakhatantra is Banyan.

Features:

Element: Sky

Nature: Reasonably Pliant,

Gender: Masculine

Best for: Nonverbal spells, legilimency, Mahamedha, Spirit Fire, Applied Divination

Associated Zodiac(s): Gemini, Cancer (Cusp)

Associated Constellation: Punarvasu (Castor and Pollux)

Affinity with the House(s): Punarvasu

Associating Planet: Jupiter

Best Wand Cores: Unicorn tail hair, Phoenix feather (Western), Tail hair of Svarnamriga (Golden Stag), Iris of Yogini (Indian)

Tamal (Indian doub Palm)

Tamal or Indian Palm is a very tall tree that grows quite abundantly on both sandy and fertile soil. The fruit of the palm tree had a pleasant bittersweet taste. The palm trunk is durable, hard and very resistance. The tree is considered to be the home of many ghosts and prankster evil spirits, but the tree itself is all-sustaining and life giving. The ripened fruit of Taal is offered to the God Saturn in the late summer in the Lunar month of Bhadra for blessings and longitivity in ancestral home. Tamal leaves are used as manuscripts, fans and the sweet sap of the fruit is used medicinally.

Whoever bears the Palm wand possesses a resilient, patient nature and is unwavering in loyalty. They have a very black and white morality and thus they will suffer with troubled mind in early life. As they grow up, the morality turns gray and they will start applying ignoble ways to deal with the ignoble. They have high tolerance for hardships and this trait makes them kind to the vulnerable. The Palm wand is also very fond of dark magic and they have a tendency to use principles of dark magic for the benefit of the people. The Palm wand only surrenders to one master for its lifetime and it is near impossible to conquer them. Despite being Satvik in nature, Tamasic magic like Transfigurations, Potions and Curses are very strong in this wand.

Element: Earth

Nature: Unbending

Gender: Female

Gana (tribe): Deva (Godlike)

Best for: Transfiguaration, Tantrik Physics, Potions.

Associated Zodiac(s): Scorpio

Associated Constellation: Anuradha (Beta Scorpionis)

Affinity with the House(s): Bhadrapada

Associating Planet: Saturn

Best Wand Cores: Unicorn hair, Dragon heartstring (Western), Feather of Occamy, Hair of a Virgin Apsara (Indian)

Shishum (Indian Blackwood)

Shishum is an evergreen, tall tree that is mainly harvested for furniture making. It’s dark, durable wood is very attractive and water repellant in nature. It graces the house with regality and gracefulness. Thus it is said that Shishum only graces the hands of a wizards who is generous by nature. However the word “shishum” can been seen as “shishu” which means “child” in sanskrit. It also indicates to the childish innocence of the wandwielder.

The Shishum wand wielder shall be resilient to many diseases, shall have long life and slow aging process. However their somewhat immature mind shall afflict them greatly and thus they would lack emotional intelligence. This wand would perform greatly with the fields of Alchemy, charms, sacred mathematics and mnemonic magic. The wand is steadfastly loyal and quite complex to master.

Element: Earth

Nature: Loyal

Gender: Female

Gana (tribe): Deva (Godlike)

Best for: Sanjivani Vidya, Sacred Mathematics, Charms.

Associated Zodiac(s): Scorpio

Associated Constellation: Jyeshtha (Anteras)

Affinity with the House(s): Rahavyasa

Associating Planet: Mercury

Best Wand Cores: Unicorn hair (Western), Feather of garuda, Horn sliver of Shavara (Indian Chimera) (Indian)

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#hp headcanon #neo hogwarts #indian magical school #vishakhatantra #wand woods and core #eastern magi #eastern magic and astrology #vedic astrology #27 constellation #12 zodiacs #aries #sagitarrius #scorpio #gemini #Cancer #capricorn #libra #virgo

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turnbackquotes · 4 years

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Richard Baxter, A Treatise of Conversion: Preached and Now Published, 1658

Page 53: Sometimes God turneth the heart more suddenly at a Sermon: but ordinarily, for ought I can find, men stick long under conviction and half purposes, before thy are thus converted: when thy se that all is not well with them, and that thy are not in a safe condition to appear before God at Judgment in, and that they have not taken the right course that Christian wisdom required them to take, they feel within them many persuadings of the Spirit of God, and their conscience reasoning the case within them, and saying, “This life will not serve thy turn long, if death find the in this condition, thou art an undone man; away then with thy negligence and idle company and courses, and set thyself to seek after Christ before it be too late,” and under the persuasions the mind is sometimes purpose to do it: but these purposes are either for the time to com, that hereafter they will be new men; or else they are but half-purposes, that reach not to a resolution; And therefore if at present thy make some kind of change, it is but by the halves: and they usually turn back again: this is the case of the best men ordinarily before conversion. ….. Before he was like a man that was weighing somewhat in the scales, and the other end was the heavier, or the scales stood as it were even; But now the Holy Ghost hath brought in those arguments, and set them home on the conscience with that life that hath turn the scales. Before he was like a man that had lost his way, and stunted still considering whether he shall turn back or not, or whether he shall go this way or that; But now he is resolved, and he stands no longer considering, but turns without any more ado; and this resolution is not rash or ungrounded, but having considered what can be said for God and for the world, for sin and for repentance, and considering what h may met with in the way to Heaven, he resolveth whatsoever it cost him. Repent h will, return he will, for saved he must be: Though he meet with hard dealing from the world, there is no remedy, he will go through it; Though he may suffer much in the flesh, yet that shall not take him off: Though he know he must leave his former pleasure, and wicked company, and live that life that the flesh doth abhor, yet all this shall not take him off. Oh what a pleading and reasoning there is commonly between the flesh and the spirit before the hart will be thus resolved.

Page 54: This seemeth a very sad straight to one at the first; because he yet hath had no experience of the joy of the Holy Ghost, and the higher comforts of a Christian life, nor of the help which God will afford him in his way: And therefore we cannot marvel if many a poor soul do here stick in the birth; and if it be long before they solve for God; and if others turn back and perish forever, and Grace and only Grace will resolve them. When Christ opens their eyes effectually and to the purpose, he lets them see, that between Heaven and earth, God and the world, Grace and sin, there is no comparison. They see then, ’tis not a matter to doubt of, or to stick at: God must be pleased, but there’s no necessity that the world or the flesh be played. God’s favor must be had, but we may live without the favor of the world; death and judgment must be provided for, but it is needless to provide for the desires of the flesh; an hundred considerations come in upon his soul, which make him say, away with all these worldly vanities, and welcome Christ and a holy life.

Page 208: As bad as we know our own hearts to be, I will confidently say, through the Grace of God, if the Kingdom of the world were offered us in Exchange, w should scorn them, and tread them underfoot. I give you my word and experience, but to persuade you to com near and try. But alas, if you will not believe God, how can I expect my words should be believed! Oh that you would but come and try, and when you have tried the way of Holiness, but a quarter as much as you have done the waves of the world and the flesh, then if you like it not, take your course. If you find by experience that the way of sin is safer and better, when you have tried both, then turn back again and spare not; I would trouble you no more, would you but come and try; it is all that I now desire of you. But to think hardly of a state that you never tried; to draw back from a life that you never tried; this is not equal dealing with God, nor impartial faithful dealing for your souls.

Page 280: What, hast thou not yet served the Devil long enough? Hast thou not yet sufficiently abused Christ, nor oft enough rejected the Grace of God? Hast thou not yet wallow long enough in the filth of sin? But must thou needs have more of it? Hast thou not yet done enough to the destruction of thy soul? nor drunk in enough of that deadly poison nor stabbed thyself sufficiently by thy wickedness, but thou must needs have more? Will sin come up easier when it is deeper rooted? And canst thou earlier b converted when thou hast driven away the Spirit of God that should convert thee? Wilt thou travel out of thy way till night, before thou wilt turn back again? And wilt thou drive the email yet faster to the head, which thou knows must be drawn out again? Oh be not willfully befooled by sin. Wilt thou be converted, or wilt thou not? If not, thou art a lost man: If thou know thou must, why not today rather than tomorrow? What reason have you for any longer delay? Is a state of sin, or a state of grace better? If sin be better, keep it and make thy best of it: But if Grace, and holiness, and happiness be better, why then should you delay? If you were sick you would not care how soon you were all; and if you had a bone broken, you care not how soon it were set; and when your souls are in a state of sin and misery, are you afraid of being safe and happy too soon? Remember another day, that a day, and many a day of Grace thou hadst; and if thou lose this day, thou mayst thank thyself, if thou lose thy soul, and if thou never have another day like this. “Today while it is called today, therefore hear his voice, and harden not your hearts,” Hebrews 3:7, 8. When David thought of his ways, he made haste and delays not to turn to God and keep his precepts, Psalm 119:60. As was aforesaid.

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clubofinfo · 7 years

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Expert: Only the liberation of the natural capacity for love in human beings can master their sadistic destructiveness. — Wilhelm Reich, The Function of the Orgasm (1927) (Ch. V: The Development of the Character-Analytic Technique) It is fascinating to watch mainstream media, the corporate owned news outlets like CNN, or MSNBC, or even FOX — because whatever their disagreements, the one thing that is never open for discussion is the questioning of Capitalism itself. Trump predictably came in with a budget torn from the frontal lobes of the Koch Brothers, but one that is also essentially in line with the sensibility of a good many Americans. Even Americans who themselves are only one foot from penury, who are one month from losing their homes, who are desperately in debt and who can barely keep food on the table; these same people basically hate the poor, hate those on food stamps, and hate anyone not white, and sort of think Trump and the other Republican ghouls make sense. They hate difference. Now there is an outcry about the obvious propaganda that claims Assad used chemical weapons (a tried and true PR false flag gambit, that) but almost zero outcry about the U.S. blowing up children (mistakenly…of course) in Yemen and Iraq. Civilian death by military is always OK. The price of being the best. Children died? Oh, well. War is nasty. Real men can tolerate such stuff. But if a *terrorist* blows up a nightclub, say, then the mass outrage goes on for weeks. Plus these were Arab children and, well, you know, they are prone to early death anyway, right? So, to follow the logic, it is OK to occupy Iraq and destroy Libya and (mistakenly) bomb wedding parties and kill children (not to mention manufacture starvation, in the case of Yemen) but its not okay for a leader to kill people with a gas attack? Now, of course, Assad didn’t use gas. Why would he? It’s idiotic and such an obvious bit of propaganda that I continue to be stunned so many believe it. But then, of course, they WANT to believe it, really. This is the barbaric Muslim world. It fits the racist xenophobic narrative that mainstream media and Hollywood have supplied for decades. The world remains the world seen through the lens of Orientalism. So, yes, Trump is the ultimate incarnation of Capitalism itself. Cut the EPA, cut Agriculture and Science. How many Americans care about people on food stamps? And look, why is it nobody questions a system that creates such a huge need FOR food stamps? Are people in general aware of the poverty levels in the U.S.? Why is there such desperation in the U.S. populace? Why do so many people need so much help from the government? Might this be the result of a Capitalist system that demands inequality to function? I read people demanding I write my congressmen or congresswoman. Demand this or that service be saved. But Trump was elected because, really, his sensibility is that of a majority of Americans. They hate woman, foreigners, minorities, and what they see as the lazy (which is, well, women, foreigners and minorities….so…yeah) — they have also been trained to love their own servitude. None of what is desperately being demanded being saved is really more than a pathetic set of band aids to the problems of inequality, environmental destruction, and loss of civil liberties. If you are a family that needs food stamps (I grew up in such a family), then it IS desperate. But it is desperate either way and the truth is that NOBODY should be forced into the humiliation of food stamps. If you have ever used food stamps, you know the experience of using them. The looks from others in line, the looks from minimum wage clerks. And the restrictions! God forbid the poor use them on something besides instant potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Velveeta at that. This is not to say those on food stamps don’t need them. They do. It’s often the difference between eating and not eating at all. Trump has gotten very little outcry from Democrats about his spike in Defense spending, though. Everyone wins with that move. And how many new threats are being manufactured? China, North Korea, Syria, and the old favorites like Afghanistan and Iraq. And the biggest threat of all, Russia. None of these places, none of the leaders of these countries has done anything to the U.S. Nothing. Zero. And that is remarkable when you think about it. Andre Vltchek writes: …there is no culture, anywhere on Earth, so banal and so obedient as that which is now regulating the West. Lately, nothing of revolutionary intellectual significance is flowing from Europe and North America, as there are hardly any detectable unorthodox ways of thinking or perceptions of the world there. The dialogues and debates are flowing only through fully anticipated and well-regulated channels, and needless to say they fluctuate only marginally and through the fully ‘pre-approved’ frequencies. The average white American, that educated thirty percent who cling, ever more tenuously, to what passes for middle class life, is seemingly motivated most by hatred. Propaganda works because it grants permission to hate. Now, Trump provides the perfect figure to hate right here at home. His appointments are horrible, no question. But as I’ve written before, Obama’s were horrible, too. Only just a bit less horrible. Tim Geithner? Rahm Emanuel? Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden? Scott O’Malia or William Lynn? I mean Hillary Clinton’s under secretary Victoria Nuland is married to arch neo con Robert Kagen. How can one hate Bush and the neo cons but heap praise on Hillary Clinton? But as much as Trump is hated, the figure of the Muslim terrorist is even more hated. And even more than Muslims, Vladimir Putin is hated. But where does this sense of entitlement to meddle in the affairs of other countries come from? It is remarkable how little questioned is the practice of involving the U.S. state in the matters of other countries. Russia elected Putin. Syria elected Assad. And even if, EVEN IF, the elections were fraudulent (they weren’t, but this is a thought experiment) what concern is that of the United States? (Not to mention U.S. elections were not exactly models of probity of late). The U.S. has 800 plus military bases around the world. There is no corner of the globe where you will not find the U.S. military. Do Americans think other countries WANT the U.S. military on their soil? I suppose some do, the fascistic current regime in Poland probably does. And even here in Norway, a nation of inestimable achievements and daily sanity, the general feeling is that having U.S. and NATO around serves as protection. But protection from what? This is really the question, or rather two questions. Who can possibly be thinking of invading Poland or Norway or Japan? The U.S. has bases in Italy, South Korea, Djibouti, Spain, Bahrain, Kuwait, Greece, it has 38 bases in Germany, and bases in the Bahamas, and in Brazil and Honduras and Singapore and Belgium. The list just goes on and on and on. Why does the U.S. have a base in Bulgaria? The answer is, global hegemony. Total and absolute control of the world. That is the goal. And yet this topic is never ever raised in electoral debates or in mainstream media. Never ever. Why did the U.S. go into Haiti to remove Aristide? Why was there a coup in Honduras? Why was Qadaffi murdered again? Does anyone care? The recent press conference Trump called, hastily, with King Abdullah (of Jordan) resembled Shakespearian parody. It was America’s own Mad King Ludwig. But the take away from this train wreck appearance was that Trump is not likely to last. Bannon being yanked off the NSC probably means less than some think but it also reads as loss of face. One thing seems clear in this palace shake up and that is that HR McMaster and the anti-Iranian hardliners are exerting influence. And in general that the old entrenched intelligence and military guys are getting tough. Nature abhors a vacuum and all that. And this was inevitable. Trump, as with any even vaguely out of step National level politician, will be made to heel. The Pentagon was done screwing around with this rube. The shadow of the military state is never too far away. And they don’t play around (think Michael Hastings). One might think there would be less terrorism if the U.S. built schools or clean water plants or hospitals in places like Djibouti or Greece. But then there would be less terrorism if the U.S. stopped helping armed terrorists. And stopped helping countries like Saudi Arabia arm and supply terrorists. The entire marketing of Saudi Arabia as an ally is something to wonder at, really. I mean here is a country that beheads apostates and homosexuals. Where woman can’t drive. And yet, we sell them billions upon billions in armaments and help train their military in how to use them. U.S. presidents visit Riyadh, and have Saudi leaders visit Washington. It is breathtaking, really, to think how demonized Chavez was and how NOT demonized was King Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud..the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, which I believe was his full name and title). They behead people in public in the Kingdom, a lot of them. But see, the U.S. is a punishment state, too. To deny that is to deny reality. The U.S. prison system is a national disgrace, but more, it is a sign, a kind of living metaphor for the madness of American society. Is *Old Sparky* any less morally bankrupt than chopping off heads in the town square? (As Lenny Bruce said…”If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses”.) Two million people are in prison in the U.S.. All of them poor. And most black or brown. The U.S. penal system is the most draconian and sadistic in the world, quite possibly. There are occasional news programs, news magazines, that examine prison conditions, but they are token examples that justify the idea of free speech and reform. The nation wide prison strike recently was utterly invisible in corporate media. By the way, the evil Russian empire has all of 9 foreign military bases, all of them in former Soviet countries. How do such facts jive with the propaganda? Oh, and China has ONE foreign military base. One. North Korea, of course, has none. For an overview on North and South Korea read Keith Harmon Snow here: Or take the other essential U.S. ally and recipient of aid, Israel. A nation that is operating as an apartheid state, openly and even proudly. And whose political leaders are the most openly racist in the world. But again, this is not a topic in electoral political debate. Is the subject of Israel ever raised in Presidential debate? Is Israeli policy in Gaza ever questioned? No, of course not. And to add a last note on this idea of *terrorism*, a word that has undergone quite a semiotic adjustment over the last decade, the U.S. state does not want an end to terrorism. This is their job description, really, those in intelligence and the military; foment conflict, bomb and rebuild, foment again, bomb and rebuild again. And during this process Defense and contractors like Halliburton and Bechtel reap obscene profits. Terrorism is useful. It makes money. It sustains jobs. These are the enduring tropes of the U.S. political system. Militarism is good, necessary, and almost always heroic. That belief translates domestically to the sadistic occupation of poor black neighborhoods throughout the U.S. The militarization of the U.S. police establishment is stunning, and yet rarely discussed, really. The shooting of unarmed black men hasn’t decreased by the way (The death of Sabin Marcus Jones, a 45 year old schizophrenic is a typical case. His mother called 911 for help because Marcus was off his meds and highly agitated. The police came and Tased him to death. Marcus weighed about 140 lbs. Six police answered that call.) The destruction of much of the Middle East is mirrored exactly in the police destruction of poor black communities in the U.S. Ajamu Baraka wrote recently… After almost three decades of pro-war conditioning by both corporate parties and the corporate media coupled with cultural desensitization from almost two decades of unrelenting war, opposition to militarism and war is negligible among the general population. This is the real story today. Not that a white nationalist is President, or that his new budget is cutting already shrunken social services. No, it is the callous indifference of Americans to their own country’s military violence globally. And it is the nearly psychotic addiction to the consumption of entertainment that is itself a form of egregious propaganda. An addiction to narratives that glorify American society and demonize the rest of the world, or the rest of the world not cravenly subservient to U.S. policy. The real issue is why are so many in such need in the supposedly most powerful and rich country in the world? Baraka ends his essay with this…: There must be an alternative to the neoliberalism of the Democrats and the nationalist-populism of Trump. We need an independent movement to address both the economic needs of poor and working people and the escalating attacks on the Black community, immigrants, women, unions, the LGBTQ community, refugees, Muslims, the physically and mentally challenged, youth, students, the elderly, Mother Earth – all of us. The issue is not that Trump is a racist gangster misogynist bent on further brutalizing the working class and enriching his family and friends. The issue is that America is a nation that has stopped questioning authority. The adoration of wealth is itself a sign of collective derangement. So deep is the demonizing of socialism and communism that even many barely hanging on economically will express affection and admiration for the very rich. Why was Trump such a popular TV host? It certainly wasn’t his riveting personality or scintillating wit. He was RICH. And the rich are the anointed in America. Why does Hollywood (and the UK) keep producing stories about Kings and Queens? Why are settings always the playgrounds of the rich? The answer is complicated but a good part of it is the introjection of some kind of reverse Puritan/Calvinist guilt. A kind of resentment, too, simply. Did Cotton Mather secretly want a Beemer and Rolex? In American mythology, he most certainly did. The pathology of white patriarchy is so nakedly revealed in Hollywood entertainments that it is rather amazing it is so rarely discussed. One hears much about adding more women or people of color to TV shows, both as actors and directors, but rarely does one hear a discussion about the Orientalism and xenophobia of Hollywood. One rarely asks why almost all crime shows demonize the poor, especially black and brown poor, and why soldiers are so fawned over. Why Arabs are always terrorists. Find me a single show that suggests the U.S. occupation of the middle east is wrong. Just one. One show that addresses the idea of American Imperialism. And, just one show where the very idea of volunteering for the military is seen as either an act of desperation born of poverty, or just a sign of nascent mental illness or a propensity for violence. That maybe, MAYBE, the desire to shoot people and play with weapons signaled a psychological problem. Not heroism but insanity. Not sacrifice but sadism. There may be one somewhere, but it will only prove the point of the overriding uniformity of opinions expressed. And, of course, why is it the working class are not participating in the creation of mass culture? Mostly the creativity of the underclass is simply appropriated and stolen. The reality of Trump and his backers is that they could only have won this election because of three or four decades of the destruction of public education and the monopoly of media and the constant saturation of information highway with the most naked Imperialist propaganda. No sane and emotionally stable person would vote for Trump or for Hillary Clinton. To endorse either, unless you yourself are a millionaire, is a sign of pathology. A sign of self loathing. Whatever the justifications, whatever version of less evilism, or whatever other cliche that has been fed to you — the inability to see the horrors of both these candidates is suggestive of mass regression. This is where I am reminded yet again of Wilhelm Reich. A man driven from the establishment and eventually into madness. But one who most clearly understood the direction of Western society. The Little Man does not know that he is little, and he is afraid of knowing it. He covers up his smallness and narrowness with illusions of strength and greatness. — Wilhelm Reich, Listen, Little Man, 1948 America cannot examine its own littleness. Its own failures and crimes. It cannot. I do not expect that to change. In fact, I expect an increasing prosecution of those who suggest this, an increasing prosecution of dissent. It was Obama, remember, who launched the fake news meme. Who introduced that idea into discourse. America continues to express a historical revisionism that excludes the genocide of Native Americans, that erases the wilful destruction of unions and socialist movements, and that glorifies the Westward expansion of Manifest Destiny. Mainstream media today is so narrow that any opinion not clearly in line with the prevailing mythology is either castigated or simply made invisible. We forget that, although freedom of speech constitutes an important victory in the battle against old restraints, modern man is in a position where much of what “he” thinks and says are the things that everybody else thinks and says; that he has not acquired the ability to think originally – that is, for himself – which alone gives meaning to his claim that nobody can interfere with the expression of his thoughts. — Eric Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941 This is a society of great unhappiness. But more, it is a society of conformity.They go together. America is far more conformist than it was in the 1950s. The little men and women of corporate life, in politics, in media and the arts, everywhere; these are the gatekeepers to an establishment narrative that allows no questioning of its legitimacy. Capitalism is good, socialism is bad. This last month in Arkansas, the state decided to fast track executions because they didn’t want to waste the chemicals used in lethal injection, many of which were soon to be past their sell by date. Human life is that unimportant. Punishment is the highest virtue. Americans enjoy punishment. American football is so popular because it is gladiatorial and damaging to the players. Life threatening, in fact. So much the better. Or take factory farming. Again, most Americans are aware of the brutality of factory farming. The cruelty of the mass industrial abattoir. It’s not a secret. And yet, mostly people continue consuming these products. Meats so adulterated with hormones and chemicals that 100 years ago nobody would feed this stuff to their dogs. The cruelty to our fellow creatures is astounding. There is a sort of symbolic compensation in the form of over pampering household pets. But such contradictions are to be expected. Again, if people cared, if compassion had not been eroded to this degree, we would not have Trump or Hillary. I mean look at the national political figures today from both parties. Mike Pence and Betsy DeVos, Chuck Schurmer and Mitch McConnell. If we lived in anything resembling a rational society, John McCain would be in a mental hospital getting the help he obviously needs. Look at the leading figures for the 2020 elections on the Democratic side. Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren. Both have consistently voted for war. Warren is a particularly unsavoury figure, opportunistic and smug, a woman who enthusiastically supported Obama’s drone assassinations and voted FOR sanctions against Iran. You really think a President Warren would do anything different from Obama? Less drone assassination or less muscular foreign policy? Of course not. She and Cuomo and Cory Booker and all the rest of the establishment creeps in the Democratic Party are part of the problem. NOT the solution. They are the solution to nothing. The lesson today is that it is now on the U.S. populace to wake up. It’s time. Stop accepting the official narrative and stop watching mainstream propaganda and stop turning away from the crimes of your own country. Stop the unquestioning acceptance of U.S. hagiography. Thanksgiving was not friendly Pilgrims inviting happy tribes to turkey dinner. Columbus was a psychopathic mass murderer. The founding fathers were slave owners. The U.S. revolution was economic. Here is Howard Zinn on the American Revolution… The Continental Congress, which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich men, linked together in factions and compacts by business and family connections. These links connected North and South, East and West. It seemed that the majority of white colonists, who had a bit of land, or no property at all, were still better off than slaves or indentured servants or Indians, and could be wooed into the coalition of the Revolution. But when the sacrifices of war became more bitter, the privileges and safety of the rich became harder to accept. About 10 percent of the white population (an estimate of Jackson Main in The Social Structure of Revolutionary America), large landholders and merchants, held 1,000 pounds or more in personal property and 1,000 pounds in land, at the least, and these men owned nearly half the wealth of the country and held as slaves one-seventh of the country’s people. The American Revolution is sometimes said to have brought about the separation of church and state. The northern states made such declarations, but after 1776 they adopted taxes that forced everyone to support Christian teachings. William G. McLoughlin, quoting Supreme Court Justice David Brewer in 1892 that “this is a Christian nation,” says of the separation of church and state in the Revolution that it “was neither conceived of nor carried out. … Far from being left to itself, religion was imbedded into every aspect and institution of American life. A loss of curiosity, of reading, and a near complete submission to authority marks the American people today. This is not a recommendation to anything other than a genuine intellectual resistance. Of some kind, any kind. Resistance to the prevailing narratives of the system, of the ruling class. That is all. I feel the suffocating narrowness of American society today, and it is awful. It is numbing and its habitual repetitiveness in all aspects of the culture is a sign of dementia. A resistance is needed, too, to the aesthetics of domination. Neurotic white people are not the only suitable topic for drama. Nor are the caricatured portraits of the working class manufactured by white liberals (American Crime, anyone?). Aesthetic and intellectual resistance. Empty activism is counter productive. Working for Elizabeth Warren is really worse than pointless. Check your own privilege, too, white man. Lenny Bruce said something else: The liberals can understand everything but people who don’t understand them. He wrote that a half century ago. Think about that. http://clubof.info/

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