#of the conceptual and supernatural variety

[littletealights]

don’t you love it when the gays start eating each other’s compassion, empathy, and sense of self?

#by this of course i mean #that they’re influencing each other in increasingly damaging ways #but because they share a body #and he’s an eldritch horror monster #there’s no way to tell whether this is natural character growth #or cannibalism #of the conceptual and supernatural variety #malevolent podcast #arthur malevolent #john malevolent #i hate these dumb gays #malevolent part 25 #part 25 the cracks #anelleoriginal

[overthinkingtaleblr]

My Jimmy Casket Headcanon Masterlist

I’ve seen a lot of talk about the world-renowned murderer recently, and apparently his birthday is coming up, so I figured now is as good a time as any to address this fan-favorite entity of stabbing and chaos. Jimmy Casket is an uncomplicated character in his core: he possesses people, he murders indiscriminately seemingly for fun, and he eventually goes away. He has possessed multiple people across time and space, he targets humans over animals, and he has a variety of secrets with uncertain origins that he’s dying to share. Or you’re dying for him to share them.

He is most likely something paranormal just because multiple people seem to be able to channel him, but what he is (ghost, demon, something else…) is completely up for debate. I’ll be sharing and attempting to justify my own idea, however alienating it may be… because seriously, I don’t think anyone else has ever had this take before.

What is Jimmy Casket?

Instead of opening with a history discussion, we’re opening with an identity consideration, since What Jimmy is happens to be important conceptually to understanding where he might have come from. I’ll list a bunch of options before explaining my personal headcanon. There’s lots of options to what Jimmy could be, though, and some are more paranormal or dangerous than others. This list does not imply that something is likely, but rather that it is an option based off the evidence we have about who the character is.

- Casket is a Persona

Basically saying that Jimmy Casket isn’t real, but his affects still are. He is a name that people put on when they want to do something terrible, but it is still their own will and choice to enact. It says terrible things about every person who claims to be Casket, but could compelling in its own rights. Arguably the most possible non-paranormal option, especially if we believe Casket when he claims to be world-renowned and infamous.

- Casket is His Own Living Human Person

All of those things that looked like/sounded like possessions? We’re ignoring those right now, Jimmy Casket is a completely separate living and breathing human being from everyone who he was thought to have control over. They probably just step out or run when he appears or something. Or maybe we’re using canon as a suggestion in this case, and we don’t ever need to have Casket and his flesh bags in the same room.

Long story short, this man has his own vessel and boy does he use it.

This one is only likely because trying to cut all the supernatural elements out of something that uses it as a crutch creates some rather odd concepts. Because of how he’s presented in the series, it’s nigh impossible to suggest that Jimmy Casket is 100% his own, separate, human being who has never had supernatural influence over others. Unless he does have a supernatural influence over others. Maybe he’s a witch of some kind who controls others like puppets. Maybe he’s a vampire who can see through and control his vassals.

I did actually read a fanfiction that had this concept a looong time ago, and I won’t lie, I really enjoyed the earlier chapters and still think about them. It did a lot of things differently and really leaned into the kind of horror of Casket being so destructive. Also the Acachallas were a mafia crime family and Ghost and Toast only appeared once in a flashback.

- Specifically Ghost has DID, Casket is an Alter

I try not to state my own opinions with this, but as someone who does not have DID, my understanding is that you have to be VERY careful when handling this concept for a billion incredibly fair reasons. Idek if anyone uses this… I kind of hope not ^^;

With Casket as an alter in a system, even (maybe even especially) if Casket is ultimately trying to help Ghost, it perpetuates the “evil alter” trope because Jimmy Casket is conceptually a serial killer.

Ghost is seen as more threatening because upsetting him could trigger Casket. It makes Ghost justifiably be seen as terrifying in the narrative For Having DID.

The main reason why murderer with DID is a common trope in my experience is so that even the killer doesn’t know what they’ve done, creating an extra conflict where they don’t realize they’re the culprit. Additionally, it makes the investigation harder if they get involved. This is a problematic trope similar to the ‘evil alter’ one and there are non-paranormal ways to do this without villianizing DID, including regular amnesia.

Even if Casket is ultimately good and not a serial killer, to have him kill ANYone and then have Ghost forget plays into this trope as well and suggests people with DID are in some way actively dangerous.

I’m not going to police anyone who uses Ghost and Casket to express themselves. I will say be very careful with your portrayal. You can have Ghost as a system without Casket being one of the alters in it. Additionally, if you think I got anything wrong in this explanation, lmk. Whether or not Ghost has DID is not important to the other options after this, he could or couldn’t, this one is just “Casket is apart of a/the system”.

- Ghost and Casket are a Jekyll/Hyde situation

There are two ways I could mean this, but either way it means that Casket and Ghost share a mind and not a body.

1. Jimmy Casket is the evil inside of Ghost separated from the rest of his mind and embodied in a way that changes their external appearance. The origin would have to be supernatural in order for that to happen. Think Jackson Jekyll/Holt Hyde from Monster High. Technically, this could be mistaken for a really poor portrayal of DID so I do suggest being careful with this one. Changing between the two would not be an active choice on either of their parts.

2, and the answer more common to Jekyll and Hyde, Casket is just another body and face, but that’s still Ghost’s mind in there. Ghost is using the persona of Casket to commit “evils” that he desires doing but doesn’t want the social repercussions for. This implies that he has a potion of some kind that he takes in order to trigger the change, making it a willful act.

Be careful with this one either way because even if you expressly state ‘this is not DID’, it could be seen as a poor interpretation of how DID works. (Raises hand I did this in a fic once and I’m cringing at myself as I type this.)

- Casket is Tied to “Knifey”

Jimmy Casket is an entity of some kind who possessed not Ghost, but the knife that Casket carries around. This can double up with another headcanon in this list, more likely the paranormal ones. (Casket is a human person and he’s also a knife lowkey doesn’t work—)

If Ghost was able to fully get rid of the knife forever, he would no longer deal with Casket. However, this option would also imply that something about the knife is enchanted to make Ghost desire keeping it around, or it’s physically tied to him and appears whenever he expresses emotions it can feed off of.

This also explains how other people get possessed by Casket, specifically since most of them seem to show Casket signs after being given a knife that could very easily be cursed. He may not be the only character who can do this, too.

- Casket is a Ghost who has History with the Casket Family

This one is soooo varied it’s hard to encapsulate all the possibilities. Either way, Casket is a ghost who was alive at some point, and he is possessing Ghost because they have some connection through Ghost’s bio family. Are they siblings? Is Casket his uncle? Grandfather? Father? A distant ancestor of some kind? An enemy of the Casket family? Someone who was wronged in the Casket family? I guess attempting to list all the options was unnecessary— the important part is that Casket was alive, he’s dead now, and he’s latched to Ghost.

I know multiple people who use/have used this interpretation before, so it lowkey has a special place in my heart.

- Casket is a Generational Curse

Ghost is not the first person in his family to have dealt with Jimmy Casket possessing his body before, and for all we know T.Casket was frequently possessed as well before Ghost was born. This would have been a well-known issue within the family… if there was any family left to warn Ghost. Implies everyone who has had Casket possess them is related to the Casket family, and that Ghost has been a vessel since Casket’s last host died.

Seeing as Ghost is not the first person in the family with an inclination to the supernatural, I could see Jimmy Casket being something put upon their family a long time ago for fucking around and finding out. Maybe they had an overzealous witch in the family who fucked everything up for everybody? Who knows.

This curse is likely tied to someone keeping a very very serious secret, and speaking it into the world is the only way to stop him, but they died a long time ago so Casket isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

- Casket is a Creation of the Housekeeper

This could double-up with another option, seeing as the Housekeeper seems to be able to manipulate a lot of supernatural things, or work on its own.

I specify this one just because it requires consideration on how Casket sees his creator. Does he like the Housekeeper? Does the Housekeeper have some level of control over him? Was Casket a normal entity before being exposed to the God of Chaos? Is Casket seen as the Housekeeper’s child (Demigod of Secrets Jimmy Casket, anybody?)? CAN Casket exist without Ghost for a host? Why did Casket react so violently upon seeing the Housekeeper face-to-face?

There’s a lot of options to consider here and a lot of them can really push a story forward.

- Casket is some Creature from Folklore

Anything with an obsession for blood, stabbing, and secrets and the ability to take over or control someone’s body. I’m certain there are a lot of options, knowing how wild a lot of folklore is (Chupacabra Casket, anybody?), and technically my own headcanon falls into this option.

This is a matter of specificity, and the only reason this is distinct from the other supernatural options is because it may change how evil/intentional his actions are, and it’ll wildly change how PIE would have to handle him.

If you want Ghost to be from a specific country or have ties to a specific culture, this could help immensely in connecting him to it. It also means that you could have a WILD design for what Casket looks like and how he differs appearance-wise from Johnny Ghost. Ppl who love monster designs and mythology research could do SO much with this.

Plus, most folklore are used as legends to warn children not to do certain things. If Ghost did one of those stupid things, it creates a personal explanation to how he got possessed without throwing his family under the bus, and gives you the opportunity to make your own story as to what happened.

- Casket is a Demon

Similar to a ghost, someone in the Casket Family history screwed up and now Ghost is facing the consequences. Demons and ghosts are very different and can be handled in very different ways. Maybe Casket’s a fallen angel and still has some good in him? Maybe Casket is evil to the core and LIVES to wreak havoc and ruin Ghost’s life, relationships, and more.

I’m sure there’s someone out there who better understands demons than me, be in-universe, they are powerful and horrific with a host or not. This makes Casket one of the most active threats in the universe.

Although unlike the ghost option, Johnny Ghost could have brought this upon himself by being a stupid moron and trying to summon a demon as a child and screwing up to a dangerous degree. He would do it.

- My Headcanon : Jimmy Casket is a Unicorn

Technically the same as Folklore but more specified to being an in-universe entity, Jimmy Casket is a Unicorn— a creature from the 13th dimension best represented by Stardust Sprinkleshine. I’m not sure how much of their history is canon and what was my own thoughts, but if you touch a Floating Gun that seems to exist outside of Space-Time, one will exit from a pocket dimension and possess your mind. Touching the gun again puts them back, and most seem to choose to return.

I think that Casket is a particularly crafty unicorn who managed to figure out how to not be sourced from the floating gun, either being tied instead to his knife or to a human body. He’s possessed multiple characters long-term throughout the series, and if he’s able to burrow deep enough into someone’s mind, he could completely take over their body.

I also think he was Mothman in a video where a young Johnny Ghost is terrorized by Mothman on a Halloween Night. I think that Casket somehow lost his old host and needed to find a fresh one, grabbing the first human he could find. I don’t know if the mothman is his true form, Casket mutating an animal body, or the dying body of his old host falling apart while Casket tries to operate around rigor mortis. (Spoilers for my ask blog 🤫)

Casket is not a creature who can be reasoned with outside of secrets, fun, and violence. He can possess anybody in PIE, won’t show up on ghost sensors, and can’t be warded away with most options. I think this is the primary reason why Johnny Toast hasn’t attempted to ward him off, despite seeing how much Casket hurts Ghost. Additionally, Casket can easily possess anyone on the team, including Toast, if they get on his nerves enough.

Horrifically, as a unicorn Casket can also largely bend the logic of the world, making him hard to catch and even harder to handle.

… He may eventually be somewhat defanged if treated with humanity and compromise, but he’ll always be kind of terrifying if he gets riled up. He’s like a wild animal if zoomies meant death. I can’t imagine he’d be that helpful in an investigation though.

There we go, ten options and my personal opinion! Hope I encapsulated everyone’s idea <3

History Headcanons

This is how I personally see Casket’s story up until the general point in canon where I tend to place things, and I’m not really considering videos in this. This is what I, personally, think and it may not have any basis in canon whatsoever.

- 13th Dimension to Freedom -

Before the Unicorns entered the floating gun, they existed on their native world in the 13th Dimension. They might have even been less crazy than they tend to be in the modern day, existing mostly as creatures of magic and a type of technology unfathomable to humans. Not quite “Jimmy Casket” yet, the unicorn who would one day become our point of focus didn’t have much reason to be considered differently than other unicorns outside of just being his own “person”. Maybe he has a specific emphasis for honesty, maybe he’s more likely to turn to violence, either way he isn’t a public figure or anything. He’s just a normal guy in his own society… I think Unicorns may also somewhat be a bit of a hive mind.

Then everything changed when the “Fire Nation” attacked. In all seriousness, Prince Fang and his family have been conquering dimensions for an incredibly long time. Their approach wasn’t subtle, and the unicorns took their chance to run when they realized what was coming. Tying a doorway to an item from a dimension the dragons wouldn’t be able to reach for a long, long time and tossing it through, the unicorns basically funneled into a pocket dimension tied to the doorway to escape. However, they didn’t think too hard on where they’d end up, and the doorway ended up in a position where no one could leave for literally years, kind of driving most the inhabitants to insanity.

I don’t know if the unicorn who would become Casket just used a different exit from the others, or if he took the first chance he got to get as far away as possible. Either way, the unicorn or focus managed to get away from the trap they accidentally built themselves, but still had really nowhere to go. Managing to tether his spirit to a human host long-term and eventually a blade whenever the human didn’t work out, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Not at all socialized to human cultures, that mostly led to murder while he learned how to co-exist with a host. Having as many hosts as he did, it kind of gave him a bunch of secrets to inherit as well as he moved from person to person. I imagine that any secret Jimmy tells is one that previously belonged to someone he lived as, usually picking someone who might be known to the victim.

While in the beginning, I think he tried to be in control 100% of the time, but kept either wearing himself out or breaking his victim’s mind or body, which is why he only pops in when something interesting happens now. How long this took for him to realize would be difficult to decide, since I’m not even sure at what time Jimmy entered the world. Either way, he’s a boy with a bladed weapon and a desire to wreak havoc.

- Wild West -

I don’t know how many other hands Casket found himself between before a young Johnny Ghost, but I know the identity of one. In spite of his generally cagey nature, Casket found his host dead after an encounter with the Acachalla Gang in the Wild West, but survived solely out of luck. Either due to an interest in a knife at the campsite from one of his attackers, or latching to the first one that seemed to be susceptible, Jimmy came to possess one of the gang members as his old host passed away without anyone noticing. Craving freedom and realizing this body would live for an incredibly long time, he decided to take a bit of a different route then usual.

To the rest of his family, Kermit Acachalla developed a new and passionate interest in knives, specifically one knife. And then an increased tendency to turn to violence. Maybe if they weren’t literally a gang, they would have picked up on the red flags sooner. It wasn’t all on them to notice, though, as Kermit frequently traveled one-on-one with a close friend who Casket would sometimes possess instead, depending on what he wanted to do when they separated. One was a lot more likely to bend to his will, the other one could literally travel through time, often giving Casket the opportunity to wreak havoc on the future. Eventually, the time traveler grew wise and Casket figured that was as good a time as any to stick with Kermit long-term… and also lowkey drive the man to insanity.

Kermit the Claw became a well-known serial killer, one who eventually killed Johnny Ghost Senior in a skuffle but got mortally wounded in the process. It took Casket an uncomfortably long while to find a suitable host after living easy for almost a hundred years, and then when he thought he had one, some stupid ghost hunter tried to banish him. He wasn’t picky though, and found someone else soon after.

- Johnny Ghost -

This is why you don’t go out alone, kids. You never know when mothman will corner you in an above-ground pool and possess your face. While I don’t think Ghost was specifically targeted, I think Casket’s old host had been in the area for long enough to know that Ghost and the “ghost hunter” that attempted the banishment were living in the same house. What he did Not know was that he was also the son of the Johnny Ghost who he murdered a year or so prior, really giving Casket a goldmine of trauma to work with. Weakened from a lot of crap that happened, including the attempted banishment and possessing someone with experience in keeping someone out of his head, Casket could only really take control if Ghost was feeling enough of a heightened emotion, rather than just whenever he felt interested. He found it didn’t really stop him, though, Ghost being Incredibly passionate.

He’s basically been living easy ever since. Whether it be Johnny Toast or Peewee Ghost trying to hold him back, they’re ultimately his biggest enablers of all time. Between the hilarity of Ghost’s stress and the effort his loved ones put into cleaning Casket’s messes, he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants it. Casket was basically out 24/7 while Ghost was in college, and he’s more resting now that Ghost has graduated. He’s grown rather fond of this life. Mostly because it constantly gives him the means to leave bodies in his wake.

Relationships

Johnny Ghost

“This kid can fit SO many problems into him!”

DAMN he has issues, and Casket is obsessed. Sometimes he likes to just sit and watch Ghost fail at being a human being without any intervention whatsoever. It’s just that hard for him on his own.

Casket has a lot of control over Ghost’s memories, and he finds it funny to just eat as many of them as possible. There is no telling what Ghost does or does not have an understanding of thanks to Jimmy Casket. This is why Toast wrote the book out of the two of them.

Kind of holding Ghost’s body together Venom-style, and if Casket ever leaves Ghost will both experience a rush the of memories that Casket was suppressing and possibly an organ failure. It’s now because of this that Casket does not jump possession, even though he sometimes really, really wants to.

Johnny Toast

His first choice for someone else to possess if the opportunity presents itself, Jimmy thinks it’s hilarious that Toast seems to be under the impression that he can be in any way shape or form “held back”.

Thinks that there’s more going on with him than he makes obvious, mostly because Toast absolutely has ‘latent but incredibly strong power rests inside of me’ vibes, and Casket can tell.

Weirdly enough, he does not approve of the drug dealing.

Peewee Ghost

Jimmy found it hilarious how much effort Ghost’s father put into trying to get rid of Casket without Ghost noticing. Sometimes he’ll still poke out when Ghost visits home just to taunt him. Hard to attack him, though, the house is covered in safety wards and curses and stuff to stop Casket from getting to feisty.

As much as Peewee hates Casket, he and Ghost are a package deal, meaning Peewee will clean up any mess Casket is too lazy to take care of himself, so long as he’s willing to sit through a lecture and multiple threats.

Fred “The Spooker” Soup

Thinks that Spooker would be his favorite person on the team if he were to just go crazy go stupid. It’s why Casket will jump out and kill Spooker all the time— he’s kind of hoping the guy is going to snap and try to get Casket back some day.

It hasn’t worked yet, but come on, how much longer can the guy have before his patience wears thin?

I think Spooker x Casket is a viable crackship bc i find it funny. Maybe not if the Casket is as murder-motivated as mind, but I could see it happening otherwise!

Chris “Colon” Ghostie

Colon hates that the team harbors Casket from justice, Casket thinks Colon’s righteous indignation is hilarious.

Casket will sometimes admit to cold cases that he might not have even done just to get Colon upset with him for getting away with it. Colon is the most invested in looking for a way to banish Casket for good.

Katrina

“The power of love failed you? Better Luck Next Time!”

His first victim after possessing Ghost that didn’t happen to be an animal or something like that. He was kind of hoping it would be enough to emotionally destroy Ghost, but found that others in her family took the loss a lot worse.

If she survived, it would have been a good lesson not to trust everyone who claimed to be your friend when you knew he was hosting some kind of evil spirit. She was a little too optimistic for her own good.

Johnny “Roast”

Jimmy genuinely considered switching from Ghost to Roast, feeling like Roast had a bit more of an underlying violence to him.

After seeing how poorly he took his sister’s death, and how much misdirected anger he lashed out with, Casket decided it would probably be more rewarding to watch this kid spiral on his own. At this rate, there was no way he was going to develop “Healthy Coping Mechanisms” or whatever that means.

If given the opportunity/if something ever happens to PIE, Roast will absolutely be his first pick for a new host.

Gavin Toast

“What do you MEAN there are two of them?”

Since Casket possessed Ghost after Toast moved back to the UK, Casket didn’t meet Gavin for a loooong time, and their meeting what a very confusing experience for specifically Casket.

Gavin is, weirdly enough, a little bit too normal for Casket. Casket can also tell that out of everyone, he’s the most likely to get Ghost arrested so that Casket faces justice. Mostly because every vengeful spirit will bombard Gavin any time the two are near each other, begging for retribution and Gavin does not think Ghost’s freedom is worth it.

Plus, Ghost has means to get out, he’ll be fine.

Johnny Cranky

“I dunno what your deal is, but you had me at joining a team named DIE.”

Exactly what it says on the tin, Jimmy is ready and willing to be apart of Cranky’s weird club so long as it means he gets to do some stabbing.

He doesn’t really consider Cranky to be anything other than a conduit for murder, he’s barely even a person to Casket. Casket frequently ignores him, talks over him, walks out of the room mid-conversation, and other things that really show that he does not care about Cranky’s existence.

Cranky only puts up with it because he thinks Casket is too dumb to realize he’s being rude. He’s not.

Cardboard Friend

“Back off! You already gave up on this one, it’s my turn!”

No matter what CBF is, no one ever said that Jimmy Casket had the common sense not to pick fights with demons or vassals of gods...

CBF, whether good or bad, is emotionally distressing for Ghost. While Casket appreciates the easy exit into the world, he does NOT want CBF to be near him. Either because CBF is a threat to the body (that Casket lives in) or CBF loves Ghost and is a threat to Casket, they do not get along at all.

Trivia

I do think he met T.Casket at some point, but I think they got out alive mostly out of dumb luck, and Casket still hasn’t realized that he’s the same person as Ghost’s dad yet. He probably knows a secret or two about the guy.

Jimmy is probably afraid of old people because he finds old age to be one of the most disastrous things to experience. He wants to be able to move around as much as possible, and an ailing body is probably an uncomfortable one to be in if you have the chance to move between them.

Could also be memento mori, a reminder of death would be uncomfortable to a being that is just barely not immortal.

Going by a bunch of other names throughout the time he’s had on the world, the name Jimmy Casket mostly came to spite Ghost’s family. Feeling bad about Ghost knowing so little about himself, his dad (Peewee) tried explaining his bio family and the CBF incident to him, and at the time Ghost understood and though he needed time to process it, he didn’t take the news horribly. Casket basically ate the memory of that conversation and took the family name specifically to mock Peewee’s efforts.

Jimmy taunted Toast about killing his wife once and got shot to death for his efforts. Jimmy considers this his most rewarding interaction with Johnny Toast of all time and doesn’t bring up Mary just to not spoil the memory of that interaction.

CBF and Jimmy might’ve met before Jimmy could possess Ghost but after Gregory ran away. Jimmy probably attacked it at the time, and it was likely in a weakened state, which is why it’s genuinely kind of afraid of him, even if its more powerful than he is.

Started a diary and wrote in it whenever Ghost stumbled upon it just SPECIFICALLY to scare Toast when he eventually stumbled upon it.

Would absolutely spill the secret about the Destroyers of the Investigators Extraordinaire existing and Spooker being offered a membership roll if he thought it would tear PIE apart.

Has had rabies before.

Bites.

#taleblr #taleblr headcanons #taleblr headcanon Masterlist #headcanon masterlist #jimmy casket #might add more in the future

[grey-sorcery]

Divination

Suggested Reading

Introduction to Gnosis Energetic Senses Conceptualization Vs. Visualization Basics of Warding Spiritwork: First Steps

What is Divination?

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary: “Div·i·na·tion /ˌdivəˈnāSH(ə)n/ Noun noun: divination; plural noun: divinations The practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.” This can be done through a vast variety of means. 

Beginner Tips

Hold off on devoting your time on studying divination unless you want to focus primarily on it. Divination practices are a rabbit hole of research, consumerism, artist support, and practice. Without mindfulness, it is very easy to lose sight of your other studies and/or practices. 

Experiment with divination tools and methodologies. Everyone divines differently. Spend time finding what works best for you. What catches your eye at first may not work for you as well as another tool or method. 

Interpretation is in the eye of the beholder. Hold off on doing public readings or reading services until you’ve found your eye and your voice. 

Correspondences can play a huge part in divination, not so much as building a network of connected concepts like in spellwork, but for conceptual representation. Figure out what your correspondences are.

Some divination practices are aspects of closed cultures. Be sure to research and discuss divinatory practices before trying them. Through communication, you can definitely be inspired by closed practices in your own practice, while respecting the traditions they come from.

Divination is much safer than a lot of other practices, but it is a good idea to be aware of responsible precautions.

Remain aware of diviners that use divination to proselytize or pull clients into their own personal narratives. It isn’t super common, but occurs often enough to be in the back of your mind.

Understand that divinatory practices aren’t absolute. Since it is a practice that relies on interpretation and has differing methods of use, results can vary wildly. Take readings with a grain of salt.

If you receive a suspicious or ridiculous reading, especially if it involves a deity, be sure to get a second opinion.

Sometimes, you can be too close to a situation to do readings for yourself without biased interpretations. Knowing when it is responsible to get a reading from another practitioner is important.

Don’t just read about divination, talk to practitioners. See how other people interpret their tools and what methods they use.  

There are hundreds of types of divination, a lot of them are a bit ambiguous. Try to start simple and work up to the more vague practices after you have some experience under your belt.

Superstitions and omens vary wildly based on cultural context and regionality. It is best to stay away from these methods until you have more experience. 

Many divination tools can have similar methods of interpretations, for a lot of them numerology can be very beneficial to understand. Especially in cartomancy. 

Inventing your own tool and/or divination system can be extremely beneficial. Doing so can aid in feeling more connected to your tool. On top of that you decide how readings are meant to be interpreted.

Beginner Friendly Types of Divination

Cartomancy: Tarot, Oracle, & Lenormand

Readings done with cards.

Often involves numerology

Is read in spreads, of which there are countless variations. You can even come up with your own.

Symbology, color, composition, contrast, and context can be super helpful or even necessary for interpretations. 

Often somewhat rigid in structure. Oracle decks tend to be less structured.

How you pull from your deck can have a huge effect on how well you can connect with your deck. Play around with drawing methods.

A lot of contemporary decks have booklets with meanings, but these interpretations tend to be very fluffy. Divination can and should be capable of being harsh. Many websites, such as Biddytarot are also guilty of this. Many cards can be very double edged. It’s okay to use these as references at first, but I recommend pulling away from them when you feel comfortable.

Stay away from rip-off products. Try to buy directly from the artist. 

Cleromancy: Bones, Dice, & Geomancy

Tossing or dropping objects and interpreting how they land. 

For many tools, there are boards or mats that are also used for interpretation.

Certain methods of bone tossing are aspects of closed cultures. Be sure to do thorough research and discuss methods with practitioners of closed cultures.

Cleromancy systems are the easiest to come up with your own. 

Play around with creating your own reading mats/boards. You’d be surprised at how much it can alter interpretations. 

Can be the harshest of all types of divination.

Often takes the longest to interpret as there are a lot of variables to account for. 

Dowsing: Rods & Pendulums

Swinging or swaying a tool and interpreting its movements.

The easiest to learn.

The type of divination that is most likely to be biased, as it can pick up on very subtle subconscious movements of the hands and arms.

Best for yes/no questions and location divination.

Pendulums are often used with a mat/board, but they are not necessary.

Tools are “programmed” before use. Meaning that the possible answers are all stated and decided on before a reading begins. Can be more important in spiritual methods of reading, but is a responsible practice regardless.

Can easily depend on headspace and focus.

Pendulums are often cheaply produced by corporations. Try to buy directly from artists, rather than from sites like Amazon. 

Numerology:

The interpretations and correspondences of numbers.

Is often used in practices like “angel numbers”, which is a whole thing. I recommend reading this article by Coin And Candle about it.

Often plays a huge role in how many divination systems are interpreted.

Is the easiest type of divination and correspondence to lead into appropriative and crystal-fascist new age practices and philosophies.

Spiritual, Energetic, Chaotic, & Symbolic Divination Methods

Despite not being discussed very often, there are a few different ways to practice divination. What method is used can have a huge impact on how you connect with each reading and each tool. I recommend having a tool devoted to each method, but work with one until you’re comfortable with it before moving on to the next. There are numerous combinations of tools and methods, so it can end up taking a very long time before something clicks.

Spiritual Method: Using your intuition to feel for which cards, bones, dice, directions, etc to use, pull, and/or how to interpret them. Often requires a state of gnosis.

Energetic Method: Employing energy work to connect to a client and then using energetic senses to feel for which cards, bones, dice, directions, etc to use, pull, and/or how to interpret them. Often requires a state of gnosis.

Chaotic Method: The idea that the universe’s absurdity and serendipity will cause parts of tools and interpretations that are based off of each situation at hand. In this method, bias can be a good thing while remaining self-aware.

Symbolic: Solely using images, correspondences, and context to interpret cards. Similar to the chaotic method, but without the bias.

Self-Awareness During a Reading

As stated above, it is very easy to be biased in your interpretations. For this reason, it is important to remain self-aware. There are several ways to achieve this:

Do multiple readings with the same question.

Have your reading verified by another diviner, without giving them the entire context.

Take some time to reflect on the reading to see how your current context of the situation could have influenced your interpretations.

Take your interpretations directly from the guide books.

Take some time before a reading to try and step away from the situation.

Send a picture of the reading and the question to another diviner to see how they would interpret it.

Safety Practices

There is a lot of hype and fear mongering around divination, especially with tools like ouija boards. Things like “Evil spirits can come through and attack you”, and “You can never know what you’re connecting to” are very common. While these narratives have some truth to them, they are very much hyperbole and really only apply to the spiritual method. The largest danger when it comes to divination are people who use divination to manipulate others. This is typically done by pulling people into their personal narratives; like past lives, deity communication/godphoning, and things like “magic/astrral wars/battles”. 

If you’re practicing the spiritual method I recommend cleansing the space, having wards in place, and remaining self-aware the entire time. While this gradually becomes less necessary with experience in spirit work, it is still a good idea. 

Be weary of anyone who implies that the reading is a set in stone reading/future/etc. Avoid diviners who do medical readings, unless you have seen a medical professional first, at the very least. However, due to the nature of divination please remain aware that the reading is in no way absolute and there is no reason to be fearful if the reading is negative. 

Divination is a form of advice. It can also be used for spirit communication, however it can be easy to get carried away in interpretations until more experience is gained. 

KEEP CRYSTAL BALLS COVERED. They can bend light like a magnifying glass and can start fires!

Depending on your practice, and what you’re communicating with, it can also be wise to keep mirrors covered. The idea behind this is that it prevents spiritual entities from using the mirror to enter your space. I find that warding divination tools is sufficient enough most of the time.

To read more about me, see my master post of content, employ my services, or support me on Patreon click here!

#Divination guide #divination #tarot #cartomancy #cleromancy #witchcraft basics #witchcraft guide #begginer witch #witchcraft for beginners #informational post #Gdiv

[hriobzagelthewanderer]

Things Hriob is No Longer Allowed to Do, Revised Edition - Part Quarte

#121 I am a Master of Conceptual and Elemental Magics, especially the Natural elements such as Wind, Lightning, Earth, Wood, and Water. However, no matter how ‘natural’ their existence may be, I cannot cast ‘Bear’ and it is not an element, and no amount of arguing, evidence, or demonstrations will change this.

#122 When courting certain individuals cough cough Sacara cough I will remember the following; “Using Protection” means the proper use of contraceptives or barriers during coitus, NOT using wards or other magical means of surviving close proximity to individuals whose mere existence provides a serious hazard to my health.

#123 Just because it is one of the few things that CAN still affect me given my supernatural constitution, and just because she is my friend, does not mean I am allowed to occasionally use Shylow-Venom as anti-anxiety medication a recreational drug for ANY reason on my own person or anyone else’s.

#124 When engaging in Small Talk with Lord Alexander, I am to respect the presence and personal safety of his Steward, Sir Cromwell, by politely avoiding use of the following terms and turns-of-phrase: ‘Splitting Hares’, ‘Hot Crossed Buns’, ‘Hare-Rasing’, ‘Hare Removal’, ‘Careful Hop-Timism’, ‘Bad Hare Day’, ‘Hoppily Ever After’, ‘I’m all Ears’, ‘Hare Conditioning’, and any other hilarious bad puns revolving around Lagomorphs in general. Upon further review, Bonnie Kalsang is to be given the extended benefits of this ruling.

#125 I shall remember that ‘Tuning’ is for Musical Instruments, ‘Attenuation’ is for Spiritual and Mystical aspects and machinations, and ‘Vibe Checks’ are for violently percussive maintenance on other people. Just because they SOUND like they’re the same thing doesn’t mean they ARE the same thing.

#126 If I am ever to host a ‘Movie Night’ with my friends/associates/subordinates/rivals/sworn enemies, I will avoid playing the following films for various reasons: Kill Bill, Repo: The Genetic Opera, Shrek 3, Saving Private Ryan, and any historical fiction "i may have been present for when it happened".

#127 I am forever forbidden from doing anything if I am preceding the action(s) in question with any variation of the phrase ‘Hey ___, Watch This!’

#128 I am forever forbidden from officiating Weddings Funerals Birthday Celebrations Coming-Of-Age-Ceremonies Duels Archery Contests Eating Contests Battle Royales Anything.

#129 I am a self-reincarnating Avatar of Life. I, at best, have an understanding with, and at worst, trying relationships with Entities that deeply connect to or convey Death as a Concept. This means that I need to maintain my moral superiority as best I can, which in turn means I should avoid conflict with them… and therefore not try to prank or annoy them.

#130 I am not the Patron Saint of Oktoberfest, no matter how much I wish to be.

#131 I am not allowed to visit Australia, nor am I to confuse it for Austria, be it to mess with other people or try and get around this ruling.

#132 I am forever barred from entering an IKEA store, and am forbidden from chanting backwards in Swedish in any language to assemble disassemble reconfigure rearrange manipulate IKEA-brand any furniture in any way.

#133 I am forever barred from teaching any variety of ‘Shop Class’.

#134 I am forever barred from leading field trips guided tours any sort of group of people for any reason through the following locations: Zoos, Museums, Government Buildings, Anarchist Buildings, Aquariums, Shopping Malls, Alternate Timelines, Alien Planets, Pocket Dimensions, Dimensional Nexus Points, Nuclear Reactors, Industrial Plants, and anything owned by a ‘rival’, ‘nemesis’, ‘adversary’, or any other hostile group or individual.

#135 I am not allowed to appropriate terminology research papers documents artifacts entities employees architecture ANYTHING from the SCP Foundation without due credit at all.

#136 Just because I am now able to transform into certain animals at will, does not mean I get to abuse the ability. This extends to bans against the following: eating my own paperwork and blaming ‘the dog’ on it, attempting to use ‘puppy-dog-eyes’ as a form of negotiation, massively decreasing the local wildlife population single-handedly, and leaving dog hair/fur in unpleasant locations as a petty form of revenge.

#137 I am forevermore banned from playing around with wax, especially heated. This is for my own safety and well-being more than any other reason.

#138 I am not allowed to start my own cult, religion, club, non-profit-organization, or any other form of organized group for any reason, least of all because I need an excuse to change any sort of government-issued id photo.

#139 I am an accomplished Arbormancer, capable of taking living trees of all kinds and fashioning them harmlessly into furnishings or tools, especially magical staves. I am Not, however, allowed to threaten sentient tree-based creatures such as demons, ents, and the like with transformation into such items, nor demonstrate my ability to do so.

#140 Just because some previously-incorporeal people enjoyed my gift of customized living human bodies for them to possess and inhabit, does not mean that Everyone will appreciate such a gift to the same degree. I am not to begin creating such vessels for those I know unless they specifically ask me to, no matter how convenient or helpful I think I am being.

#141 I am forevermore barred from following the ‘advice’ of the maxim ‘Tis better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission’, given that I have by now empirically proven it wrong.

#142 Just because I am a powerful and talented Oathkeeper for pacts and magical deals of all kinds, does not mean I can try and negotiate with children, especially those I am supposed to be babysitting.

#143 No matter how powerful and talented I am with Wood-based, Wind-based, and Ink-based magic, I am not allowed to make magically empowered paper planes and throw them into windstorms of any kind or origin. Not even if the kids ask nicely.

#144 I understand that, given my pact with the Worldspirit Gaia, I am often pulled to act as an emergency agent of their will to stop catastrophic incidents. I understand that, more often than not, those times when a single person is behind the danger, it is someone of necromantic alignment, skills, powers, or so on. Despite this, I am not to complain to them as I try to stop and/or slay them that they remind me of my ex-fiance, no matter how close, depressing, or infuriating the resemblance may be.

#145 I am forever banned from turning any portion of the Halls of the Mountain King into a Ball Pit of any size or depth.

#146 In regards to entry #53, given that I now do offer deals and pacts fairly regularly all things considered, I will remember to try and at least fall mostly in line with the Better Business Bureau’s ethical standards with said dealings.

#147 Given that prior rulings (#42 in particular) have failed, and I am happily sadly considered, among other things, The Wonderful Wizard of Gauze, I shall instead remind myself that flinging bandage wraps at people is not an effective attack. And that, strong as they may be, they cannot support my weight even in bulk - therefore I am forbidden from trying to swing off or around tall buildings with them as my ‘webs’. I am not ‘Spider-man’, and never will be - no matter what I attempt in order to change that.

#148 As an addition to the above ruling, I am to remember that, even if being able to wrap-and-pull items in the heat of battle is a neat and useful utility to have over my adversaries, using the same skill with my ‘bandage shooting’ to grab things around the Halls in a casual setting is frowned upon, even especially if people offer to be ‘test subjects’, ‘training dummies’, or any other kind of volunteer to be ‘shot’ thusly.

#149 Given item #72, I am to extend the same ‘general line of thought’ towards attempting to ‘forcibly evolve things with magic’, or any other medium to attempt the same end result. Spoiler alert: they always turn into crabs. Every. Single. Time. No more crabs.

#150 Just in case, I am forever banned from setting foot within 5 miles of Las Vegas, Nevada. No, not even if the magical forces behind it try to invite me.

#ooc #things hriob is no longer allowed to do #gdihriob #thelittlestdemon #thxpatriarch #xxlordalexanderxx #halls of krakonos #decipheringmadness #automaton otto

[singular-yike]

Hi there! I remember in one of your previous analyses that you'd love an opportunity to talk about shikigami (I think). As someone who is also quite curious about it, would you mind divulging on the subject?

Oh of course, thanks for reminding me!

Shikigami: From History to Len'en

Shikigami, like barriers (which I also did a Len'en-focused analysis on), is one of those things I feel like many who are into Japanese media, especially traditional fantasies, have a general idea about, yet don't really have a grasp on their real-life conception and history.

So, just like in the barriers post, let's take a look at what shikigami are all about, in real-life history and in the Len'en series!

Origins of Onmyōdō

To understand the origins of shikigami, we first have to have a cursory understanding of the complex art of Onmyōdō (陰陽道 lit. "the way of Yin and Yang").

Roots in Chinese Philosophy

Onmyōdō, as we understand it, has its roots in the Chinese philosophical Theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases (陰陽五行思想).

Yin and Yang (陰陽) can be described as the fundamentally opposite but interconnected forces that constitute as well as cause change in everything in the universe.

The Five Phases (五行) is a conceptual framework which is used to classify and explain a wide array of phenomena, including the movement of celestial bodies, the interaction between internal organs to, the rise and fall of political regimes and the properties of medicine, amongst other things. The five phases are, in order, fire, water, wood, metal, earth.

The Theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases then combines the two, and was associated with and used for a variety of (what were at the time considered) natural sciences, such as astronomy, calendar making, time keeping and divination.

Development in Japan

When transmitted to Japan alongside Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, it was accepted by the Japanese people as having actual power, and its associated practices like divination and manipulating fortune were accepted as well.

As these beliefs and practices fused with the native Japanese beliefs (what one may classify as Shinto) and Japanese Buddhism (remember that Buddhism also had its own major developments in Japan), a system of beliefs and practices that were uniquely Japanese was born.

This was Onmyōdō, and it was a state-controlled craft. Onmyōji (陰陽師 lit. "master of yin and yang") were the practitioners of this craft who belonged to the Bureau of Onmyō (陰陽寮), and they offered their services to the royal family and the noble elites.

The Historical Shikigami

Examining the Word "Shikigami"

Now that we can finally take a look at the historical shikigami. They are known by a number of names: shikigami/shikijin (式神・識神), shiki-no-kami (式の神・識の神), shi-ki (式鬼) or shiki-kishin (式鬼神).

No matter the rendering, there is a common element throughout most of them: 式 read shiki or just as shi. It means "to make use of", and refers to the onmyōji's control over these beings.

The specific beings that these names list are kami (神 gods/spirits), oni (鬼) and kishin (鬼神). The last term refers to a myriad of concepts, from wild and rampaging kami to divine spirits to any supernatural thing that causes mysterious phenomena.

Below: Famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei (in black) accompanied by two of his shikigami (below Seimei).

So, from the name, we can tell that shikigami refers to the gods, spirits, supernatural beings and even just supernatural forces under the onmyōji's control. Additionally, it is said that the process through which an onmyōji summons these spirits is also called shikigami..

Types of Shikigami

Shikigami are in fact invisible to everyone except their master, but can take on forms that are visible to the average person. In general, shikigami can be classified in to two ways:

One is according to the form they appear in, such as human-shaped (人型), bird/beast-shaped (鳥獣型), youkai-shaped (妖怪型), etc.

More interesting, perhaps, is classifying them based on how they were created:

First are "mental-action shikigami", (思業式神 shigou-shikigami) they are manifested through the onmyōji's thought, and are said to directly reflect their master's ability.

Next are "personified shikigami" (擬人式神 gijin-shikigami), they are produced by imbuing a doll, often made of paper, straw or plants, with spiritual power. Those which obtain a will of their own are considered higher-rank, while those that do not are considered lower-ranked.

Below: A straw doll used to summon a shikigami into.

Final final type are called, literally, "gods of evil deeds and revealed retribution" (悪行罰示神 akubyoubasshi-kami). It's rather unwieldy and not exactly clear what it means.

So instead, I'll call these "shikigami through karmic retribution". They are typically beings who committed evil deeds in the past who are defeated and subjugated by onmyōji, becoming their shikigami.

The final type, perhaps obviously, are considered particularly dangerous, as an unskilled master can be overpowered by the shikigami, allowing it to cause harm to its master and others.

Functions of a Shikigami

Basically, there's nothing a shikigami cannot do, as they are (provided that the onmyōji is powerful enough) completely bound to the will of their master.

Here I'll just briefly list a few of what shikigami were said to be used for throughout history and myths:

Defeating harmful and devil spirits

Possessing someone to cause them harm

Placed at key locations as protector deities

Pass on messages and deliver objects

Reconnaissance

Housework, house-watching and personal care

Yeah, basically anything you can think of.

Onmyōdō in the Present Day

Persistance and Development

Onmyōdō and onmyōji, along with the Bureau of Onmyō, persisted throughout Japanese history, slowly gaining popularity amongst the general populace as well. It has its ups and down, even losing its official status once, but it never faded away.

One particularly famous Onmyōji that should not go unmentioned is Abe no Seimei (安倍晴明), said to be a genius in the art. Many of his exploits are left behind as legends, and he himself is a popular topic of many modern fiction stories.

Below: Mitori's Pentagram "Bellflower Seal Crush", based on a seal of the same name invented by Seimei to ward off demons.

Fall and Modern Status

It was not until the after Meiji Revolution, in 1870, that the new government passed a bill to ban Onmyōdō as a superstition, under the support of pure Shintoists and the exclusionists, who rejected Onmyōdō based on its Chinese roots.

After this, the Onmyōdō of old basically disappeared from Japanese society. Later, when the ban was lifted, Onmyōdō was already reduced to a point where it would never return to the level of prestige and power it once held during the Heian period.

Nowadays, there are two schools of Onmyōdō left, the "Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto" (天社土御門神道) and the Izanagi School (いざなぎ流).

Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto

This school was established by a family that traces it lineage back to Abe no Seimei, the Tsuchimikado Family.

Thanks to its fusion of Onmyōdō and Shinto, it was able to survive the ban on Onmyōdō by leaning on its Shinto side. Though it would lose official support regardless and turn to private practice.

The Izanagi School

A unique folk religion developed independently in the archaic Tosa Province (modern day Kōchi Prefecture). It has elements of Onmyōdō belief and practice, but aren't recognised by Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto.

Popular Culture

The colourful stories of onmyōji from various legends, especially of them binding youkai to their control and excercising other mystical powers, captured the popular imagination and lead to a myriad of fictional depictions of them.

It is here that the most common depiction of shikigami emerges, as youaki bound by onmyōji, or spirits summoned into paper dolls by them. And it is here that we loop back to Len'en.

Shikigami of Len'en

The most info on shikigami in the Len'en series can be found in Garaiya Ogata's BPoHC profile:

A shikigami receives spiritual power from its master, and can act using the accumulated spiritual power from them. How much spiritual power they can save up and what they can do with said accumulated power varies from shikigami to shikigami. [...] However, the master's spiritual power is naturally limited. [...] However, since a slight amount of their master's power is constantly consumed to keep their shiki up and running. Multiplying too much will overburden their master, ultimately deactivating the shiki.

It would seem that shikigami run on a fairly unique set of rules in Len'en, that of an exchange and balance of spiritual power between master and subject.

The master needs to use their power to somehow activate and maintain a shiki contract with the subject, which creates a link between the two and allows the subject to draw on their masters power. In the case that the master runs out of power, the contract immediately deactivates.

The amount of spiritual power a shikigami stores seems to be somewhat proportional to how powerful they are, as seen in Kuriju Kesa being technically weaker than Kaisen Azuma, but still seen as more useful thanks to the former being better at storing spiritual power from Garaiya.

We don't really know much else about shikigami in the series, though there are a few things that we can speculate upon.

Bound Evildoer Shikigami

First we can examine the most prominent master-shikigami pairs, that between Garaiya and Kaisen & Garaiya and Kurjiu.

Below: Garaiya with Kaisen and Kujiru in animal form.

It's possible that these two are what I called "shikigami through karmic retribution", as they were apparently "pretty mischievous" in the past, prior to meeting Garaiya.

This is particularly likely with Kaisen, as one of their inspirations, the Chinese mythological creature known as Jinchan (金蟾 Lit. "gold/golden toad"), actually has pretty much this play out, just framed under Daoism instead of Onmyōdō.

In the folktale Liu Hai Tricks Jinchan (劉海戲金蟾), it is said Liu tamed a malevolent and greedy three-legged toad after fishing it out of the east sea. It became Jinchan and was henceforth the immortal's companion, following Liu wherever he went.

So yeah, basically "evil youkai does bad deeds" → "good person comes around and tames it" → "evil creature now serves the good person somehow".

With Kujiru, it's not as direct, since their basis, Kesa-gozen (袈裟御前), was the victim in her story, rather than the villain or a villain redeemed. Still, if JynX wanted to somehow collapse both the villain and the victim into one, they certainly can, so I can't really say that this disproves Kujiru as a "shikigami through karmic retribution".

Bonus Note: Jinbei

There's really not enough information on Jinbei to say much about them as a shikigami, but it's interesting to note that they don't (or at least don't only) draw power from their master.

Rather, they draw power from and supply power to the Mugenri Barrier, the current Senri priests (Yabusame and Tsubakura) as well as a yet undisclosed source.

On a personal note, Jinbei gives me the vibe of a spirit that was summoned into an object. Similar to the personified shikigami, though not summoned into a doll, but into the very jinbei that they're always wearing.

Conclusion

There's still much that we don't know about shikigami in Len'en, so other possibilities still exist with both Kaisen, Kujiru and Jinbei.

For example, Kaisen and Kujiru can also be spirits summoned into the youkai, akin to how the Touhou series conceptualises its shikigami. Or Jinbei could be a youkai who's subjugation contract is renewed with every new Senri priest.

Basically what I'm saying is that canonically all we have is the Garaiya profile and the two related 2021 interview answers that I've linked.

In any case though, I hope you at least got something out of the first part about the historical shikigami, and how they are classified and used even to this very day.

As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #garaiya ogata #kujiru kesa #kaisen azuma #jinbei #jinbei len'en #shikigami #I tried to find english translations for these terms #but like I said #well known in popular culture but not in its historical understanding #so it was difficult to find much about this in english #I'm leaving the “jinbei” tag there #maybe this'll be interesting for the traditional Japanese fashion crowd #who knows?

[maggot-monger]

lucifer gender symbolism essay part 2: gender in supernatural

masterpost

gender in supernatural is such a huge topic; this section serves purely as a place to start getting into the rest of my points about gendered symbolism in re:lucifer.

gender is a big deal in supernatural. supernatural is buffy without chicks (kripke’s conceptualization). supernatural is a study in bush-era masculinity; it is self-consciously about the fraught experience of american manhood. the main characters are men; the world is presented through the eyes of men with a lot of very stereotypically masculine skills and traits, who are self-conscious of their own gendered roles, behaviors, and presentations. this isn’t an essay about sam and dean’s genders, so i’ll leave it at that very surface-level description of the show’s gendered perspective. 

maleness and masculinity are the default in supernatural, so it stands out somewhat when a character is a woman and/or doesn't fit spn's version of masculinity. the women and characters who present primarily as women who are in the show do take on a pretty wide variety of roles, however, there are a few roles that are almost exclusively feminine — usually related to innocence, or a surprising/sinister lack thereof. these character archetypes stand out: most of the character archetypes can be filled by characters of any gender, and they stand out because they involve characters who already aren't the show's gender default. and when a character fits a heavily gendered archetype but doesn't seem at a glance to match the gender associated with, it's kind of interesting (hint hint). more on this later.

there are also a lot of non-gendered characters on supernatural, although most of them end up gendered in some way. angels and demons etc who wear male forms most of the time are referred to with he/him pronouns, as brothers, as sons, as guys; angels and demons who wear female forms most of the time are referred to with she/her pronouns, as sisters, as chicks. i guess it’s (presumed to be) easier for the audience to keep track of if they are presented as having a consistent gender situation. but angelic gender doesn’t seem to be the same as human gender, and it doesn’t seem to be as stable: various angels switch between masculine and feminine presentations, they are celestial wavelengths, etc.

the presentation of angels seems to be largely about convenience and vessel availability — but also, sometimes, it’s about symbolism. sometimes the symbolism is selected by the creators of the show without much suggestion that the angels have any awareness of the symbolism they are vessels (ha) for; sometimes, the angels seem to be self-aware about it, doing their own gender symbolism on purpose.

so, this essay approaches lucifer (and all other angels) as not being intrinsically gendered, but as being symbolically gendered — by the casting and costuming, by narrative position/acting decisions/archetypal roles, and by the characters themselves within the world of supernatural. maleness is the default; lucifer is mainly addressed as a masculine figure (and therefore not Other to our protagonists, at a gender level), but there’s a lot in canon that pulls lucifer away from that default. i think that’s an interesting thing for a show that is full of gender to have done with this doubly-subversive* character, so i’m picking at it.

*doubly subversive because the figure of the devil is pretty inherently an opponent to whatever the default is, and because kripke’s lucifer is not the kind of devil that probably comes to mind for most americans: for all his cruelty, he’s high-minded and charismatic and gentle-mannered, not a horned demonic bad-for-bad’s-sake sadistic cartoon. 

part 1: mostly non-spn background, context, & caveats part 3: the dead nun masterpost

#spn #spnluciferweek #lucifer #spn thots #meta

[bubblesandpages]

for the 2023 reading ask game: 1, 6, and 8!

1. What are 2-5 already published fiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

A Dragon of a Different Color, and Last Dragon Standing by Rachel Aaron. This series is everything urban fantasy aspires to be, it does such cool things with established supernatural lore, I love the family structures, the politics, the action, and I also need to meet Chelsea's one true love already.

If I somehow by some miracle manage to get through the Caraval series just so I can read Once Upon a Broken Heart sometime this year, I would also be very pleased.

Book of Night by Holly Black has been out for quite a while and I still haven't gotten to it. I've read a good chunk of her work at this point, and am feeling a little sad over it because once I finish it all I'll be stuck waiting each year for a new book. But I am excited to get to this one!

6. Do you have any conceptual reading goals? E.g., I plan to read books on food history.

There's a lot of manga I want to get to, specifically titles that Jump have been publishing on their Manga Plus app like Oshi no Ko, Akane-banashi, and Once Piece.

I do want to make some headway in regards to my tbr, as well as getting around to reading more classics this year, but otherwise the goal is to try and enjoy myself more than last year.

8. Are there any reading challenges you want to try?

I find that reading challenges of any variety tend to stress me out and take the fun out of the activity, so probably not. I want to make an effort to avoid looking at any of my reading stats during the year, or the number of things I've read because I tend to start leaning more into the competitiveness of reading, rather than enjoying the activity for what it is, which lead to last year feeling like a downer reading year.

#totally didn't forget this was in my ask box #ask #questions 6 and 8 really just highlighted how much of a mood reader I am #aka if I don't feel like it it isn't going to happen #Fizzy talks #books

[tigerkirby215]

Talking about the Wonders of the Multiverse UA like three weeks late

(We still use League of Legends artwork because why not. Artwork by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

Oh right I have a Tumblr account.

I’m writing this for a few reasons: partially to get it off my mind, partially because I feel bad leaving this account to rot for so long and this is a good way to get back into the swing of things. Don’t know when it will be posted but these are my thoughts on the latest UA, and there’s certainly not initial impressions lol.

Glitchling

If the mechagnomes weren’t enough for a “definitely not Warforged” race then here’s your full on cyborg race. Yes I do know they probably existed in Spelljammer or something but counterpoint: we don’t need three robot races when we don’t even have an official dog race yet? At least that’s my opinion.

Anyways this race continues the mechagnome trend of giving robots tons of free stats and abilities because “they’re a robot, I guess.” They’re a Construct (immune to Hold Person) but can still be healed by Cure Wounds, they have 14 + DEX AC (+2 Studded Leather?! 1 more than Mage Armor?!) because why not, can turn a 9 or lower on a d20 into a 10 (Rogue’s level 11 ability / Clockwork Soul’s level 14 ability) a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus because why not, have advantage on Insight checks and saves against charms because why not, and to top it off they can fly.

Like it feels like I’m reading crappy homebrew! This genuinely feels like a comedy sketch: like a Tiefling Fighter is complaining about their Glitchling Wizard by saying “they have better armor than me, never fail at anything, know if anyone’s lying to them, can’t be persuaded, and what else can they do: fly?” before the Glitchling takes off and leaves the Fighter dumbfounded.

For what it’s worth I think Vestigial Wings is fine. We’ve seen traits like this with the Ascendant Dragon Warlock and I’ve seen traits like this on homebrew races. I think it’s a very balanced way to handle racial flight and it allows for interesting combat, exploration, and roleplay without being overpowered. But that being said holy shit this race has too many abilities.

I’m fine with innate AC in concept but holy shit it shouldn’t be 14 + DEX lmao. I feel like they should either make the innate AC be equal to a Breastplate (14 + DEX max of 2) or take a book from the Loxodons and use CON-based AC. Everything else however just makes the race way too strong: turning fails into 10s (again: 11 Rogue / 14 level Sorcerer ability as a racial trait) is way too strong, advantage on Insight checks “just because” is dumb and the same can be said for the advantage against charming effects.

Keep this as the limited flying race and give it a few other positive benefits: maybe the Construct tag, maybe the innate AC, maybe boost some skill checks idk. But it shouldn’t have all this when the flight alone already makes it an incredibly strong race.

Fate Domain Cleric

It’s cool conceptually but some abilities are more hit-or-miss. I think the Channel Divinity is way too strong for its own good, essentially being the Foresight spell (a 9th level spell!) as a Channel Divinity option. And Insightful Striking feels like it should have synergy with your teammates (the Eloquence Bard is better at weaving fate than the Fate Cleric?)

But beyond that the subclass honestly seems fine. It plays a bit weird from the looks of things but I’m sure you can make a very interesting character with the kit.

Backgrounds

Seeing as the backgrounds actually have more to them than just “you get a feat because you’re associated with (clan)” I’ll talk about them: I like them a lot! I’ve always liked extraplanar and supernatural characters and having backgrounds related to them is really cool!

Gate Warden is a simple but effective background for a character that you want to be planetouched, Giant Foundling is neat for a variety of characters even if the background is kinda inflexible, Planar Philosopher is a little boring ngl, and Rune Carver basically exists for Rune Knight Fighters and Artificers lol.

Feats

We saw a lot of reprints of old feats and a lot of somewhat new ones, so I figure it’s fitting to talk about them one by one. That being said we still have the feat trees so I’ll try to bundle them all together.

SCION OF THE OUTER PLANES

Since there’s so much versatility between the options I’ll “rate” each one on the basis of the cantrip you get, damage type you resist, and the feat that you can get later on with your choice.

Astral: Damage type is good, Message is a good cantrip, but because there’s no alignment you can’t get any of the fun feats.

Chaotic: Damage type is mediocre, cantrip is mediocre, the next feat is super fun though.

Evil: Bad damage type, bad cantrip, bad extra feat. Evil doesn’t pay.

Good: Radiant is one of the rarest damage types but Sacred Flame is a decent cantrip. The feat you get for opting for goodness is kinda bad though?

Lawful: Again Radiant damage is very rare, but Guidance is an amazing cantrip and the feat you get for opting for law is also really fun. Easily the best option you’ve got.

Outlands: Mage hand is nice, Psychic damage resistance is nice, no additional feat because it’s the Outlands.

Agent of Order

It’s basically a Wisdom-save version of Stunning Strike... so cheers to devaluing the Monk lmao. To be fair this is a feat that requires a previous feat so I think it’s fine. It also doesn’t have any inherent synergy with your own abilities since it goes away at the start of your next turn, but it has good teamplay synergy which I think should always be promoted in 5e.

Plus the visual is just really cool. I’ve always liked the idea of binding someone down with magic and it’s kinda a shame that Hold Person and other similar spells feel really boring in all honesty? Like Hold Person / Hold Monster are very strong but I’d rather be casting something more flashy. So this strikes a nice middle ground, especially since ranged characters can use it. Even ranged martials! So the Ranger gets to have some more fun with their Wisdom score.

Baleful Scion

Holy shit guys they finally added Lifesteal.

I mean, the damage is bad and the healing is bad, but I know there are people who will really love this feat. I really feel like this could come back on a Short Rest and it would still be balanced. But if you consider that when you grab this feat (at level 4) it heals / damages for 2d6 + 4, and even at its theoretical maximum value (at level 17) this feat will only give you 6d6 + 36 total damage / healing. To put 6d6 + 36 into perspective: that’s a slightly better Fireball of damage / healing. By level 17.

I like this feat a lot conceptually, but I realize it’s less “I like this feat” and more “lifesteal mechanics beyond the spell Vampiric Touch and Enervation should’ve been added to 5e about 5 years ago.”

Cohort of Chaos

Mini Wild Magic Surges, which are all more fun than the actual Wild Magic subclass! Lmao they really need to publish an updated Wild Magic surge table.

Disruption Field is pretty bad in most situations, although it can be good for a martial character. Battle Fury is kinda just... universally good in combat? Like you can give this to any martial character and they’ll be happy. Unbound is pretty cool and generally applicable enough to be useful. And Wailing Winds is a bit too situational and kinda overkill in my honest opinion.

This is a really fun, silly feat that I know a lot of people will enjoy. My only recommendation would be to nerf Wailing Winds (because 60 feet is excessive.) Disruption Field at least has its uses for a melee character, and it can be funny in the moment.

Outlands Envoy

Wait what the fuck this is literally just the Fey Touched feat?

Like, you get Tongues as a spell? That’s arguably good? I’d still prefer Silvery Barbs, Gift of Alacrity, Bless, or Hex? Honestly this feat just feels kinda lazy to me. Like your best idea was just the Misty Step and Tongues spells? Like you couldn’t even learn a language?

Planar Wanderer

Damn first you made Archfey Warlock into a feat I guess we can just turn Horizon Walker Ranger into a feat too?

I mean, this feat is basically just a roleplay feat. Honestly I’d just let a player character do this if it was part of their character or the plot demanded it. It seems like a weird feat considering it does literally nothing else?

Righteous Heritor

This feat blocks 2d10 + 4 damage when you get it, and a maximum of 6d10 + 36 damage when you’re level 17. I again go back to the fact that you’re basically shielding a 4th level Fireball’s worth of damage.

I don’t get why these relatively weaker feats don’t recharge on a Short Rest. And no: “WoTC is abandoning Short Rests” is not a reason.

CARTOMANCER

I like this feat a lot because I literally have a Warlock who’s more-or-less based entirely around cards and gambling.

Card Focus is fun; it’s a few extra d4s of damage that won’t break anything.  Card Tricks is cute flavor. But of course the real meat of this feat is Hidden Ace. I don’t have to explain why having an extra spell is good, nor why casting an action spell as a bonus action is strong. At pretty much all tiers of play this feat is strong: when you get the feat it basically gives you a whole extra caster level (whole extra “spell slot”), and even as you reach the higher levels having an extra 4th, 5th, or even 6th level spell is kinda crazy. I don’t know if every caster ever wants to lose an ASI for what’s effectively “you can cast one spell for free” but like... I’m pretty sure there’s an Epic Boon that does this? So uh... this feat is basically an Epic Boon?

I do find it weird that it’s restricted to the Arcane Casters. (Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock.) Like I understand why Druids / Rangers / Clerics / Paladins don’t get it but... not Bards? Really? I mean, I guess it’s not a big deal because you can get this feat with just a 1 level multiclass dip, and 2 levels in Warlock is already one of the better muticlasses you can do.

I really hope this feat doesn’t get nerfed, even though my objective balancing side says this feat is overpowered lmao. Because it’s just so fun and thematic, and I really don’t think it’s going to break anything.

STRIKE OF THE GIANTS

Much like with the planar feats I’m going to rate both the initial effect of the feat and the additional feat you can get.

Hill: Extra damage and knocking people prone is very good! The feat you get after this one is alright too but I wouldn’t really go out of my way for it.

Stone: Pushing people is pointless, but the feat you get after this is so good it’s honestly worth taking just for the extra feat.

Frost: Good because it’s Cold damage, bad because it’s a CON save, and the feat that comes after this one is kinda bad.

Fire: Damage is damage, and the next feat you get gives you some cool utility in hectic fights.

Cloud: Cool to see they brought back the “invisible to one target” mechanic, but honestly the damage is so bad I don’t know if I’d even bother with this feat, even if I was playing a Rogue or something. The feat that comes after this one is also alright but nothing to write home about imo.

Storm: Effect is good, damage type is good. CON save is bad, feat that comes after this one is bad.

I will say that I like that they’re giving new weaponized bonus actions to martial characters, and that we’re getting support for both melee fighters and thrown weapon fighters! I think it’s really cool that you can choose to make your next attack more powerful a few times per day.

Ember of the Fire Giant

Did they buff this from the last UA? It feels like they did but I genuinely forget what the differences are between the last UA and this one. Anyways my opinion remains the same: it’s really cool to give martials new combat abilities and pseudo-maneuvers to vary up their combat some more. I really wish something like this was tied to a magic item or just general combat ability instead of a feat, but I will happily accept it as a feat.

Fury of the Frost Giant

This feat was definitely changed. Thing is it’s still kinda mediocre? Like, I’d rather the Gift of the Gem Dragons feat from Fizban’s as pushing melee enemies back is more useful than slowing them, and slowing a ranged enemy is pointless.

Like, this feat is cool and flavorful? But I can’t help but feel it’s ultimately useless.

Guile of the Cloud Giant

Really gonna just powercreep Gnomes like that, huhn? Back in my day you used to have to be a specific race or subclass to teleport or turn invisible as a reaction. But now you can just do it with a universal feat!

I mean, Gnome Cunning and Archfey Warlock prove that having a panic button is nice. Hell, the Shield spell proves that having a panic button is nice. It’s a flavorful feat and also a useful one.

Keenness of the Stone Giant

I like this feat for simple reason: it gives melee characters a practical ranged options. Having an attack that both has decent range (none of this 30/120 javelin crap) and can knock enemies prone (notably this will knock flying enemies out of the sky if they don’t have a hover) is a really big asset for any Barbarian or Paladin. You really won’t need more than proficiency bonus uses of a ranged attack in my opinion (and you can always carry javelins as well if you’re really worried about that.) Add in the fact that this can be based off Strength, Constitution, or Wisdom and it’s really nice!

And this feat gives Darkvision too? WoTC you’re too kind! Honestly I thought the ranged attack was already good enough. I know Stone Giants having Darkvision is kinda a “thing” (based on the Rune Knight Fighter) but like... you don’t need to make this feat better? Even if I was playing a Druid or something I’d unironically consider this feat because it’s just that good to knock people prone at range. It falls off a cliff in higher tier play but even then it’s mostly going to be used for backup, and some damage is better than none.

Soul of the Storm Giant

I preferred the evasion tbh is all I can say. This new wind wall thing is weird.

Vigor of the Hill Giant

Behold the new, cooler Durable feat! This obviously benefits characters who are going to have high CON and take a lot of damage: you may think Barbarians but I’d actually honestly argue this is maybe worth it for a Monk? (I mean, excluding the fact that the prerequisite feat takes your Bonus Action.) The problem is that I’m trying to find a use for the anti-knockback part of the feat.

RUNE CARVER APPRENTICE

This feat is basically the same as it was in the last UA, right?

I mean opinion still stands: Comprehend Languages is a boring spell, and beyond that this is basically just a grab bag of spells. A midway decent grab bag (Disguise Self, Command, Entangle, and Sanctuary are all good spells) but still just a bunch of 1st level spells?

I do find it funny that you can cast Chromatic Orb without the 50 gp diamond, but honestly I don’t find Chromatic Orb to be that good of a spell.

Rune Carver Adept

Yup so they’re ditching the Rune Carver Wizard, because this feat is basically that subclass.

I mean the feedback on Rune Carver Wizard seemed fairly unanimous that the abilities didn’t fit a Wizard, and they they should “just be a feat.” So it’s interesting to see that they just made that ability a feat.

I wonder if we’ll see a return of the Rune Caver Wizard? Maybe as an Artificer? Probably not.

SCION OF ELEMENTAL AIR

This is very strong! Not only is Minor Illusion a damn good cantrip, but being able to fly (even for a round) can get you out of a lot of dangerous situations and into a lot of advantageous ones! Not to mention that it’s just cool to reposition yourself imo; I love strategic movement and varied terrain, which this feat takes advantage of.

SCION OF ELEMENTAL EARTH

WoTC stole my buff to the Earth Genasi smh.

I mean this is just a cool aesthetic? Straight out of Avatar The Last Airbender where you pull up a rock wall to block attacks. Not the strongest but definitely neat.

SCION OF ELEMENTAL FIRE

...Really? Your best way to embody the Element of Fire was the Dancing Lights cantrip and the Produce Flame cantrip? Like sure you can cast Produce Flame as a Bonus Action I guess... I don’t know why you’d bother taking a feat for that? Especially when the Metamagic Adept feat lets you cast better cantrips as a Bonus Action, such as Eldritch Blast?

SCION OF ELEMENTAL WATER

Thaumaturgy was the best spell you could think of to embody water? Really? Like, not even Acid Splash like the Water Genasi? Broooo they really need to just make the Elemental Evil cantrips official...

Anyways pushing and pulling people is cool, although maybe not all that practical. Again reminds me of Avatar The Last Airbender. Kinda wish they let you do some cool stuff with ice like they did it ATLA but...

Spells

Reddit was very angry about these I remember. I will say that I really love these spells thematically but the power level is kinda hit-or-miss.

Antagonize

Behold! Upcasted Vicious Mockery! I mean, the effect is cool but the damage is fucking garbage for a 3rd level spell. Add in the pitiful range and the fact that this spell does nothing if the target succeeds and it’s kinda a hard sell for me.

House of Cards

WoTC... why are you printing an errata for Leomund’s Tiny Hut in this UA? Like, this spell is just objectively worse than Tiny Hut most of the time? It’s also worse than Galder’s Tower, but that spell is technically unofficial so...

I mean this visual is awesome and I thank you for it, but this spell is just needlessly bad compared to Tiny Hut and Galder’s Tower. Like you can’t even cast this as a ritual why?

Spirit of Death

I mean cool visual but I can’t shake the feeling that other summoning spells are better? I mean, this thing can walk through walls and has permanent advantage, but it also disappears when the target falls over? This is a good spell for a boss fight but a bad spell for general combat I feel. And I can’t help but feel that this spell could’ve just been a generalized summon instead of having the mechanic where it attaches to someone. I understand it thematically but it doesn’t stop it from being a bad spell imo.

Spray of Cards

So this is either a slightly better Color Spray with a saving throw or a... really bad Burning Hands? Like why is the damage so aggressively terrible? 2d10 is nothing my lord.

Can’t shake the feeling this should just be a 3rd level spell that combines both effects with more damage and perhaps a wider AoE. (20 foot cone?) As the spell is currently it’s kinda laughably bad compared to other 2nd level spells, or even upcasted 1st level spells. Like instead of getting within 15 feet of an enemy I could just cast Blindness / Deafness on them. Yes this spell can theoretically blind more people but you don’t need that many people blinded.

Summon Warrior Spirit

“omg guiz u canz cats a 7th levul spel slit 2 maek a fitur az da weezurd who iz betar dan de figutr hiz i amz redit i am so smrat i complan dat cazturz r strungur dan mashulz!!!!!1111″

Can you tell I don’t like r/dndnext?

“This spell makes a better Fighter” aside: this spell is a bit overtuned? The damage output is incredibly good (unless you pick the Monk lmao, but the Monk can knock people prone.) The Fighter in particular completely devalues Summon Celestial imo, as it distributes a similar amount of temp HP for very little effort.

Even if I think Reddit overreacted to this spell I can recognize an overpowered spell when I see one. The Barbarian does too much damage, the Fighter “heals” too much, and the Monk has too much CC.

-----

tl;dr final thoughts:

Glitchling - Comedically overpowered and has way too many abilities for its own good.

Fate Domain Cleric - Cool but lacks cohesion and has some overpowered abilities.

Backgrounds - Very fun.

Feats - Some misses mostly hits.

Spells - Cool flavor bad balance.

This UA has a lot of really fun ideas and while I don’t think anything is overly experimental I will say that the balance is really out of whack. The one good thing about this UA is that most of the “reprints” from previous UAs are way better balanced, so it seems like WoTC is understanding what people want and how to give it to them. I really hope that most of the stuff in this UA gets balanced to an acceptable level because I will be happy to support it.

Also gotta beg my DM to let my Bardlock use a deck of cards as their focus.

#dnd #dnd 5e #Unearthed Arcana #feats #dnd feats #spells #dnd spells #dnd races

[thecreaturecodex]

Crawling Head

Image by Thomas Baxa, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Fiend Folio Art Gallery here

[It may just be nostalgia goggles talking, but D&D 3rd Edition was a glory age for monsters. Not in terms of mechanics, which were often wildly unbalanced, but for sheer volume and conceptual chutzpah. Five Monster Manuals, one Fiend Folio, multiple books devoted to exploring a single category more in depth, and a few miscellaneous critters scattered around in pretty much every source book. Many of these monsters made it to 4e, and a few are now considered classics (shadar-kai are big winners here), but a lot of them never made it out of the edition. Some never made a second appearance out of their original book! So here is a tribute to Third Edition Exclusives, taken from both 3.0 and 3.5, from a wide variety of sources. I have done a lot of monsters that fit into this category already, so I’m hoping to also delve into some of the odder corners. Monsters from player books, campaign setting supplements, that sort of thing.

The crawling head, on the other hand, comes to us from the Fiend Folio. @bogleech​ called them out as one of their favorite undead in this article way back when, and suggested using them as a Jabba the Hutt styled crime boss. That’s certainly one way to do it, but my favored interpretation is to make them mad scientists. The original flavor text talks about them making traps, so I leaned into that with some of their spell-like abilities, and gave them item creation feats so they can make constructs and kit out their best minions with special items.]

Crawling Head CR 19 CE Undead This grotesque thing is a rotten, swollen head as big as a wagon. It has multiple layers of sharp teeth in its wide maw, and it drags itself along on a seething nest of giant blood vessels, nerves and organs. Its underside is swollen and glistening, the faint outlines of faces pressed against boil-like sacs.

The crawling heads are rare and awful undead, the remnant of an empire of giants inclined to necromancy. They attempted to imbue their leaders with eternal life to create an undying council, but the process caused the elder’s heads to swell to monstrous size. Each created their own council by devouring the heads of their underlings, then crawled off on their own, having no real interest in statecraft or society.

Each crawling head is a mastermind and dungeon keeper, and they dwell in labyrinths and ruins. These they fill with traps and guardians, many of which are undead or constructs. All crawling heads are masters of magic and most are craftsmen of great skill, and they spend centuries perfecting strange new magic items and constructs. These are released onto the world for the sheer joy of mayhem and killing. Many crawling heads make sure to slip clues as to their location along with these poison pills—the better to attract adventurers to devour and use their gear as raw material for the next batch of horrors.

In combat, a crawling head is slow but powerful. A crawling head is surrounded by an aura of wailing, screaming and mad laughter from the severed heads it has stored in its body in fluid-filled cysts. It can absorb these heads to fuel its powers, healing itself or releasing multiple spells in a round in a nova of destruction. Their teeth act as a vorpal weapon, scissoring off the heads of their enemies in a single strike. Perhaps their greatest weakness is simple water—a flask of it burns like acid. As such, crawling heads are usually found in salt flats, desert mountains and other arid environments.

A crawling head is roughly 10 feet in diameter and weighs about a ton.

Crawling Head         CR 19 XP 204,800 CE Huge undead Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +25, true seeing Aura cacophony (60 ft., Will DC 31) Defense AC 34, touch 13, flat-footed 34 (-2 size, -2 Dex, +4 shield, +17 natural, +7 deflection) hp 322 (28d8+196) Fort +16, Ref +9, Will +20 DR 15/adamantine; Immune electricity, magic missile, sonic, undead traits; SR 30 Defensive Abilities terror shield; Weakness vulnerable to water Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee bite +29 (2d8+15 plus vorpal bite), 4 tentacles +27 (1d8+5 plus grab) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks constrict (tentacle, 1d8+15), powerful blows (bite) Spell-like Abilities CL 19th, concentration +26 Constant—shield, true seeing At will— animate dead, control undead (DC 24), dimension door, fear (DC 21), inflict critical wounds (DC 21), speak with dead 3/day—create undead, finger of death (DC 24), greater dispel magic, greater glyph of warding (DC 23), greater shout (DC 25) 1/day— create greater undead, symbol of pain (DC 22), symbol of stunning (DC 24), symbol of weakness (DC 24), wail of the banshee (DC 26) Statistics Str 30, Dex 7, Con -, Int 20, Wis 19, Cha 25 Base Atk +21; CMB +33 (+35 vs. disarm or trip, +37 grapple); CMD 48 (50 vs. disarm, 62 vs. trip) Feats Cleave, Combat Expertise, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Great Cleave, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Lightning Reflexes, Magical Aptitude, Multiattack, Power Attack, Step Up Skills Bluff +25, Climb +47, Craft (traps) +23, Intimidate +28, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +26, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history) +23, Linguistics +23, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +30, Stealth +11, Use Magic Device +29; Racial Modifiers +16 Climb Languages Common, Giant, Necril, 18 others SQ absorb head, expert climber Ecology Environment any deserts and underground Organization solitary Treasure double standard Special Abilities Absorb Head (Su) As a free action, a crawling head may swallow the severed head of a creature it has decapitated with its vorpal bite. It may also harvest a head from an intact corpse no less than 24 hours dead as a standard action. A crawling head can store a number of severed heads equal to its Hit Dice, and typically has 1d4+10 severed heads stored at the beginning of an encounter. As a swift action on its turn, the crawling head can digest one of these severed heads in order to gain one of the following abilities

Use any of its at-will or 3/day spell-like abilities as a swift action

Gain the benefits of a harm spell cast on itself (CL 19th)

Gain a +6 enhancement bonus to one of its ability scores for 1 hour. A crawling head cannot have more than one enhancement bonus gained in this fashion at a time

A crawling head with no heads stored cannot use its cacophony aura. Cacophony Aura (Su) All creatures within 60 feet of a crawling head that can hear it must succeed a DC 31 Will save or cower for 1d4+1 rounds. A creature that succeeds this save is immune to the cacophony aura of that crawling head for the next 24 hours. This is a sonic, fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. A crawling head can suppress or resume the cacophony aura as a move action. Expert Climber (Ex) A crawling head can climb on any surface. Treat this as a nonmagical spider climb effect, and the creature gains a +16 racial bonus on all Climb checks. Terror Shield (Su) A crawling head gains a deflection bonus to its AC and CMD equal to its Charisma modifier. Vorpal Bite (Su) The supernaturally sharp teeth of a crawling head sever an opponent’s head on a natural 20 and a confirmed critical hit. This kills most creatures that have a head, but not all (such as most undead or constructs), and has no effect on creatures with no heads. Vulnerability to Water (Ex) A flask of water deals 1d6 points of damage to a crawling head, and immersion in water deals 10d6 points of damage a round.

#crawling head #body horror #undead #D&D #pathfinder 1e

[likeabxrdinflight]

A theory question (if you're interested!): what do you think is most likely for Azula to develop (if at all) in adulthood: C/PSTD, BPD or narcissism? This set on the premise of canon divergence of the finale where Ozai succeed to establish an empire, Azula’s still in power and haven't left the abusive household.

The problem with this question is that it's suggesting these three things are distinct, and not highly related and often co-morbid.

I think first off though is that C-PTSD is not actually a proper diagnosis yet, it's a theoretical construct that has yet to actually appear in any diagnostic manual. C-PTSD was a term first coined by psychiatrist Judith Herman (whom we stan, the woman is brilliant and her book Trauma and Recovery is a must read.) However, her conceptualization of C-PTSD was largely not...that distinct from BPD, something she acknowledges.

Let's look at the symptoms of each. BPD is well established, and its diagnostic criteria are as follows:

"BPD is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, as well as marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

Chronic feelings of emptiness

Emotional instability in reaction to day-to-day events (e.g., intense episodic sadness, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

Identity disturbance with markedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

Impulsive behavior in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

Pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation (also known as "splitting")

Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-harming behavior

Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms."

So in a nutshell, we have difficulties with emotion regulation, identity diffusion, relational difficulties, and dissociation.

All right, now the proposed (but again not official) criteria for C-PTSD:

"Six clusters of symptoms have been suggested for diagnosis of C-PTSD-

Alterations in regulation of affect and impulses;

Alterations in attention or consciousness;

Alterations in self-perception;

Alterations in relations with others;

Somatization;

Alterations in systems of meaning.

Experiences in these areas may include:

Changes in emotional regulation, including experiences such as persistent dysphoria, chronic suicidal preoccupation, self-injury, explosive or extremely inhibited anger (may alternate), and compulsive or extremely inhibited sexuality (may alternate).

Variations in consciousness, such as amnesia or improved recall for traumatic events, episodes of dissociation, depersonalization/derealization, and reliving experiences (either in the form of intrusive PTSD symptoms or in ruminative preoccupation).

Changes in self-perception, such as a sense of helplessness or paralysis of initiative, shame, guilt and self-blame, a sense of defilement or stigma, and a sense of being completely different from other human beings (may include a sense of specialness, utter aloneness, a belief that no other person can understand, or a feeling of nonhuman identity).

Varied changes in perception of the perpetrators, such as a preoccupation with the relationship with a perpetrator (including a preoccupation with revenge), an unrealistic attribution of total power to a perpetrator (though the individual's assessment may be more realistic than the clinician's), idealization or paradoxical gratitude, a sense of a special or supernatural relationship with a perpetrator, and acceptance of a perpetrator's belief system or rationalizations.

Alterations in relations with others, such as isolation and withdrawal, disruption in intimate relationships, a repeated search for a rescuer (may alternate with isolation and withdrawal), persistent distrust, and repeated failures of self-protection.

Changes in systems of meaning, such as a loss of sustaining faith and a sense of hopelessness and despair."

So again we've got...difficulties with emotion regulation, identity diffusion, relational difficulties, and dissociation.

...huh.

I know the C-PTSD criteria also added somatization and altered sense of meaning but like...the overlap in symptoms is enormous. There's also the glaring elephant in the room that BPD is usually considered a trauma and attachment related disorder itself. Personality disorders don't just happen, and trauma is a risk factor for like...all of them. But especially for BPD. Some 75-80% of all BPD cases feature a significant trauma history.

Some people will argue, however- and full disclosure I'm one of these people- that BPD shouldn't really count as a personality disorder in the same way as the others. Because if you look at the research and the data on personality disorders, there is always one that just doesn't fit with the others- and spoilers, it's BPD. Most personality disorders are ego-syntonic, meaning the person with the disorder doesn't find the symptoms discrepant with who they are or even that upsetting. BPD is usually not ego-syntonic, and many find the symptoms upsetting and disturbing. Most personality disorders are highly resistant to treatment- BPD is not, we have multiple treatment modalities that are effective. Most personality disorders are not at all responsive to medication- BPD can be, antidepressants have been known to help with some of the emotion regulation difficulties. Most personality disorders are unremitting and chronic- BPD is chronic, but remission is possible. BPD symptoms also tend to lessen in intensity with age, similar to what is seen with bipolar disorder.

So personally, I think BPD and C-PTSD are just two different wings of the same underlying problem. They manifest slightly differently and have slight variations in symptom presentation, but I don't think you ever find them in absentia of significant attachment difficulties. The biggest difference is that C-PTSD requires some kind of verifiable "capital-T Trauma", and BPD allows for "little-t traumas" (i.e., relational and attachment disturbances that aren't Abuse or Neglect.)

So with Azula, honestly? If you're picking between BPD and C-PTSD, I kinda just...don't think it matters much. She's equivalently vulnerable to both, which one she might develop (if she's going to develop either) is going to be up to to personal opinion of whoever is crafting this AU. BPD does center issues of abandonment a little more than C-PTSD, so there is that to consider.

All right, onto NPD. This one is a more classic personality disorder- hard to treat, usually not the reason the client is even in treatment, typically chronic and unremitting, and ego-syntonic. But there's still problems with this, because NPD is highly co-morbid with other disorders. People with NPD often also meet criteria for things like depression, bipolar disorder, and...you guessed it...BPD. Data on narcissism and C-PTSD don't exist since C-PTSD isn't a proper disorder yet, but if I had to guess, I'd say there's a good chance the comorbidity rates would not be insignificant.

Anyway here's the criteria:

"A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).

Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.

Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).

Requires excessive admiration.

Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).

Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).

Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.

Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.

Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes."

Note that lacking empathy is not actually a requirement, even though this is the symptom everyone gets all wound up over- it's just one possible symptom of nine. Like most personality disorders, you need at least five. Not all nine.

There's also a lot of debate about NPD and whether or not there's two distinct types of narcissism, and then the debate over NPD as is vs malignant narcissism and is that a separate thing, but...idk we don't have time to unpack all that and this post is long enough as is. Personality disorders are easily the least well-defined of the different DSM categories, and it's the section I expect to see get the biggest overhaul someday. Give it about 20-30 years, we won't be talking about these disorders as discrete, singular constructs anymore.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyways, in the AU you describe, I do think it's highly likely Azula would go on to develop NPD as we currently understand it. In canon she was already using pretty well-developed narcissistic defense mechanisms, and left under Ozai's thumb I don't think she'd have many options but to continue utilizing them. In adulthood, this would probably then become crystallized into her adult personality since she wouldn't have had opportunities to heal/learn different coping styles. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't also develop BPD or C-PTSD.

So honestly, I don't think it's either/or here. It's more likely both/and.

[aion-rsa]

Reading beyond the veil: Paranormal book Recommendations From the Pros

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Don’t cross the streams. Never take your hands off a Ouija board without first saying “Goodbye.” The undead has to be invited in. Kill it with fire. Shoot it in the head. Wolfman’s got nards.

When it comes to the entertainment of the unexplained, or paranormal pop culture, humans live in a world(s) populated by all manner of preternatural, supernatural, otherworldly, and extradimensional phenomena. But entertainment also tells us there are rules that bring order to the abnormal – whether it’s a ghost or demon, alien or sasquatch, werewolf or vampire, or even a troll or fairy.

Yet behind every silver bullet solution that makes it into a script, there is typically a wealth of academic study that’s both complicated, and sometimes contradictory. From folklore to grimoire, anthropology to parapsychology, researchers have attempted to document and take a serious look at topics slightly askew from the norm. They are the real-world counterparts of Dr. Spengler, Dr. Van Helsing, and Father Merrin.

(And, perhaps unlike those fictional “experts,” many researchers would likely tell you the more they read up on these topics, the clearer it becomes there is more unknown than known, and more theories than rules.)

With that in mind, we reached out to a few notable figures and esteemed colleagues within the paranormal community to offer reading suggestions that go beyond what pop culture tells us about the unexplained. The following list is a guide for those inspired by the movies and TV shows to take a longer look through the veil, under the bed, at the stars, and into the forest.

Amy Bruni

(Host/Executive Producer, Travel Channel’s Kindred Spirits; Author, Life With The Afterlife):

ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook by Loyd Auerbach

“While I think it’s highly important to have a library of paranormal books, and to form your own research and investigative methodologies, I almost always recommend Loyd Auerbach’s ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook as a must have. 

It was published in 1986, and is widely cited as one of the books that inspired many of today’s most well-known investigators to investigate the way they do. A good number of Loyd’s methods and theories still ring true, as well as his healthy dose of skepticism. It’s not the type of investigation you see on television, that’s for sure, but it’s got some great ideas to help distinguish between what could be an actual haunting vs a perceived haunting.”

Grant Wilson

(Host/Executive Producer, A&E’s Ghost Hunters):

Morphic Resonance & The Presence of the Past: The Memory of Nature by Rupert Sheldrake

“Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., and former research fellow of the Royal Society, guides us through his journey to discover if our memories exist outside ourselves, and how that idea could affect our view on how the entire universe operates. Sheldrake gently opens the mind to this idea with solid thinking, educated speculation, and sound experimentation. More than just a mental exercise, his theory proposes that all self-organizing systems, from crystals to human society share a common memory which guides their collective form and behavior. Basically, the more people learn something, the easier it is for others to learn. Which, if true, would have huge implications in the field of paranormal research, not to mention the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology. If our memories are collectively shared and stored outside our own brains, are ghosts simply some sort of manifestation of shared memories? I recommend this book to anyone looking to draw their mind out of the box we so comfortably live in and reshape how we think about well, pretty much everything.”

Jeff Belanger

(Author, Writer/Researcher, Ghost Adventures; Host, New England Legends podcast, and TV series):

Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter by Harry Price

“Published in London in 1936, this is a must-read to see how far paranormal investigation has come (and how little it’s actually changed in almost a century). In the book, Harry Price (1881 – 1948) explores some of his favorite cases, how to test a spirit medium, spirit photography, and he delves into his methods of investigating including equipment, trigger objects, interviews, and theories. Harry Price is the original ghost hunter.

Read it for free online here: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.218596/page/n9/mode/2up

Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond by Hans Holzer

Parapsychologist Hans Holzer (1920 – 2009) helped usher the paranormal into the mainstream with his many books and media appearances. Originally published in 1997, Holzer profiles some of his favorite cases and the first-hand experiences encountered by the witnesses he interviewed. By 97’, Holzer had reached the age and point of his career where he believed he pretty much had everything figured out. Though I don’t agree with all of his theories or ideas on the afterlife, I tip my hat at his confidence on spelling out the unknown.”

Bryce Johnson

(Actor; Co-host, Bigfoot Collector’s Club podcast):

Where the Footprints End, High Strangeness and the Bigfoot Phenomenon Volume I: Folklore by Joshua Cutchin and Timothy Renner

“What in the hell is really going on with Bigfoot? Is this just a flesh & blood creature like most think, or is there something more “paranormal” taking place? It’s a great question, and one that Cutchin and Renner (both outside-the-box thinkers) tackle head on. It’s hard to deny that these guys are onto something, and after having read it, I don’t think that I can ever go back to thinking that Sasquatch is just an unconfirmed North American Wood Ape. Instead, what if the big guy/gal is more like a wilderness poltergeist? A “Wildnesgeist” if you will. A term coined by the authors. And while the term does not exactly roll off the tongue, it certainly could help explain the strange lights and orbs, sudden dematerialization, telepathic mind-speak, and the countless varieties of size, shape and colors reported with Bigfoot sightings. Books like the aforementioned are an integral piece of the puzzle if we ever wish to get to the bottom of what is really taking place on this strange planet of ours, and perhaps what Vallee did for the UFO phenomenon, Cutchin & Renner could do for the Bigfoot Phenomenon. Overall Rating 4 Bigfeet out of 5!”

M. Belanger

(Comparative religious studies author, The Dictionary of Demons; Paranormal Investigator, Paranormal State, Portals to Hell):

Poltergeist by Colin Wilson

“For those doing research into ghosts and the paranormal, Colin Wilson should be on your bookshelves right next to Hans Holzer. In addition to his landmark eponymous survey, The Occult, Wilson produced numerous books exploring psychic and paranormal phenomena over his decades-long career. My personal favorite is Poltergeist, which explores the concept of destructive hauntings. Extensive, cross-disciplinary research is a hallmark of Wilson’s work, and this book is no exception. Poltergeist includes theories about what these “noisy ghosts” really are, explores psychological and supernatural implications of their manifestations, and recounts numerous documented cases of the phenomena from the ancient through the modern world. Throughout the book, Wilson blends perspectives from psychology, anthropology, folklore, and mythology together with dedicated reporting of modern experiences. I keep my copy next to Harry Price’s book on the same subject.

The Phantom World by Augustin Calmet

“For a deeper dive into the folkloric roots of many of our modern beliefs about ghosts, hauntings, and even vampires, it is worth the search to score a copy of Augustin Calmet’s treatise on the apparitions of spirits and on vampires, often titled simply The Phantom World. This chunky tome covers a wide variety of hauntings, retelling experiences as they were relayed to Calmet himself, often through other members of the clergy. As a French Benedictine monk, Calmet was viewed as an authority on the supernatural and the miraculous, and although he does not apply much in the way of critical analysis to the stories he receives, the fact that he was able to record and publish these tales at all makes up for what modern readers might consider a fairly superstitious nature. As with Glanvill’s Saducismus Triumphatus, it is important to keep in mind that clergy effectively filled the role of paranormal investigators during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, collecting, verifying, and disseminating the accounts of their parishioners. Without their writings, credulous as they may in hindsight seem, we would have little access to any record of these strange and frightful encounters. Calmet’s work is of special value because it is one of the fist treatises to collect a wide variety of European vampire encounters, including some of the stories that have proven seminal to vampire folklore as we understand it today.

Demoniality by Lodovico Sinistrari

The final volume I would recommend for modern investigators is a slim treatise produced by another member of the European clergy, this time a Franciscan priest by the name of Lodovico Sinistrari. Sinistrari is arguably where we derive most of our beliefs about incubus and succubus demons, and he collects both his theories on these creatures and several compelling tales in his book, Demoniality. It is a quick and fun read — if, like me, learning about demons is your definition of fun.”

Margee Kerr, Ph.D.

(Sociologist; Author, Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear):

On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma

“Hailed as “a feast” (Washington Post) and “a modern-day bestiary” (The New Yorker), Stephen Asma’s On Monsters is a wide-ranging cultural and conceptual history of monsters — how they have evolved over time, what functions they have served for us, and what shapes they are likely to take in the future.”

Richard Estep

(Author, Haunted Healthcare; Travel Channel’s Paranormal Night Shift):

This House is Haunted by Guy Lyon Playfair

“In a field that’s chock full of sensationalist books, Guy Lyon Playfair’s This House is Haunted is a breath of fresh air. One of the few comprehensive accounts of a poltergeist-type haunting that runs from the very first incident through to the end, Playfair’s book is a masterclass on how to investigate the paranormal. There’s no drama, no theatricality; seasoned investigator Playfair and his partner, Maurice Grosse of the Society for Psychical Research, examine the strange goings-on in a small house in Enfield with a critical eye, always seeking out rational explanations and debunking whatever they can. This House is Haunted works as a page-turning narrative, but also contains a wealth of information for today’s paranormal enthusiast. As such, it deserves a much wider audience.”

Brian J. Cano

(Paranormal Investigator; Travel Channel’s Paranormal Caught on Camera):

The Encyclopedia of Ghost & Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

“To me, this is a must-have in any serious paranormal library. It references an impressive amount of material, and I use it often. There may be a name or concept that sounds familiar to me and when I need a refresher, it’s the first tome I reach for. Invariably, as I turn the pages, I get sucked in, and end up delving into many other entries.  It’s like an academic supernatural “choose your own adventure”!

How to Hunt Ghosts: A Practical Guide by Joshua P. Warren

“This gem of a guide is perfect for anyone looking to get their feet wet in paranormal investigating. It is thoughtful, comprehensive and delivers the necessary information for anyone to begin doing the work while walking the fine line between skepticism and belief. I’ve recommended it many times over the years and the guide has held up to this day.”

Buy How to Hunt Ghosts: A Practical Guide on Amazon

Ryan Sprague

(Author, Podcast Host, Somewhere In The Skies; Co-host of Mysteries Decoded on the CW):

Communion by Whitley Strieber

“In the 1980s, author Whitley Strieber was best known for his horror novels such as The Hunger and Wolfen. But below the surface of his fictional works was a story so visceral and bizarre, that it would change the course of his career thereafter. This was the 1987 best-seller, Communion. Many are familiar with the now-famous book cover of a beige-colored alien with big, black orbital eyes. But the contents of the book is what truly stays with readers. The story of a man struggling with fractured memories of being taken in the night by what he calls “visitors” and experimented on. The raw and traumatic string of events is what packs the biggest punch in the book. But even stronger are the bigger questions to be asked of this supposedly true story: If we are not alone, and we are being visited, what do these visitors want, and to what lengths will they go for their true agenda? Communion is well written, brutally honest, terrifying, beautiful, and profound in the most alien of ways. It ushered in the alien abduction controversy for many years to come and has ingrained itself into the annals of both pop culture and UFO history forever.”

Buy Communion on Amazon

Lynne S. McNeill, Ph.D.

(Folklorist; Author, Legend Tripping: A Contemporary Legend Casebook):

Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live and Lucifer Ascending by Bill Ellis

“These two books present a folklorist’s perspective on the kinds of traditions and phenomena that paranormal investigators are interested in. His perspective highlights that folklorists aren’t looking to debunk or prove anything — they simply want to understand the cultural role that these ever-popular topics are playing.”

Buy Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live on Amazon

Ty Gowen

(Paranormal Investigator, Haunt ME):

Ghost Hunter by Hans Holzer 

“This may not be an obscure text in paranormal circles, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Holzer existed in a liminal time for the paranormal, when the obscure community was in the direct center of a century-long shift between the popularity of the Spiritualism of the late-1800s, and its Hollywood resurgence in the mid-2000s.

This book chronicles some of Holzer’s cases while researching in NYC, as well as providing his commentary. This commentary is particularly important to those studying the field. We’re able to get a snapshot of what early research and curiosity were like, before it was tainted by the entertainment industry. It can be a bit dry, but that is part of the appeal; the book isn’t meant to dazzle or secure ratings. It might not be for everyone, but it was definitely a gateway book for me.

Honorable mention (because it’s fiction) is Ghost Stories by Roald Dahl. He read 749 short stories and narrowed it down to 14 for his book, and they’re great! Who knew the guy who wrote BFG was so macabre!” 

Buy Ghost Hunter on Amazon

Aaron Sagers

(Creator, ParanormalPopCulture.com; Paranormal Journalist, Paranormal Caught on Camera, Paranormal Lockdown; Co-Executive Producer/Host, Paranormal Paparazzi; Co-Host, NightMerica Podcast):

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel

“Journalist John Keel remains a giant in the paranormal field, and for me personally, he was the first person whose work I discovered that connected the dots between multiple phenomena. He’s described by some as a UFOlogist, but I think he’s so much more. Before it was a 2002 movie that did wonders for the Chapstick brand, The Mothman Prophecies was Keel’s 1975 book that documented strange sightings around Point Pleasant, West Virginia – which culminated with the lethal collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967. Yes, this book discusses the winged thing (Cryptid? Demon? Alien? Ultraterrestrial?) eyewitnesses described in Point Pleasant, and gives historical and folkloric context to it, but Keel goes deeper into the story. Though he does have his own conclusions, the author’s journalistic approach, and open-mindedness, served as an inspiration and starting point to me within this strange world. For a second helping of Keel, I’d recommend Operation Trojan Horse.

Buy The Mothman Prophecies on Amazon

A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters by Peter Aykroyd

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Notice that last name? Yes, Peter Aykroyd is the father of Dan Aykroyd, aka Ray Stantz, Ghostbusters co-writer, UFO aficionado, and entrepreneur of the metaphysically themed Crystal Head vodka. Dan inherited his love of the paranormal honestly, coming from a family of prominent Spiritualists, and in this book, his father discusses the Aykroyds’ role in the belief system popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though it can be a dry read at times, and is not a collection of spooky ghost stories, History takes the reader on a tour of an era of living room seances, mediums, charlatans, eccentric characters, and famous names. I also think there are a lot of parallels to the age of Spiritualism, and the one we’re in now, where reality-TV paranormal programming continues to be a popular genre, and many people seek life answers in the supernatural world.”  

Buy A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters by Peter Aykroyd on Amazon

The post Reading beyond the veil: Paranormal book Recommendations From the Pros appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3dPUT0V

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[cthulhubert]

Thoughts, not even a review, of Terra Ignota

recently finished Will to Battle.

(Book 3 of Terra Ignota, preceded by Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders. The sequel and finale, Perhaps the Stars, is expected in 2021.)

So I wanted to post some thoughts, not even a review, really.

The take away is that despite many of its major, fundamental features leaving me cold or even actively repulsing me, I overall very much enjoyed reading it.

This is perhaps a higher recommendation than unalloyed praise. The more I like something, the more I complain. For one thing, it's a kind of eustress: the perfect thing has no flaws to catch interest; for another, if I just plain dislike something, I wouldn't spare much thought on it to begin with, much less linearize so many of them into words.

So my mostly negative venting (consisting of immediate and thorough spoilers) beneath the cut

So right off the bat: I HATE the genius serial killer trope; and I detest SFF trolley problem analogs.

I was so irritated by the one-two punch of these big reveals in the first book that I actually let my hold on Seven Surrenders and read several other books in the interim. (I knew I'd be back though, I put a new one on both 2 and 3 next.)

Mycroft Canner... one who believes themself "free" merely because they can kill. It reminds me of something that's stuck in my mind for a long time: a guy calling other peoples cucks because they used alarm clocks to wake up. "I can't believe you let a machine boss you around."

Because I otherwise liked the writing so much, I kept trying to dredge up another layer of meaning to the treatment of Mycroft as torturer-rapist-murderer. For instance: "Oh, so many people around him being sympathetic and liking him is actually the narrative sneakily reminding us that the core trait of serial killers like this is a manipulative personality, which his savant abilities would only feed." Carlyle Foster even brings this up specifically in the scene where we first learn the specifics of Canner's crimes, but of course, their portrayal in that scene (which, reminder, is literally by Mycroft) is of one hysterical and unreasonable.

Palmer did achieve one of most author's highest goals in emotionally transporting me to one of their scenes, but it just really made me wish I was in Carlyle's shoes. To react with, rather than panic, the cold disdain merited by a creature so broken it is wrong about the ways in which it is broken. To spit on them and denigrate their feelings of uniqueness and specialness, arising both from the murders and from their oh so pitiable martyrdom and servitude now. "If only we could mercifully lobotomize away your personality and still use the savanthood modules so unfortunately stapled to them."

Mycroft: "Everybody seems to have one murder they thought was the worst. I thought yours would be []" Me instead of Carlyle, snidely: "Is that a fun game for you, that speculation?"

(In another scene, the Major's sympathy to Mycroft and Saladin as "fellow killers" somewhat raised my hackles; my experience is military people expressing exaggerated disgust for "civilian" killers, perhaps as a way of mental separation between their acts. Though the revelation that the Major is Achilles, with an ancient's attitudes, perhaps ameliorates this.)

As for OS... if you've invented prophecy, there will be heaps upon myriads upon multitudes of miraculous ways to reshape the world before you reach a best value intervention of cold-blooded murder. I was, at least, amused by considering the linear combination of this limitation between the author and the characters. Palmer was quite clever in making sure that the mystical demographic math must be facilitated by humans (and the very odd set-set humans at that).

I admit I hold this philosophy a bit more strongly than my time investment in the fields merit, but I see it this way:

In physics, infinite, friction-less planes in perfect vacuums occupied by inelastic, spherical cows are a useful tool. They approximate things that are theoretically possible, absent the various extra forces.

In ethics, and in any system that is so truly complex, everything you remove makes for a completely different system. None of the elements are basically orthogonal to the circumstances the way air resistance is to a bullet.

These philosophical sorts of thought experiments are, at best, emotional exercises. They are not simplified tools to build a foundation for more complex issues, they're figments born of the phantasmal conditions possible only in the interior of the brain, and too much work with them will only foul both logic and intuition with garbage data.

As for what merely fell flat:

While I deeply enjoyed so much of the speculation about cultural changes brought about by technology, and travel technology specifically, the "no proselytizing" law felt quite forced. I can definitely believe such a law would be passed after the Church Wars described, but holding so strong for centuries?

There are all kinds of supernatural thoughts and beliefs people accept, and there simply isn't a neat threshold between those and religion. Even in the counterfactual world where there was one, it would be quite concealed by the sophistry that's metastasized through the entire discussion space around it.

I can think of a dozen questions off the top of my head that they'd have to decide. And while flipping a coin or an attempt at a definitional framework could answer them, it couldn't do it in a way that's strong enough to stand the test of time. Imagine Laurel/Yanny, the Dress, or if a hot dog is a sandwich, but with material-security level of investment in them!

I'm areligious (to put it... mildly) but for personal, psychosocial reasons, when I sit down to eat I spend a moment in mindful gratitude towards the plants and animals that gave their life for mine. Is that religious? Are ghost hunter shows illegal because they're proselytory for any animistic religion? Would acupuncturists be able to work, or is that a daoist superstition? Could my neighbor's still paint the ceiling of their porch haint blue? Are scientists allowed to register trials for psychic powers? Can schools teach the arguments for dualism?

That doesn't even get into the subjects that, in real life, yank out all the stops on linguistic-conceptual inventiveness! Europe has had a pestilential outbreak of sophistry around head scarves! Would the Alliance ban them for being religious garb? If so, would they ban clothing that covers the ankles as Calvinist religious garb? Or that covers the nipples? (Oh wait, showing the nipples is of significance in some religions! can't allow that!) Should they ban clothing that contains unmixed fibers for being a religious display!? They don't seem to do any of these things, but that's just as much a choice about the First Law as doing so.

Someone proposes personhood begins at conception; I claim that this is fundamentally a supernaturalist belief. Is one of us in violation of the first law? If a hive outlaws birth control, how are they investigated for whether this is a cultural or religious condition? What happens when, I dunno, a Cousin run campus has somebody that wants to put Intelligent Design in the biology textbooks? Most people (well including the people pushing it) know that it's religion wrapped in plausibly deniable words. So is that proselytizing, or is someone pointing it out proselytizing atheism?

Speaking of, there's a pretty good correlation of peace and prosperity with movement to non-religioun. It honestly doesn't seem like sensayers should have much work.

But we meet Bridger and his miracles right at the beginning of the book, before we know a thing about the Church Wars etc. And it's obviously a central tension of the story, intended to be coequal with the brewing war, and yet it quite failed to rouse my interest. The book would've been stronger without it.

Perhaps this *is* just a me thing, since my mind has held miraculous intervention as a solved problem for most of my life. If I were convinced of an event's miraculous character, the most parsimonious explanation is in the vein of, "We're in a simulation that's only been running for a week or so, either as a game or as an experiment, and now we're running under different rules than the ones our (artificial) memories imply." The probability of that happening is too low to waste time processing any other ramifications or possibilities ahead of time.

There is another, related layer of enjoyable consideration, which is of course the reliability of the narrator and his evidence. In Will to Battle, our author is revealed as explicitly delusional, suffering regular, presumably PTSD (and/or anti-sleep drug) related hallucinations. I wish I'd had the patience to do a very close read, or to do a second read—especially given the revelation that 9A edited some of the delusions out of the first two books. Diegetic skepticism is a regular part of the narrative. And there are lots of "rhymes" in the text to mundane circumstances. We're told Bridger looks like Apollo and Seine, and shown the artificial, parentless children, Ganymede and Danaë (crafted to be such a degree of hyperstimulus that among other things, Ganymede has an entire school of art dedicated to him). We're shown that perceptions are malleable, with Thisbe's "witchcraft" and Cato's magician like showmanship. We're constantly exposed to griffincloth and know that just its presence at JEDD's assassination spread skepticism. We're told that scientists proclaim Achilles to have Ancient Greek DNA and an adult's bone structure, but we're also constantly shown an incredible variety of artificial animals and related wonders, and told Apollo was a great scientist.

And yet, over and over the narrative rebukes skepticism. 9A endorses most of what Mycroft has written, and if we go so far as considering them (along with, eg, the officialese headings and warnings) as Mycroft's delusions too, we're at the point where we have to step back so far that the unreliable narrator is actually this "Ada Palmer" character, who is writing about things that don't exist in a year we haven't reached yet!

I was bothered that nobody who learned about it seemed ready to express the proper amount of disgust at the extra-incestuous politics of the world leaders, and honestly find it simply hard to accept that their consortium worked so altruistically.

Finally, ultimately, the central themes of the novel, about peace and war and complacency seem awfully poorly considered for the current era, where voting age children have never known a world without an official war, and the just grown generation is the first since the industrial revolution to be poorer and less healthy and more stressed than their parents. Not just this novel, but the world in general seems to be sorely missing the concept of the important qualitative differences between distress and eustress.

#terra ignota #pls share your thoughts if you disagree I'm bored

[artificialdemon]

Kiran’s Tarot Manipulation Powers

Fool

Luck

Automatic and continuous supply of good luck, be free to do as they please without consequences, and be untouched and ineffective to the laws of causality.

Madness Manipulation

Absorb, create, control, and manipulate madness/insanity of themselves, others, or madness energy around; whether increasing, decreasing, causing or chancing insanity, even manifesting the emotional energy to physical level and gain power from it.

Power Randomization

Gain/Switch powers at random either switching one power with another or accumulating multiple powers over time.

Power Reflection

Reflects any power that is launched without being harmed. Serves as self-defense and counter-attack.

Trickster

Manipulator of cruel ploys, chameleonic nature, and sadistic choices.

Magician

Boundary Manipulation

Shape, create, and manipulate boundaries- physical, material, spiritual, existential, pataphysical, conceptual, metaphysical, etc.

Elemental Manipulation

Create, shape, and manipulate the basic elements of nature.

Intuitive Aptitude

Instantly learn the complexity and exactness of organisms, objects, ect. Without the need of long-term or special education.

Summoning

Call upon powerful beings, often requires strong connections to where these entities reside.

Teleportation

Transfer matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.

Priestess

Aura Reading

Perceive and read auras, normally invisible fields of energy that surround every living thing; sees the targets emotions, health status, power level, or moral alignment.

Divination

Method of reading the future, present, and the past and/or provide help to a problem at hand by using a ritual

Flawless Restoration

Undo all damages done onto target (living or object), whether mental, conceptual, emotional, spiritual, mystical and physical damage. Even restore and repair abilities, as well as resurrecting the recently deceased.

Mysticism

Creating, manipulating, and/or mimicking objects, spirits, and powers.

Empress

Fertility Inducement

Natural desire and capability of growth and reproduction, including restoring fertility to infertile/sterile area/beings.

Healing Kiss

Hea Physical and mental damage with a kiss.

Life Mastery

Create any form of life, and control them to do their bidding, when the creatures are no longer useful, can annihilate them instantly. Can also revive extinct creatures, give life to fictional ones, and potentially create whole armies.

Sexual Inducement

Induce sexual arousal in others to make them lustful and crave sexual interaction.

Subconscious Manipulation

Manipulates everything hidden inside their and others subconscious, including ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories, painful emotions. Manipulates hidden aspects of the mind and give shape to emotions or thoughts hidden inside them.

Emperor

Absolue Command

Impose irresistible commands upon any kind of existence, natural and supernatural, living and non-living.

Hierophant

Belief Inducement

Force others to believe whatever.

Knowledge Manipulation

Create, shape, and manipulate any/all information/knowledge, they can insert new knowledge into the universe that becomes establised fact and reality, or destroy it to do the opposite.

Uplifting

Grant gifts such as knowledge, powers, or teach them things that can give them a greater purpose in life.

Lovers

Love Manipulation

Can sense and manipulate all aspects of love, of themselves, people, animals and other creatures whether by increasing, decreasing, causing other otherwise channeling love, even manifesting the emotional energy to physical level.

Yin/Yang Manipulation

Natural dualities of polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces that are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world and how they give rise to each other in turn in relation to each other.

Chariot

Enhanced Combat

Unbelievably skilled in most known forms of fighting. They can be exceptionally proficient in the fighting traditions of a variety of cultures and become advanced with their own individual methods of close quarter combat, including martial arts (from all over the world), boxing, and wrestling. They can also become superhumanly skilled in their use of weaponry.

Riders Aptitude

Possess great knowledge and skill in the art of riding, such as riding a horse without any education, instantly understand the behaviors of animals no matter how simple or complex, magical or scientific it is and even tame an animal to become the users ride ranged from wild animals, cryptics, demonic and even sacred beasts.

Justice

Logic Manipulation

Shape reality, metaphysics and causation with but a thought, and ignore all rules like they didn't exist at all.

Order Inducement

Inducing an order, a condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmonious arrangement. Conformity or obedience to law or established authority; absence of disturbance, riot, revolt, unruliness.

Strength Manipulation

Manipulate the strength of oneself or others, turning a weakling into a very strong person and vice versa, or remove the strength of others or bestowal strength onto any other person.

Temperance Embodiment

Able to refrain and to master self-control, convert their temperate works and actions into a sort of energy to become a weapon or an attacking offense and also making it become a support to others as well as defense from any opposing powers of this embodiment.

Hermit

Cosmic Awareness

Aware of anything that affects them on a universal scale including threats, anything that would affect them in any way, or even somebody talking about them.

Reality Perception

Perceive reality, allowing to sense and comprehend the whole truth, facts and mechanics behind anything no matter how it is hidden or how complex it is. They will automatically know if they are being lied to and sense the truth.

Silence Manipulation

Create, shape and manipulate silence, absence of noise/sound.

Fortune

Change Embodiment

Wield limitless power, as they can achieve or prevent any change at will. They notably possess the most perfect defense, as they naturally shrug off any undesirable change.

Probability Manipulation

Manipulates the probability of an event to happen, making unlikely things occur more often or instantly and preventing liable events from happening. They can cause and prevent both good and bad luck, sudden deaths, natural disasters, and even apocalyptic events.

Sphinx Physiology

Takes form of a Sphynx. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster.

Strength

Indomitable Will

Unnaturally strong willpower, enabling them to be immune to all forms of temptation including Subordination Manipulation, Telepathy, Mind Control, and Subliminal Seduction. Through their will, the user can face great physical pain and psychological trauma and will refuse to surrender no matter how much the odds are stacked against them, possibly up to the point of cheating death and pushing themselves past their own limitations.

Psychic Shield

Highly resistant to any/all mental intrusion, including psychic or empathic powers, Hypnosis, Mental Hallucination, deception, etc. Mind readers only “hear” static, while mind controllers are incapable of manipulating those shielded.

Tranquil State

Remain calm in virtually any situation, allowing them to think with perfect clarity even when under extreme emotional or physical distress. Users can endure mental stress and can be essentially immune to emotional manipulation and highly resistant to torture.

Hanged Man

Compassion Inducement

Cause compassion in others, making them irresistibly compassion of others, growing into sweetness and possibly even friendship.

Enchantment

Ability to put something/someone under a spell. They have the power to manipulate certain means of magic to accomplish their goals. Universally, the definition of an 'enchanter' varies. Some enchanters have extraordinary beauty and are capable of enrapturing others in a vulnerable state. Other enchanters are endowed with the ability to charm objects through the use of spoken words or other occult items such as wands or certain talismans.

Pain Manipulation

Sense and manipulate mental, emotional, and physical agony, pain and suffering, whether increasing, decreasing, causing or otherwise changing pain, even manifesting the emotional energy to a physical level.

Punishment

Physically, mentally, or spiritually punish any being for breaking the rules or the law. The user can either banish, kill, or torment the victims with various forms of powers. When the law or rules are broken, the users power of punishment can be absolute and unrelenting.

Treachery

Only loyal to themselves or have other reasons to use this power to get around and infiltrate enemy lines so they can destroy them from the inside. The user may also manipulate others into fighting each other for the sake of accomplishing their own goals. Then at the proper opportunity the user can eliminate any loose ends.

Wood Manipulation

Create, shape and manipulate wood/woody plants, including trees, shrubs and lianas. They can cause wood to grow, move/attack or even rise from the soil and "walk", mutate wood by rearranging DNA structure, revive withered or dead wood or manipulate the dead wood as well as living.

Death

Bone Manipulation

Complete control over the bones of oneself and others, bare skeletons or separate bones, including growing, shaping, manipulating density/weight, creating constructs, etc.

Scythe Proficiency

Wield a scythe with tremendous dexterity and skill, accurately and precisely slicing through the enemies without being hindered by the scythe's heavy weight.

Grim Reaper

Guiding the dead to the next world to actively causing the death, possibly somewhat both.

Temperance

Biological Manipulation

Manipulate life on a cellular level, including but not limited to, genetic alterations and physical distortion and/or augmentations of biological functions. They can cause cells to augment to induce advanced or declined biological healing, induce diseases like cancer, induce appearance alteration, manipulate pheromones, and even increase physiological maturity.

Gender Transcendence

Transcending existing genders and surpassing normal comprehension, having the characteristics of female, male and/or genders that do not even exist.

Liquid Manipulation

Create, shape and manipulate anything that is liquid, the only state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. A liquid is made up of tiny vibrating particles of matter, such as atoms and molecules, held together by intermolecular bonds.

Devil

Chimerism

Fuse genetically with other species, some users are able to shift between several or any species they want. Exact effects vary by individual and the species they fuse with.

Dark Arts

Focus toward destruction, harming, cursing and otherwise complicating the lives of other people while advancing the user's own state

Mental Manipulation

Manipulate, modify and control the thoughts, mindsets, and upper brain functions, allowing the ability to render others unconscious, suppress their memories, and negate the use of abilities, increase/decrease mental capacity, modify minds to be agreeable, control minds, sway sensations to induce altered perception, bestow/heal mental disorders, create/penetrate mental barriers, etc.

Tower

Calamity Embodiment

The concept of the damaging disastrous event. The user can even cause damage on a cataclysmic level which may be considered an act of misfortune.

Chaos Empowerment

Become stronger, faster, more durable, etc. by/from chaos, possibly unlocking abilities related to the affinity and enhancing the existing powers. Some users may be able to draw sustenance from the chaos or even slow or stop aging.

Realm Closure

Close off a realm/reality and prevent them from interfering with another world or preventing other realities interfere with it.

Star

Astrology

Draw ethereal power from their areas along with specific abilities such as Heliokinesis, and Menekinesis. This power can almost be seen as a type of Astrological Empowerment. With Mysticism, Alchemy, and Astrology practiced, the user will have All Three Parts of Universal Wisdom.

Equilibrium Manipulation

Manipulate equilibrium/balance of themselves, others or objects, gaining great balance in any position possible. They can control mental balance, allowing to sway a person's opinion, and can manipulate chemical balance as well.

Peace Inducement

Sense the rage, aggression and distress in others and is able to induce peace and calm in them, deflecting the rage away. The user has the ability to spread their peaceful influence over a wide range of individuals depending on their mastery of the power.

Stellar Manipulation

Shape and manipulate all aspects of stars, self-luminous celestial bodies consisting of a mass of super-heated gas held together by their own gravity in which the energy generated by nuclear reactions in the interior is balanced by the outflow of energy to the surface, and the inward-directed gravitational forces are balanced by the outward-directed gas and radiation pressures.

Moon

Dream Manipulation

Create, shape, enter and manipulate the dreams of oneself and others, including modifying, suppressing, fabricating, influencing, manifesting, sensing, and observing dreams as well as nightmares, daydreams, etc., possibly including past ones. They can produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming, entrap people in REM, and promote spiritual/emotional healing within dreams.

Insanity Inducement

Cause madness in a person or group of people that have no mental illness, depending of the users will victims may go slightly loopy or lose total grip of reality becoming delusional, lose control over themselves, paranoid, catatonic or hostile.

Lunar Empowerment

Becomes stronger, faster, more durable, etc. when they come into contact with a moon, moonlight, or lunar energy/substance, possibly unlocking abilities related to the affinity and enhancing their existing powers. Some users may be able to draw sustenance from the moon or even slow or stop aging.

Sun

Happiness Inducement

Induce a state of joyful, cheerful delight-fullness in a target and if hostile, user can make them into their best friend and at a high level, user may gain Love Inducement.

Precognition

Foresee possible futures and observe what may happen. As knowledge of the future invariably causes that future to change, visions of the future are subject to frequent shifting. While not being able to select futures or travel through time, these visions may assist in possible courses of action.

Solar Empowerment

Stronger, faster, more durable, etc. when they come into contact with sunlight, possibly unlocking abilities related to the affinity and enhancing the existing powers. Some users may be able to draw sustenance from the sun or even slow or stop aging

Judgement

Binding

To bind, imprison, paralyze and/or otherwise stop targets moving normally and possibly completely freezing them where they were. It can be achieved using various means including energy-based or physical restraints or mental effects

Judgement Manipulation

Make judgements on anyone/anything and decide what will happen to the target. They can make any kind of judgement, like judging whether or not a love is allowed, or judging and deciding whether a person lives or dies and what kind of afterlife they are allowed into, or judging whether or not you can keep/use any/all powers, etc. The user can judge, and decide or deny anything. Once a target has been judged, they are automatically affected by the power.

Purification

Remove the darkness or evil from a person or objects, often including demons possessing it or mind control affecting it. It can turn evil to good or merely make someone pure.

World

Life-Force Manipulation

Create, shape and manipulate life-force, the fundamental force that allows life to appear/exist, grow and flourish throughout the universe. They can control their own personal life-force that dwells within them, allowing them to achieve untold power and great abilities considered to be beyond that of normal beings. Users use physical, spiritual, and mental powers to control their life force.

Life-Force Tansferal

Transfer life-force from one being to the next, a method could be to absorb the life-force, then implant it into the targeted being, healing them and even resurrecting them. This may require physical contact, or just being in the same area, just thinking of transferring the life-force. However, this may kill the one the user took it from.

Nature Unity

Become one with nature/natural forces, their soul/spirit sensing a great deal of peace and content. Animals will be less aggressive or even lose their aggressiveness against the user altogether. The user can sense and feel the living creatures and possibly their emotions from the entire world. They will also empathize with plants as well, knowing when to water them and when to plant them. They can also make plants grow/regrow/regenerate when damaged.

Planetary Empowerment

Tap into the energies provided by a planet, either to empower themselves or to increase their power. Most common manifestation of this power boosts the physical abilities and vitality of the user, but many users gain abilities/powers related to what the planet they tap is associated with. Some are able to tap the planetary energies to super-charge their attacks.

#Dmc oc #tarot deck #original character

[gifts-of-heimdall-runes]

El Creador

Fine Art Photography by Aurelio MONGE.

The following description accompanied this photo (translated from Spanish):

Often God is conceived as the supernatural creator and supervisor of the universe. Theologians have ascribed a variety of attributes to the numerous different conceptions of God. Among these, the most common are omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, omnibenevolence (perfect goodness), divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has also been conceived as of incorporeal nature, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable being with existence." These attributes were supported in different degrees by early Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosopher-theologians, including Maimonides, St. Augustine, and Al-Ghazali, respectively. Many prominent medieval philosophers and modern philosophers developed arguments in favor of the existence of God. Analogously, many renowned philosophers and intellectuals have developed arguments against the existence of God.

Its conceptualization has been the subject of debate in various civilizations.

Elohim: (Sept., theos; Vulg., Deus).

Elohim is the common name for God. It is a plural form, but "The use of the language does not support the assumption that in the plural form of Elohim applied to the God of Israel we have the remnants of a primitive polytheism, or at least a combination with spiritual beings more elevated "(Kautzsch). Linguists call it plural of majesty or rank, or of abstraction, or of magnitude (Gesenius, Grammatik, 27th ed., Nn 124 g, 132 h). The Ethiopian plural Amlak has become an appropriate name for God. Hoffmann has noted an analogous plural in the Phoenician inscriptions (Ueber einige phon, Inschr., 1889, p.17 sqq.) And Barton has shown that in the El-Amarna tablets the plural of ilani replaces the singular form more than Forty times (Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, 21-23 April, 1892, pp. cxcvi-cxcix).

Date: 2010-06-14

www.aurelioMONGE.com

#male nude art photography #fine art #fina art photography #male nude #masculine #male photography #aurelio monge #beautiful male #men as art #flickr

[beneaththetangles]

Love Versus Materialism in Sword Art Online Alicization

*Warning: presumptive spoilers for a future season of Sword Art Online Alicization*

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Lingering the background of Sword Art Online Alicization has been the question of the nature of the soul. Early in the anime, the story established that scientists had narrowed down the soul’s nature to a light-based phenomenon they call a fluctlight. These fluctlights can be produced artificially and contained within computers. Leaving out the sci-fi embellishments, plenty of people today hold views of the human self similar to the one SAO Alicization sets up.  There are a variety of theories, but one way or another these views all claim that our minds (or our perception of having minds), our sense of self, is ultimately a physical phenomenon. We are nothing but our bodies — there is no metaphysical or supernatural soul that transcends our bodies. But several aspects of the story contradict the narrative’s initially materialist stance on the soul and suggest it is incorrect to understand the soul in purely physical terms. Volumes 15 and 16 of the Sword Art Online light novels, Alicization Invading and Alicization Exploding, pick up where the anime left off. They effectively continue the discussion about love that began with Eugeo and Quinella, and through that discussion, the narrative pushes back against a materialist perspective on the soul.

The first development of note comes when computer expert Higa explains what happened to Kirito in the Underworld: Kirito had friends who died in the battle with Administrator, and at the time that he finally contacted the outside world, he was beating himself up over those deaths. “In other words, he was attacking his own fluctlight.” Just at that point, a power surge caused the system to act upon Kirito’s self-loathing, which rendered him catatonic within the Underworld (remember, he’s already in a coma in the real world). According to a computer scan, the part of Kirito’s fluctlight that normally contains the sense of self was just a big black hole. As a result, even though the rest of his soul is intact, Kirito was left a prisoner within himself. He’s suffering from something akin to depression, we might say, though taken to a sci-fi extreme: “He cannot process exterior input, and he cannot output his own actions… He might not be aware of who he is…unable to say or do anything…”

Higa then theorizes on how to help Kirito. “He damaged his own soul by excessive self-flagellation. So if someone else provides him with forgiveness…then maybe…” The narrator acknowledges that Higa’s idea is “vague, unscientific.” Higa admits to himself that what he doesn’t know about the soul far outweighs what he does know:

“Was the fluctlight a physical construct? Or was it some kind of conceptual phenomenon that couldn’t be explained with modern science? If the latter, perhaps Kazuto Kirigaya’s wounded and exhausted soul could be healed by some other power that surpassed science. Such as, for example, love.”

While Sword Art Online Alicization previously set us up to believe the fluctlight is a “physical construct,” the anime, at least, hasn’t directly weighed in on the question much. With Higa’s musing, the narrative explicitly raises the question it’s long been asking implicitly. Do humans have an immaterial spirit, or is our sense of self a purely physical phenomenon, something that can explained, quantified, and manipulated by science? The story offers a number of hints that the human mind is something more than science can explain, and that love, in particular, is a science-defying, reality-shaping force.

n response to Higa’s suggestion that Kirito needs love and forgiveness, Asuna volunteers: “I want to go in there and tell Kirito that he did good things. That through all the hardships and sad things that I’m sure happened, he did everything that he could.” She intends to go into Kirito’s world and save him from his own self-hatred by bringing him love. It’s a strikingly messianic development, bringing to mind the Savior who came into our world in order to provide us forgiveness and love and save us from a truly hopeless fate that we brought on ourselves. Later, the narrative adds another messianic parallel to Asuna’s character. It observes, “Her order of priorities had been set in stone years ago. She would commit any sin to protect Kirito–Kazuto Kirigaya. She would accept any punishment.” Of course, Jesus is perfect and didn’t sin in order to save us: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 2.22). But he certainly was willing to accept any punishment for our sake: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,” (Gal. 3.13) and “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5.21). Jesus himself was innocent of sin, but he took on the punishment our sins deserve in order to express his love for us. Similarly, Asuna is willing to suffer, to pay any price, because of her love for, and desire to save, Kirito. She’s no Jesus, but the Christlike echoes ring true. (Of course, one great difference is that Asuna enters the Underworld with a admin account that gives her all the glory and powers of a goddess, while Jesus “emptied himself” and entered our world an ordinary, humble baby (Phil. 2.7).) The entire endeavor of saving Kirito hinges on the soul and love being forces beyond the realm of modern science.

In a somewhat different way, love provides another opportunity to affirm the immaterial nature of the spirit when Alice meets Tiese and Ronie, the swordswomen trainees Kirito and Eugeo had worked with. Alice quickly realizes that Ronie was in love with Kirito. Ronie dismisses the idea, declaring she is unworthy of such of thing. Tiese steps in to explain how Kirito and Eugeo fought to protect them and thereby violated the Taboo Index. She and Ronie believe that if they had been wiser, Kirito and Eugeo would never have ended up getting arrested, and thus Eugeo wouldn’t be dead and Kirito catatonic. Seeing their own actions as the cause of what happened to Kirito and Eugeo, Tiese concludes “We don’t have a right to express any love to them.” When Alice protests that this perspective is wrong, Ronie answers that the villainous aristocrats “treated our bodies like their playthings, and now our dignity has been stained with sin!”

Alice counters that “The body is nothing more than a vessel for the heart,” and that the soul “is the one thing that truly exists.” Within the story, it’s technically true that Alice and the others are souls without bodies — they are artificially created fluctlights that exist within a computer. In real life, however, Christianity holds that humans are unions of body and spirit and that both body and spirit are significant. There can be no such thing as a soul without a body, except for the not-yet-resurrected dead. The greatest testimony to the significance of our bodies is the promise of resurrection. Jesus wasn’t a disembodied spirit — he was raised from the dead bodily. So also the Bible says that we won’t be ghosts floating around heaven: we, too, will be raised from the dead, our bodies and spirits reunited and transformed. Thus, Alice’s dismissal of the body may go too far, even though it’s actually true in the context of the story. But though her statement is faulty in the degree to which it dismisses the importance of the body, underlying Alice’s point is an affirmation that humans have an immaterial soul. We — and Ronie and Tiese — are not defined solely by our bodies.

Alice further argues, “The only one who can determine the nature of the soul is the self… Your body and appearance are entirely dependent on your heart… Nobody can defile your heart.” Her words bring to mind a point Jesus made, after the Jews complained that his disciples neglected to engage in certain hand washing rituals:

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. …Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? …What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mk. 7.15-23)

Alice thus agrees with Jesus, correctly affirming that what is done to the body cannot defile the soul. The spirit’s independence from bodily defilement also indicates its immaterial nature. Jesus warns that truly corrupting evil arises within the heart, and although Alice expresses it quite a bit differently, she’s makes a similar point: the will of the heart takes precedence over the external and physical. We have the free will to decide what kind of people we will be. In arguing that the girls’ true selves were not defiled by what was done to them, Alice affirms the existence of an immaterial self.

As war begins, a series of incidents involving other Integrity Knights also point to the power of love, and concurrently continue the story’s argument for a dualistic view of the soul. When the story examines Deusolbert Synthesis Seven’s motivation to participate in the war, it looks at the Integrity Knight’s past. It turns out that throughout all his many years as an Integrity Knight, Deusolbert experienced dreams of a memory from before he became an Integrity Knight: “A small, pale hand, so white the skin seemed clear. A simple silver ring that glinted on its finger. The hand brushed his hair, touched his cheek, and shook his shoulder. There was a soft, gentle whisper: “Wake up, dear. It’s morning…” Deusolbert himself had always possessed a ring that matched the one on this mysterious hand of his dreams. After Kirito defeated Quinella, Deusolbert learned the truth about the Administrator and the Integrity Knights, and realized the hand in his dreams must have belonged to a real human, and that its owner is long since dead. Amid his deep grief, Deusolbert still answers the call of the leader of the Integrity Knights:

“He would fight to protect the world in which he and the owner of that little hand had lived, no matter how long ago it had been. In other words, the source of Deusolbert Synthesis Seven’s strength, that which made him capable of holding his ground before the charge of an invading army, was the power of the one emotion that should have been erased from his mind: love.”

This love, immaterial and unscientific though it seems, somehow endured the Administrator’s manipulative powers and goes on to affect the world by giving Deusolbert the strength to fight. And he is not alone in fighting for love.

During the battle, Integrity Knight Dakira Synthesis Twenty-Two sacrifices herself to save her commander, Fanatio, from Sigurosig, chieftain of the giants and one of the leaders of the invading army. As Fanatio processes her comrade’s death, the Integrity Knight thinks to herself about the junior knights she leads:

“She had placed them under her care to train and protect them. She gave them only harsh words of discipline, but they were her beloved brothers and sisters. And now they were protecting her and losing their lives because of it… ‘It will not happen!!’ she swore, to herself, to Sigurosig, to the world. She would not allow more of them to die. She would keep the other three alive, for Dakira’s sake. This determination became a firm Incarnation of Love that surpassed Sigurosig’s churning bloodlust and shot forth from Fanatio’s soul.”

In other words, as Fanatio battles an enraged giant, her love for her junior knights manifests as reality-altering power that turns the tide of the battle at that moment. Once again, the narrative highlights love as a world-changing force linked to the soul. The story never says so, but it’s hard to escape the inference that if love can accomplish these feats, it’s also going to be able to save Kirito.

Finally, there’s the last stand of Integrity Knight Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One. Eldrie cared deeply for his mentor Alice. He respected Alice a great deal, but also wrestled with conflicted feelings of wanting something more than just being her apprentice.  He cared about her as more than just a mentor, but Alice didn’t see him in the same light. As such concerns distract him during the battle, he hears a voice:

“Your determination– –your desire to protect– –needs no payment in return, does it? Love is not something you ask for. You just give and give and give it, and it never runs out. Isn’t that right…?“

Thinking on this mysterious voice’s words, Eldrie ponders why he got so twisted into knots over wanting Alice’s affection. “What got me so confused?” he asks, “That I didn’t have enough strength? That I couldn’t monopolize her feelings? That I wasn’t able to protect her? What tiny, insignificant things…” This reminder that love doesn’t depend on getting anything in return helps Eldrie realize he can act on his love for Alice even if she doesn’t respond in exactly the way he’d hoped. Eldrie finds the strength to heroically sacrifice himself to protect Alice from a massive enemy attack. Through this epiphany, love once again proves powerful enough to alter the course of the battle.

By the end of volume 16, Kirito still isn’t out of the woods, but the narrative has provided strong reason to hope that love really is powerful enough to help his soul, powerful enough to do what science cannot. I imagine the topic will see further exploration, but even now the story has clearly challenged the science-based explanation of the soul that it previously set up. Fluctlights might be containable within a computer, but the seems to be that the human mind or self ultimately transcends such strictly physical parameters. It’s fascinating to see the story explore such a profound and relevant issue. I’m sure no one gets their view of the soul entirely from reading light novels, but fiction of this sort provides a helpful venue for exploring such a philosophical/scientific question. I look forward to watching how future volumes continue the conversation.

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Sword Art Online can be viewed on Crunchyroll.

#anime #christianity #sword art online #sword art online alicization #light novels #love #materialism #soul #articles #Author: Jeskai Angel

[confrontingbabble-on]

A sign of low intelligence...is to compliantly and obediently believe what you are told...by those seeking to take your money...over and over again...for nothing more than telling you the same unverifiable gumpf...over and over again...

...and to think that meaningless and empty platitudes...strike you as deep and profound*...

“Link Found Between Low Intelligence And Falling For Pseudo-Profound Statements... To test people's belief in pseudo-profound statements, the researchers used a random generator to come up with a range of nonsense quotes and sentences*. They then asked 280 undergrad students to rate these statements from 1 to 5 based no how profound they found them, with 5 being very profound, and 1 being not at all.

The mean rating for the statements was 2.6, which is kinda high given that the statements didn't really make any sense at all. But what was more worrying was that 27 percent of the participants rated the sentences a 3 or more."These results indicate that our participants largely failed to detect that the statements are bullsh*t," write Pennycook and his team.

In a second experiment, the researchers mixed up the randomly generated sentences with "particularly vague" tweets posted by spiritualist Deepak Chopra. Again, this new group of participants rated the statements pretty similarly on the profundity scale.A final study looked at how people rated mundane statements, such as "Most people enjoy some sort of music" compared to well-known profound quotes, to make sure the participants weren't just rating everything as profound. And as you might imagine, the mundane statements ended up being rated a lot lower.What's really interesting is that the participants also went through extensive cognitive testing, including numeracy and verbal assessments, and were also quizzed on their spiritual beliefs and views on things like alternative medicine and conspiracy theories. Looking at the data, several links appeared:"Those more receptive to bullsh*t are less reflective, lower in cognitive ability (i.e., verbal and fluid intelligence, numeracy), are more prone to ontological confusions and conspiratorial ideation, are more likely to hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine."... https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-found-a-link-between-low-intelligence-and-believing-philosophical-quotes

* eg Blessed are the meek...for they will inherit the earth...!  No, the meek are easily imposed upon...by the bullshitters of this world...who will steal what little they have...!

“In On Bullshit, the philosopher Frankfurt (2005) defines bullshit as something that is designed to impress but that was constructed absent direct concern for the truth...There is little question that bullshit is a real and con-sequential phenomenon. Indeed, given the rise of communication technology and the associated increase in the availability of information from a variety of sources, both expert and otherwise, bullshit may be more pervasive than ever before. Are people able to detect blatant bullshit? Who is most likely to fall prey to bullshit and why?

On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit: pseudo-profound bullshit, which consists of seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as true and meaningful but are actually vacuous. We presented participants with bullshit statements consisting of buzzwords randomly organized into statements with syntactic structure but no discernible meaning (e.g., “Wholeness quiets infinite phenomena”). Across multiple studies, the propensity to judge bullshit statements as profound was associated with a variety of conceptually relevant variables (e.g., intuitive cognitive style, supernatural belief).

Parallel associations were less evident among profundity judgments for more conventionally profound (e.g., “A wet person does not fear the rain”) or mundane (e.g., “Newborn babies require constant attention”) statements. These results support the idea that some people are more receptive to this type of bullshit and that detecting it is not merely a matter of indiscriminate skepticism but rather a discernment of deceptive vagueness in otherwise impressive sounding claims. Our results also suggest that a bias toward accepting statements as true may be an important component of pseudo-profound bullshit receptivity.

Thus, bullshit, in contrast to mere nonsense, is something that implies but does not contain adequate meaning or truth. This sort of phenomenon is similar to what Buekens and Boudry (2015) referred to as obscurantism (p. 1): “[when] the speaker...[sets] up a game of verbal smoke and mirrors to suggest depth and insight where none exists.”

Bullshit is a consequential aspect of the human condition. Indeed, with the rise of communication technology, people are likely encountering more bullshit in their everyday lives than ever before. Bullshit is not only common; it is popular.

Using vagueness or ambiguity to mask a lack of meaningfulness is surely common in political rhetoric, marketing,and even academia (Sokal, 2008). “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this.”

The construction of a reliable index of bullshit receptivity is an important first step toward gaining a better understanding of the underlying cognitive and social mechanisms that determine if and when bullshit is detected. Our bullshit receptivity scale was associated with a relatively wide range of important psychological factors. This is a valuable first step toward gaining a better understanding of the psychology of bullshit. The development of interventions and strategies that help individuals guard against bullshit is an important additional goal that requires considerable attention from cognitive and social psychologists...”

Read in full...https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285206383_On_the_reception_and_detection_of_pseudo-profound_bullshit

And https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-find-a-link-between-low-intelligence-and-acceptance-of-pseudo-profound-bulls-a6757731.html

#atheist #agnostic #secular humanist #skeptic #Religion #Christianity #religious insanity