Happy Pride Month! This year, President Biden included Intersex in his proclamation for Pride Month. Intersex people are born with a difference of sexual development in their anatomy, reproductive organs, or genetics. It is not a sexuality. It is not a gender identity. It is how we are born. I am intersex and I am proud of my body.
This isn’t the usual thing I post here but I’m trying to be more open and unashamed of who I am. Don’t forget about intersex people this pride month.
I’ve been working on more intuitive tarot reading lately and I got the spookiest reading right now.
I did the reading generally to get a message about where I am at spiritually right now which I’ve done a few times before but this was more focused in on a Deity and my connection with them.
I got the upright lovers, reversed hang man and reverse page of cups which tells me, “our connection is good, but you’re not getting what you want out of this right now and your creativity/energy is blocked in this area” which it absolutely is. So I pull a clarifying card - what can I do to change this, or should I be patient? And I get the eight of swords - I’m stuck here and I won’t be able to proceed until I can remove whatever blind fold is on my eyes. Okay.
So then I pull another card. If I shouldn’t focus on my spirituality now, what should I focus on?
I pull the chariot…
I’m currently doing EMDR in therapy for a car crash I was in with the end goal of being able to drive again. And it just smacks me right in the face. I need to focus on this first before I can make any progress spiritually. Until I resolve that trauma, and maybe until I can get behind the wheel and drive, I won’t be able to focus spiritually.
There might come a time when you don’t perceive your Gods as much as you used to, and start feeling like they cut themselves from you. You might start to question your faith, asking yourself whether it was well-founded to begin with. You may even think that it’s a sign for you to stop believing in your deities. Such thoughts are normal and perfectly healthy, as they can help chase away dogmatism in certain situations. However, the fact that you don’t feel your deities doesn’t mean you have to stop believing in them. Your faith stems from your personal experiences and it is as much a logical decision as your values. You are free to choose to trust in your deities, even when their presence is invisible. One way or another, they will come back into your life naturally.
@unicorinspace I’ve seen this sort of thinking before. I believe your reasons for following this God are entirely yours, and they don’t have to be noble or deep. If you are drawn to Týr, you needn’t question the reasons behind it, and there is no shame in acting on it. If you like His “aesthetic”, then of course you would like the deity Himself! Faith is varying and complex, and there is really no shame to have of the way it manifests.
I’m going thru this right now and actually talked to my therapist about it although I usually don’t discuss religion in therapy. He suggested I try to view this time as a hibernation, maybe I’m just in a cacoon and my spirituality will feel even bigger and grow even more from this lull.
I know when I finally got diagnosed with ADHD, my psychiatrist said that generally, adults do better on Adderall and kids do better on Ritalin (or concerts).
That said, if you become boring because of Adderall, either it’s not the right med for you or the dosage is off.
My boyfriend says he thinks I’m happier off adhd medication (I take strattera) because I get more excited about things. Ofc that’s because adhd meds help me manage my impulsiveness which can translate to “less excitement” and “less energy”.
But without it I struggle through work and can’t focus enough to even enjoy my hobbies.
Interesting!
I can’t say I’ve experienced even the appearance of reduced excitement, but I’m generally dialed pretty high as it is, so you could knock things down quite a bit and I’d still be intense af.
Granted, I also didn’t get diagnosed until my 30s, so there’s a certain amount of ADHDness that is just never going away because I don’t know of another way to live.
Fwiw I’m not actually less excited I just don’t show it the same, like yelling loudly and bouncing around happens much less when I’m medicated.
I will fully admit though taking medication is mostly to help me be a good capitalist cog so I can make money and have health insurance, I learned a lot of coping skills so I can mostly function without medication but jobs are hard without it. It really sucks there isn’t more leeway for neurodivergant people. This isn’t me saying adhd is a gift, I hate struggling with executive function problems, but if it wasn’t for my job I’d probably go off meds and using my coping skills to get by alone.
I know when I finally got diagnosed with ADHD, my psychiatrist said that generally, adults do better on Adderall and kids do better on Ritalin (or concerts).
That said, if you become boring because of Adderall, either it’s not the right med for you or the dosage is off.
My boyfriend says he thinks I’m happier off adhd medication (I take strattera) because I get more excited about things. Ofc that’s because adhd meds help me manage my impulsiveness which can translate to “less excitement” and “less energy”.
But without it I struggle through work and can’t focus enough to even enjoy my hobbies.
I think I’ve lost my religious belief entirely. I don’t know if I should talk about it here or have anyone to talk to about it in confidence. I feel both sad and indifferent. I’m not sure how to proceed.
There are three main parts to prayer in ancient Greek religion: the invocation, the argument, and the petition.
THE INVOCATION —
This is where you address the god by name, including any honorifics, references, functions, or qualities you wish to entreat. Several stacking elements of identification are used here—including epithets.
THE ARGUMENT —
Why should the god listen to you? Remind the god of your prior relationship. If you haven’t yet built one, you should ask a friend or devotee to pray on your behalf. Better yet, use this as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the god and sing their praises.
THE PETITION —
State your purpose. This can include what you want the god to do, regardless of whether your request is specific or relatively intangible.
Of note is the fact that the petition is not a mandatory part of the prayer structure. “You might as easily invoke a god and remind them of your relationship, but not want anything specific, just to keep in touch as it were, and that would be totally fine” (Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts).
PRAYER GESTURES
According to Aristotle “we humans all stretch our hands towards the heavens when we make our prayers” (On the Cosmos). Pollux too suggests this, using the phrases “to pray to the gods” and “to stretch one’s hands upward” interchangeably.
That said, not every prayer was accompanied by a grand gesture. Simon Pulleyn relates how artistic depictions more commonly show the worshipper with one hand raised—not above the head, but “held out in front of [oneself] in a gesture like that used by a policeman to halt traffic” (Prayer in Greek Religion, 1997, pg. 189).
Don’t overthink hand gestures. More than anything, know that prayers were typically done when the individual was standing, their face tilted up towards the heavens (where the gods reside). When consulting the Underworld gods, though, it would make sense to direct your prayers downward. An example of this is seen in the ninth scroll of the Iliad when Althaea prays to Haides and dread Persephone by kneeling and beating her hands on the ground.
MORE ON PRAYER GESTURES
The following illustrations were made by @seedsandsprouts/@jellynymphh and show the many gestures that can accompany your prayers to the gods.
Spoken prayers are typically paired with more dynamic gesticulations, while those that are silent (or muttered) are done more discreetly.
Ancient peoples believed that the gods could hear silent prayers, but such a practice was regarded as anomalous and looked upon with great suspicion. Such suspicions are better left in antiquity, seeing as we live in an age where spoken prayer is no longer standard.
When praying with one hand raised to your lips or the heavens, the hand at your side can be balled into a fist with the thumb tucked into the fingers.
If you happen to be Hellenist, Hellenic pagan, Hellenic polytheist, or any other abbreviation of Hellenic faith, please pin yourself on the map! Maybe some of us could find real life buddies around them.
Plus this map is obviously dedicated to Hermes.
It’s not on Google map so you won’t risk your identity, and you can right anything you want in the title. Place the pin in the general area not your home address of course.
It’s not perfect yet. I want to hang the whit board and lower the shelf a bit. I use cards/images a lot on my altar, and wanted a better way to display them without having to damage them. I think this was a cool solution, a contemporary look!
I did buy a statue and saving up to buy more so I can’t wait to see how it looks in the future.
The larger cards are the mythic oracle deck.
The small card and postcard of Artemis is the Asphdelon tarot deck (major arcana only). (I highly recommend this one!!)
Me: Yeah, I also hate how the Kings and ancient governmentscommissioned mythological stories about their own birth, lineage or general ties tracing them back to Zeus in order to scare their subjects into obedience with ancient propaganda while also disregarding how their mothers felt about looking helpless since women back then had no say and over time their propaganda became apart of Zeus’s canon that people forget he was constantly being used by ancient politicsin the same way that modern politicians use God and the Bible to pass legislations that negatively affect the masses.
If the myth is about a demigod(with the exception of Dionysus because his origins as a god are complicated)there’s a very high chance it was once used as ancient propaganda.
I was reading over the meanings for the letters again yesterday because I was thinking making an oracle deck based on it, but a lot of the answers seem similar, or in specific answer to a question. It doesn’t quite fit the way we make oracle decks today, or tarot decks for that matter. So I don’t know how well it’d work. If anyone has used it for divination, I’d love to hear opinions on it.
i’ve used it quite a bit over the past year ish, but i normally use it in conjunction with another divination tool (tarot and/or playing cards) because i feel like on their own, the alphabet oracle responses aren’t always the most illuminating.
quite a few of the answers are very similar, even more so depending on the translation you use, but i think differentiating them just came with time and practice for me. from reading books on other ancient oracles, it seems like a lot of common questions for ancient oracles fell into one of a few specific categories, so i guess it makes sense to structure an oracle with those types of questions in mind.
Thanks for your reply! That makes a lot of sense actually.
Not every rituals needs to be complex and long. This year, I’ve started a ritual of praying in the morning when I open my living room blinds. My prayer goes like this:
Good morning great gods and goddesses above, below, and in between. Good morning Zeus Good morning Sophrosyne Good morning Khione (etc for whoever I wish to greet) May you bless me this day, and may my actions honor you. Khaire!
It’s not much, but a small daily reminder of the gods’ presence in my life has brought a lot of meaning every day.
ppl who are like “ooh i’m so connected to nature~” and then don’t bother to learn anything about their local environment (or like, any properties of plants in general beyond some cunningham-ripped correspondence list) are an endless source of hilarity/second-hand embarrassment.
i just read about some lady who rubbed poison oak on her ass because red leaves = good for the root chakra apparently.
also i think behaviour like this stems not just from ignorance, but also from a view of “the beauty of nature” that minimizes/excludes destruction, danger, death & decay (and is of course incomplete because of it).
I can’t help but see a connection from this to essential oils. The idea that everything natural must be good for you. I’ve read some real horror stories over how essential oils are improperly used.
I was reading over the meanings for the letters again yesterday because I was thinking making an oracle deck based on it, but a lot of the answers seem similar, or in specific answer to a question. It doesn’t quite fit the way we make oracle decks today, or tarot decks for that matter. So I don’t know how well it’d work. If anyone has used it for divination, I’d love to hear opinions on it.
