As prophecied: I am returning to Blogger. Yet again. I may or may not be updating (or cross posting from) this site anymore. Please see me there in case I don't.

Do not let the seemingly uniform world stop you from being who you are. You'd be surprised by how different we all are. Most of us just try too hard to be like everyone else (whatever that means).

Yesterday, I napped at around 2:30 in the afternoon. I woke up at around 4. I ate nothing but a piece of sausage. I worked out at around 7:30. I finished just a few minutes before 10. I ate a slab of tuna with chili, some Doritos, and dark chocolate for dessert. Then I had a glass of cold milk. I surfed the Intarnetz. I went to bed a few minutes before 1. I stared at the darkness. I stared some more. It went on for some time. I counted sheep. It wouldn’t work. It was already 1:30. I abused myself. I took a cold bath. I was cold and exhausted. I thought I could sleep. I couldn't. I stared at the darkness some more. I recited a mantra to fall asleep. I beat the mantra. I read a book. I drank some milk. I could not sleep. It was nearing 3. I shat and drank more milk. I gave up at 4. I prepared for work. Now, I’m at work. I have been awake for 24 hours now and will have to stay for another 4. I am expecting a good night’s sleep tonight or else I am going to start killing bears.

Okay, so I'm learning Esperanto. Just thought I'd leave you anglosaksoj a warning that I might blog in pure Esperanto from time to time. I believe this will help me learn faster as my lazy arse will be forced to study more frequently. Consider this self-blackmail. 

If you speak Esperanto, though, I would appreciate it if you could comment on my grammar and vocabulary if you spot anything wrong or inappropriate.

Dankon.

Friend: Anó 'yan? (What's that?)

Friend's 8-year old: Si Jesus na-a-attract sa apoy. (That's Jesus, getting attracted to fire.)

Friend: Anó ibig sabihin niyán? (What does that mean?)

Friend's 8-year old: Walâ. Drawing lang. Kailangan ba laging may ibig sabihin? (Nothing. It's just a drawing. Do drawings always have to mean something?)

 

The ancients had no qualms about portraying the gods in humorous or irreverent ways: that kind of freedom is one of the great joys of polytheism, and the deep and profound reverence we also show the gods is an important and powerful paradox. Our gods are not humorless tyrants. They can take a joke.

Conrad Deitrick via Polytheism

Nothing does the greatest disservice to the sacred bond of friendship than the ubiquitous phrase "just friends". Just friends? Just friends? Are you bloody mad? Have you any idea how hard it is to maintain true friends these days? It takes a lot of love to be a true friend. And if you're not a true friend, then you're not a friend at all.

A romanticist approach to life is nice and sweet and pretty. But at the end of the day, we have to be realists. There's nothing more precious, more valuable than raw, unveiled truth: the basis for a bullshit-free world. That's where you should take root, not in short-lived conveniences.

I just saw this in my News Feed today and I thought I'd tear it up for Christ's sake (you can take that both ways).

 

Greatest man in history...

Speak for yourself. Nobody ever gets to declare the greatest man in history.

...named Jesus

Hardly. More like, Yeshua bin Maryam.

...had no servants, yet they called him Master.

Master can also mean 'adept' (which he was) not just 'lord of servants' (which he also was if you consider all his yes-man disciples).

Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.

You're speaking in contemporary terms. No, he did not receive a degree from university; nobody else did. All you needed to do was to study the scriptures or the law, which all rabbis did (including Jesus).

Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.

So could a witch-doctor.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

What were their names? From where? There is a story about one king who feared his coming; he was paranoid.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

If you consider the popes and the bishops and the vast papal armies part of Jesus, then yes, he did conquer most of the known world in a span of two thousand years -- quite forcibly and with a lot of blood.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

Actually, he did: He was executed for blasphemy and sedition, grave crimes at that time for both Jews and Romans.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Okay, look: Historically, we don't even know for sure if he was ever born. Aside from the gospels we have -- which, by the way, were strategically picked from 20 or so other gospels of the time, written at least a hundred years after the supposed time of Jesus of Galilee -- we have nothing else but ambiguous archaeological clues.

Re-post if you believe.

When has believing ever trumped actual doing? Even if I did believe, it doesn't really prove anything, and it won't help the cause of christian love and hope, in the same way that posting a photograph of your favourite cartoon character helps stop child abuse. If you really love Jesus (I know I do), go out there and share that love with actual people. Make it practical and relevant instead of passing on some meme on Facebook about how lucky you are to be a "Christian".

Hestia as I see Her:

Hestia sits at the centre. She makes Her dwelling in the hearts of all things. Her most popular and, presumably, most relevant function in human civilisation is that of a hearth goddess. She guards and protects the home and the frith of families, as well as the cores of entire communities. She is the light, warmth, and heart of domestic life. Where her cult is established, familial relations are well.

In the past, her cultus was tended solely by women, especially maidens, because of her association with purity, which in turn comes from her association with benign fire (fire being the only element that cannot be polluted by any external substance). Hers are the first and last portions of offerings, but never of meat or blood or other items that have been "polluted" by violence. Where she is disrespected – i.e. if the hearth is untended – domestic life is put at peril, as is bound to happen in any circumstance where family relations are taken for granted. Naturally, in myth, she remains unwed and ever-benevolent.

The mythos of her being the first and last-born of her god-siblings comes from her role as receiver of offerings (hearth fires were not only seen as places where dinner was prepared but also as places where prayers were uttered by family members). As a living metaphor for community building (the family being the most basic unit) and fire domestication, she is undoubtedly one of the first gods to be worshipped by Man and definitely one of the most important.

 

"Shining One, 

She who dwells within,

sitting at the centre,

Guardian of family and home and frith:

Beat strong and pure in the heart of our home, [1]

And burn within our hearts no less,

Shining bright for those who gather around You, [2]

Granting grace to pray before Your pure fires."