"Shaman" was originally Russian for the word "saman" from Tungus.
It does make sense for there to be a Russian word for it, since many Tungusics are native to Siberia.
The rest of us are native to Northeast Asia, and our ancestors' languages share many similarities. In my people's native Manchurian language, a branch of the Tungusic languages, it's also "saman".
alright this is annoying me! medusa wasn’t a rape victim in greek mythology!
there’s no existing greek poet who ever wrote about that origin for her. she was born a gorgon with her two sisters stheno and euryale. perseus’ who was roughly about a teenager when he killed medusa, did so to save his mother because the king of the island they washed up on, wanted his mother, and wanted to rid himself of perseus, so he charged perseus to bring him the head of medusa, a vicious gorgon, in which the king was sure that perseus would be turned into stone like many many others. athena & hermes aided him; athena gave him a shield & hermes gave him his winged sandals. using this mirror athena gave him, he was able to turn the tides on medusa because he could see her reflection without being turned to stone, he then cut her head off.
stop using ovid’s version as the greek version, roman and greek as much as people love to make jokes that romans copied greeks, they have their differences including this myth.
because I’ve already received a response that displays that people are picking and choosing what I was saying. did I say people can’t use it as a sexual assault story? no, but use it as a roman myth because not only would it not be accurate if you used it as a greek myth, but because ovid has intentions to hate in the gods. he hated religion, and went out of his way to make the gods look bad, and people are feeding into it. do whatever you want when it’s roman mythology, but do not attest to it being greek myth
call me tone deaf all you want but idc, I’m putting greek culture above people taking a story that that was clearly written by a roman man who hated religion and slapping greek on it. if you have a problem that I’m not being “nice” to people that use the medusa roman story, then sorry but I can care less.
Maybe it’s a softball question, but I’d sure love to read an answer to “are dybbuk boxes actually Jewish?”. I know those things are still being sold on places like Etsy and eBay to this day.
No, Dybbuk boxes are not real, they are misappropriations of Jewish spirituality and superstition. Dybbukim are a real concept in Judaism, they’re a type of demon that clings to things, particularly people. “Dybbuk” comes from the Hebrew word of “Debek”, which means “cling to”.
However, Dybbuk boxes specifically are not a Jewish thing. They all originate from a hoax concocted in 2003 by Kevin Mannis, who exploited the Holocaust to sell his lie. His success has led to more people trying to cash in on his success on eBay and the like.
Here is an in-depth explanation of the situation by Jewitches:
I have basically one thought about demonology and demonolatry in ANY way, shape, or form: Don't even THINK about getting anywhere near unless you're willing to study the development of demonic beliefs and lore from an academic perspective and learn about the way antisemitism informed so much of it.
Demonology and demonolatry is an absolute cognitohazard to certain people. Literally don't get anywhere near it unless you're willing to do this kind of research first.
If you're already into it and haven't done that research? Then literally drop everything you're doing, demon-wise, and get to it ASAP.
A bit of personal advice: if you’re wanting to research into Slavic heathenry on your own, please learn how to tell apart ethnonationalist dogwhistles and traditional beliefs, because there are a lot of authors who will try to sell you supremacist bullshit under the disguise of tradition, and you will likely not know which one is which. Ethnonationalism is a parasitic ideology which adjusts to the conditions it flourishes in, and you need to be prepared to separate genuine tradition from some bigoted bullshit.
Not to hijack the original context of this post, but in my experience this is great advice for anyone wanting to get into any kind of spirituality. There’s lots of folkists around that make it hard to distinguish between genuinely closed traditions and something that is just gatekept by horrible people.
The best safeguard, I think, is to approach any spiritual/cultural tradition with respect and attention for the original context in which it was born and developed. Before you research the beliefs themselves, research their history. If you do your research well, that should tell you if the beliefs/practices are/have ever been bound to a place or a people and why. It should also reveal if the beliefs are continuous or reconstructed + open/closed and what kind of authorities actually exist currently.
Never treat cultures like commodities where you get to take whatever you want, but also beware of people trying to gatekeep traditions that have never been bound to blood or ethnicity.
It’s actually some good addition. I didn’t want to make a wide-reaching post but I’m actually glad you said that. Yeah, it’s true, every spiritual system is a potential home for a bunch of folkist assholes and it’s really important to be able to tell them apart - and not mix up people asking for basic cultural respect with folkism, because it isn’t that.
The only thing I can add here, the ways ethnonationalism manifests is going to differ from religion to religion but it’s still going to have common red flags. It’s vital to know them and be ready to tell them apart.
WHAT’S THE LIMIT ON DEADNESS? HOW RECENTLY DOES SOMETHING HAVE TO BE DEAD? COULD I NECROMANCY A DINOSAUR FOSSIL? WHAT IF I NECROMANCIED THE GROUND AND THEN DINOSAURS STARTED APPEARING?
Look, there are a lot of posts going around about the necessity of cleansing before approaching Deities, and I’m glad that people are researching into Ancient cleansing practices, but I am once again urging you to remember: this is a norm of an Ancient society before Current Era, not modernity.
Yes, traditionally, in a pure reconstructing way, you’d need to cleanse before a ritual. No, you do not need to do it if your concept of ritual dirtiness is different.
The Ancient concepts of dirtiness were different. Aside from dirt and blood, Greco-Roman view of spiritual dirtiness included, for example, other bodily fluids, menstrual blood, childbirth, any kind of death and other matters of the kind.Â
Did you know death and birth were prohibited on Delos as unclean, i.e. shedding blood? Will you stay away from visiting the island if
you’re on your period or carrying?
Should I remind you of the whole idea with virginity=purity we clearly do not uphold anymore? I understand that it’s very important for some people to maintain Ancient rites, but please consider that our views on dirtiness vs. cleanness have changed.
Also please remember that people could come to Gods with “unclean” matters even in Antiquity if the situation called for it. Mothers devoted genitals-shaped offerings to Zeus and other Deities, sexual acts were “a matter of Aphrodite”, childbirth was a sacred matter of many Goddesses, and Gods were present during bloody battles. Yes, you’d likely be required to cleanse before entering a temple because it’s a public place so it’s common decency to keep it clean and care about other people’s comfort.
Please, stop telling people they have to cleanse in a particular way before rituals - it’s people’s choice whether or not to adhere to this Ancient praxis. Some people might consider bodily fluids clean, or not care, or approach Deities during menstruation, or pray while in labor, or whatnot - and some might not be able to afford, mentally or financially, to clean themselves every time they need to talk to a Deity.
It’s nice to uphold Ancient rituals; you also need to remember the concepts of socio-cultural spectrum that led to these rituals existing.
don't blow this up but I really sincerely doubt that every aspect of every God is 100% adhering to our current social mores at all times, that its categorically impossible for a God to do something morally wrong in the modern age. people are pushing a very restrictive, moralistic, even puritanical black-and-white narrative about all gods all the time and I'm so sick of it
If reincarnation is real I wonder how many people stare at their own art in museums, listen to their own music they made in a different life and read books they don't remember writing
I need you all to know that I'm thinking about this post on a daily basis. How many people discover their own graves? How many stares at their own mummies? Visit monuments without remembering they built them?
Maybe our souls are meant to forget so we can discover the world one more time, find beauty again in the little things we had become familiar with, learn again how to love the people we knew for years, find peace and inspiration in the things we did in a different life and were once ashamed of.
If anyone is wondering why everything has been so crazy with self identity, emotional independence, and all around chaos it's because right now Venus(self image) Neptune(delusions, imagination) and Pluto (transformation) are all in a Yod formation. What's the yod? When the planets are in this position everything is about timing, crisis, and quick action. Because it is showing you where things are going FAST, it's known as the Finger of God. What finger? The GODDAMN MIDDLE ONE đź–•đź–•đź–•đź–•
Check yourself before you wreck yourself. There is a fine line between taking opportunities and taking risks.
