The parallels between Zionism and Hindutva are too strong to ignore, especially as they become more ideologically aligned movements.

A small reminder to the pagan community:

Just because a practice is open for everyone to join doesn’t mean you can’t appropriate from it.

Specific paths have specific practices in them that are supposed to remain in the context of that path. Removing the practices from that context and smashing it together with 15 other paths’ practices is appropriation.

Practices lose their meaning when removed from their context. Leave them where they belong. Resist the urge to remove them from their cultural context, even if you’re completely allowed to engage with it.

everyday i see clueless westerners (especially white people) reblog thinly veiled hindutva propaganda which they wouldn't know cause they know absolutely nothing about what goes on in india. so here are some signs that that the tumblr user you're interacting with is a hindu nationalist:

they either do not acknowledge casteism or claim that caste is a western construct. my personal favourite however is dismissing anyone bringing up caste discrimination by saying that the indian constitution outlaws untouchability. they may also bring up the fact that the prime minister belongs to an other backwards class (obc) so clearly india has moved on from caste and hindutva isn't only for the upper castes. they possess a shallow understanding of caste

harping on about "islamic colonisation" : no, the mughals did not colonise india. when you point this out, they will immediately assume that you think muslim invaders were innocent beings who did nothing wrong, which is very much not what anyone is claiming here

while we're on the topic of "islamic colonisation" they will also refer to the demolishing of muslim sites of heritage and worship and then building hindu temples over them as "decolonisation" (cough cough ram mandir) the hindu right also goes around pretending that they're indigenous to india. this is false

along a similar vein, they will dismiss islamaphobia by bringing up instances of hindu oppression in countries like pakistan and bangladesh. it is true that hindus are persecuted in these two countries, however they are used to fuel their oppression complex, that their upper caste hindu self is under attack in india of all places (think a white christian in the united states). you should be in solidarity with minorities everywhere. it is neither transactional or conditional (note: they will never bring up sri lanka. persecution of hindus exists only when the oppressors are muslim)

claiming that hindu nationalism and hindutva are not the same because hindutva means "hindu-ness". that is only the literal translation of the term. like it or not, they're the same thing

they support the indian military occupation of kashmir. they will call it an integral part of kashmir, one reason which will be "hinduism is indigenous to kashmir." they will also bring up the last maharaja of kashmir signing the instrument of accession as further proof, as if the consent of the people was taken

they're zionists. do i even need to explain this. hindutva is just zionism for hindus

they refer to buddhism and jainism (sikhism too sometimes) as branches of hinduism rather than separate, distinct religions

they condemn any resistance to the indian govt as a burden or terrorism) (like calling the farmers who are currently protesting a hindrance or terrorists. funny how sikhs are the same as hindus when they support hindu causes but terrorists when they resist oppression...)

they call you a pseudo liberal or a fake leftist. i'm telling you, they don't know jackshit. they can't even tell the difference between a liberal and a leftist and call US unread lmao. bonus points if they call you a liberandu or a sickularist 💀

they call india "bharat" when they talk in english. there are in fact multiple indian languages call india bharat or bharatam, but if they say bharat while talking in english, that is absolutely a hindu nationalist no questions asked

please do your due diligence. read up on hindutva. hindu nationalists have already started making gains in the united states, thanks to rich upper caste nris . do not fall for propaganda

a friendly reminder from your local korean blogger that “lunar new year” is inclusive of the many cultures who celebrate, and “chinese new year” should be used only if you’re referring to specifically chinese cultural practices of the new year. thank you!!!

Happy Lunar New Year!

May your new year be full of joy and love❤️

A Vietnamese-American man’s thoughts on Henry Kissinger, the vitality and life of ongoing Vietnamese culture despite his actions, and Palestine.

Here is a link to his art for Palestine, which he says is free to use.

Here is also a link to donate to the PCRF.

Grave Guardian Beast (Zhenmu Shou)

China, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (480–221 B.C.), 4th/3rd century B.C.

Antlered creatures with long, protruding tongues are the most distinctive burial gifts that have been discovered in Chu tombs. “Antler and tongue” figures may have been used in shamanistic rituals or may represent local deities. Typically centered at the head of the coffin, perhaps to protect the deceased from evil, such grotesque images assume a variety of forms with single or double heads. The painted scrollwork on this example is unusually well preserved.

Huông and Malignant Hauntings

The recent trend of buying and wearing vintage or thrifted clothes often leaves many Vietnamese parents aghast. Many Asian youths, especially overseas, often write this off as superstitious, but the underlying spiritual concept has been a part of many of our cultures for quite a long time.

𣟂苦 - The local folk term, “huông” is a derivative of the term “khuôn khổ”, the latter meaning a specific structure or pattern. Huông itself refers to the accumulated, malignant spiritual energy resulting from any tragedy, misfortune, or horrible act committed against a person being transferred to an object or place, forcing that tragedy to repeat itself again and again.

圖咕 - The most common cultural expression of this in Vietnam is the aversion to old, second-hand clothes or objects. The khí of the owners who used those objects or wore those clothes is repeatedly transferred to them, so by the time the owner discards them or passes away, their khí and every bad thing that happened to them throughout their life, their abuse, their poverty, their insanity, their poor choices, are all imprinted onto that object, and force all those terrible events to endlessly cycle for those who use such objects, wear such clothes, or visit such places. This is the mechanism by which a curse develops.

圖㵋 - This explains the fixation in Vietnamese, and other East Asian cultures, with only purchasing new things, never used.

𠸥傳 - When my family still lived in Vietnam, my mother and her siblings all grew up during the war, when money was tight, they had to pass down clothes as hand-me-downs. My Dì Út, my youngest aunt, was the youngest of more than 10 siblings. She had to wear the hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs. My aunts taught me that wearing and using hand-me-downs are fine as long as they belonged to a family member. However, as my aunt is the youngest amongst her siblings, she had no one in the family to hand her old clothes down to, so her Bà Nội/paternal grandma gave her old clothes to a poor family in the center of Sài Gòn, who had an infant my aunt’s size. After said infant wore my aunt’s old clothes, she drowned in a pond. Once my aunt’s Bà Nội heard of the infant’s death, she immediately bought new clothes for the deceased infant’s entire family, took back the dead infant’s hand-me-downs, and burned them.

𠸥傳 - A story of mine that involves huông is when I got into a car accident in early 2023. I was unharmed, but I was driving in an area that my family felt was affected by huông because of the murders, mugging, and robberies that took place there in the past. So after my sister drove me home from the accident, my parents burned the clothes I was wearing in case it had any huông that would get me into another car accident, or an even worse incident, and they purified me of any huông by forcing me to bathe in a “tea” made from lemongrass and “bát” lime branches.

坭被魔暗 - There is a particular boulevard in my city’s Chinatown that is known to have huông because of the amount of car crashes that happen there, it is a spiritual self-replicating cycle of death. One should avoid places known to be affected by huông during the day, and obviously such places should never be visited at night.

𣟂 - In a sentence, to be affected by huông is to inherit another’s misfortune.

Artwork depicting Ma Rừng, by artist Duy Văn for the series Ma Quỷ Dân Gian Ký

Solidarity with our Muslim comrades, today and always.

remember, the inauguration of the ram temple isn't a mere matter of hindu religious grandstanding, it is also an event to signal investment opportunities for the further development of the neoliberal economy.

sure, the official story says that the temple was built from donations gathered from hindus and inexplicable well-wishers across the economic spectrum (the fundraising for this was notably, extremely threatening), but this is most likely a smokescreen for a complicated series of economic maneuvers carried out by the bjp, rss, vhp, and allied organisations.

we already know that the temple itself was built by the multi-national construction agency larsen and toubro, which really lays precedent for the exact form of investment this “development project” and its peripheral projects seek funding from, and to whom the profits accrued will go.

San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration (1999) SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Japanese construction workers on Wednesday resumed landfill work at the new site of the U.S. military base on Okinawa despite protests by the island’s residents that the move tramples on their rights and raises environmental concerns.

The planned relocation site for the base, on Okinawa’s eastern coast, has been at the center of a dispute between the government in Tokyo and the local authorities at a time of the island’s growing strategic importance.[...]

Three weeks ago, the Fukuoka High Court’s Naha branch ordered Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki to approve the central government’s modified landfill plan, and allowed the Land and Transport Ministry to order the work to resume by overriding the governor’s disapproval.

On a barge brought to the location on Wednesday, a pair of loader machines scooped up mounds of rock and gravel and dumped them into the sea as part of reclamation needed to reinforce the extremely soft seabed at the site planned for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Tamaki, who has appealed the order to the Supreme Court, said the court ruling was unjust and goes against the will of the residents. Under Japanese law, construction can proceed while the court decision is pending. He called the resumption of the landfill work “extremely regrettable.”[...]

Tamaki, the governor, has sought a significant reduction of the U.S. military on Okinawa, which is home to more than half of 50,000 American troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact.

Hundreds of scholars, film directors and ordinary citizens who have advocated for Okinawans’ autonomy, signed a global petition demanding the island cease to be “a de facto military colony of the United States and Japan ever since the end of the World War II.”

One of the petition organizers, Satoko Norimatsu Oka who heads the Vancouver-based Peace Philosophy Center, provided a copy of the document to The Associated Press.

“We must end the discrimination and military colonization of Okinawa,” said the petitioners, who include filmmaker Oliver Stone.

The petition urged President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to “cancel the construction of the new base in Henoko.”

10 Jan 24

On New Year's Eve an intruder broke into the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple and set fire to the building. The arsonist struck in the basement archives, destroying irreplaceable records of over 120 years, instruments and other precious items used for major community festivals like Obon, and other important materials. Fire and water damage occurred throughout the building, but the main hall and columbarium survived. The fire reignited this week due to smouldering embers and was suppressed again. A relief fund for the temple has been created. Please go here to donate: https://donate.stripe.com/7sIcNfdwRdi59TW8wy

#buddhist #buddhism #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #arson #aapi #stopasianhate

Y'ALL THAILAND APPROVED SAME SEX MARRIAGE AS OF 7 HOURS AGO!!!!!!!

Inari Okami

Finally made my example post! This is free for everyone to view, of course. Please consider supporting me as I do research and write.

Higaonon elders, Bae Sumayaw Sawahai & Datu Mabanhaw, The Philippines, by Jacob Maentz

Instead of making posts about what people halfway across the world should do on a dying website, I'm going to link to organizations that you can donate to that can actually help.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees. They provide immediate medical aid to those in great need, while also developing local capacity and skills to ensure the long-term development of the Palestinian healthcare system. 

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association is a Palestinian non-governmental civil institution that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons.

Samidoun is an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom.

Refuser Solidarity Network provides crucial support to Israel's military refusers in the toughest of political circumstances. They provide funds for for demonstrations outside prison, for legal fees, for media campaigns that tell conscientious objector’s stories to the general public, for education programs for Israeli and American audiences about their important resistance to the occupation.

Feel free to reblog with links to other groups and other places people can donate to.