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the-whispers-of-death · 1 month

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Hey there!

I have a request on deity reader.

Like, what if price starts realizing that his operations have started to go well… to well. Like his shots always land, he can conveniently locate the enemy first try….. oh, and a crow now always follows him. (The avatar of reader)

Thanks for reading my rant!

Second part of this.

As the years go after 2009 (the year that John Price helped Farah Karim & the ULF escape from Barkov's prison), Price quickly rose the ranks until he became captain. He at first thought nothing of it, saying that his skills were the reason for it, and he wasn't entirely wrong.

But you were watching him, making sure his missions went well. You were in his dreams in the form a crow, with the rest of the murder of crows behind you. You were content to just stay in his dreams, until you weren't.

It had been fifteen years since the prison escape he helped Farah escape from and now Price was starting to see a crow (you) follow him around. He didn't seem to think it was out of the ordinary, until you appeared everywhere, including battlefields. And he felt drawn to you, called to start worshipping you.

Slowly but surely, Price's barracks on base gained a small altar to you in the corner of the room. He brought you whatever he felt called to, setting down little trinkets like a mug that had a crow on it, several crow-themed keychains. A few wayward buttons that broke off his clothes. They weren't much, but he felt your gratitude each time he set them on your altar.

And it seemed like you were pleased with him, since all of his shots landed perfectly. His missions ended successfully and with as little soldiers hurt as possible. He supposed that he didn't mind worshipping you, especially since you made his job protecting civilians a little easier.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated! Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something! (SFW requests only, please and thank you)

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bunnyshideawayy · 24 days

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for pagans/witches who veil or cover their hair for their practice full time, do yall consider modest clothes essential to your veiling or do you still wear what you want? i’ve seen this debate among the community and am interested in seeing what everyone has to say!

for reference i do veil for my practice, just not everyday and i tend to still wear what i want but with limitations!

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queer-ghosts · 9 months

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being pagan is wild, because I've been trying to figure out how to honor Dionysus for a while and the solution was to dance wildly and scream in the woods.

#Dionysus #dionysus worship #modern Dionysus worship #pagan #pagan worship #dionysus devotee #dionysus devotion #dionysus deity #hellenistic worship #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #greek gods

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star-struck-sea-lestial · 1 month

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Spending some time with Lady Aphrodite🌳🛤️🌊🐚🌅💜 the only altar space I have right now is this spot next to my bed but that’s okay i think lol

#aphrodite #brujeria #ocean magick #sea maiden #sea witch #this is where i post from #la virgen de guadalupe #paganism #modern witch #altar #hellenic deities #witchblr #witch community #latina witch

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mooutchi · 6 months

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Ill try to be a bit more active here , even if i still need to understand how tumblr work lol😭

So take the fluff before i leave for god know how much time 🏃‍♂️

Warrior look extra soft :3

((Btw im adding lot of tags and i dont even know if they work LMAOO))

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ka-freaking-boom · 4 months

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Worship At My Altar

Deity Soap x Retired vet Ghost AU

Warnings: Implied suicide attempts, Depression, References to Ghost's backstory.

Ghost trudged through the quaint convenience store in the small, nowhere town he’d found himself in, filling the worn basket that he’d grabbed on the way in with nonperishable foods that he could carry with him on his motorcycle. He’d been getting low on funds, so if he wanted to have enough to get a decent offering for the temple, he couldn’t afford to be as picky as he normally would be while shopping and instead settled for items like canned ravioli and spam for himself.

He’d used the majority of the cash that he had on hand to get as far away from the overwhelming bustle of cities as possible. He didn’t want to use the card that he’d been issued by the government, the little piece of plastic seeming to mock him even from where it was buried deep within his duffel, wrapped up in an old sweatshirt that he’d had since his days as a fresh-faced recruit.

He set the can of soup that he’d been examining into his basket, adding to his meager collection of food before moving on to the next aisle. He was considering the various cups of cheap ramen noodles, wondering if it even mattered since it all tasted like shit regardless, when someone rushed past him.

His gaze darted away from the display and toward the flash of movement, his hand twitching toward a sidearm that he no longer carried as he located who it was that had passed him.

The tension that had coiled in his frame relaxed slightly when he realized that it was just an energetic kid, the small boy staring excitedly at the display of candy that was further down the aisle.

Ghost watched as the child began wringing his little fingers together as his wide eyes roamed over the large variety of candy that the store offered instead of just grabbing everything in sight, which was a surprising display of restraint from someone so young.

Ghost resisted the urge to flinch when the boy finally made his selection, one of his small hands abruptly darting out to snatch a bag of gummy bears off the rack before pivoting in order to walk back the way he had come, the kid pausing when he finally noticed that he had an audience.

He looked uncertain for a moment, probably unsure of how to feel about Ghost’s masked face and intimidating stature, before he seemed to shake himself out of his reservations and smiled up at Ghost, revealing the fact that he was missing one of his front teeth.

He squeezed past Ghost’s large form with a giggle, Ghost following him with his eyes until the kid reached the end of the aisle and moved out of view. Ghost took a few controlled breaths, trying to ignore how the parts of his body where the kid involuntarily brushed up against him crawled uncomfortably, reminding him of claustrophobic boxes and the sharp pain of a scorpion's sting.

Ghost forced his feet to start moving, intent on going to the checkout since he wanted to visit the temple before it was closed to the public, but he hesitated in front of the same display of candy that had entranced the child, blinking at the colorful packaging.

His dark eyes scanned over the various sugary treats, debating whether or not to buy some with his already scant funds, before he caved with a sigh and reached out in order to grab a bag of chocolate, tossing it into the basket before he could talk himself out of it.

Thankfully, the teenage cashier that scanned his things didn’t seem too bothered by his intimidating appearance, the girl too focused on getting Ghost checked out as fast as possible so that she could go back to boredly sketching on the piece of blank receipt paper that she had sitting next to the register to stare at the scarring on his face that wasn’t covered by the mask he was wearing, like most civilians that he encountered in public did.

He climbed onto his bike and pulled his black helmet over his head, feeling the uncomfortable tightness in his chest ease now that his face was hidden behind the tinted visor, before he took his groceries out of the cheap, plastic bags that the store used and began meticulously packing them away in his saddle bags, separating them based on whether it was for him or for his offering.

Once he was finished, he started the bike with a loud rumble, the engine revving as he reversed out of the parking space and floored it out of the lot, he would have to speed if he wanted to get to his destination in time to set up.

_____

Ghost wasted no time parking the bike and climbing off, impatiently yanking his helmet off and collecting the things he needed before he trotted up the stone staircase and into the looming temple, quickly passing the various priests and lingering townspeople without so much as a second glance in his haste to reach the altar.

A wave of familiar warmth greeted him the moment that he stepped into the room, Ghost taking note of the subtle changes that had been made to the decor in the altar room since his last visit, the red and gold color scheme making the space feel welcoming and cozy.

He carefully lowered himself to his knees in front of the marble platform that the statue sat atop of, Ghost setting his bag of offerings next to him before looking up at the deity that he’d been introduced to shortly after arriving to the small town. It had been immediately obvious to Ghost -even at his very first visit- that the statue had clearly been made with the utmost care, every cut reverent, every curve and divot of muscle lovingly sculpted.

Even the drape of the cloth over the statue’s hips was so flawlessly crafted that, if he reached out and touched it, he was almost convinced that he would feel soft cloth underneath his fingers instead of cool marble.

Ghost allowed his eyes to take in the bulge of muscle, the v of the man’s hips that disappeared beneath the flowing fabric that was wrapped artfully around him. His hands twitched with the urge to trace the veins that crawled across thick biceps and calloused hands, to rake through the thick line of hair at the top of the man’s head, to brush a thumb across his knowing, smug grin.

The man was undeniably beautiful.

Ghost managed to pry his gaze off of the statue in favor of silently pulling the things he’d brought with him out of his bag in order to set them onto the packed stone platform at the man’s bare feet, placing his own offering among the flowers, jewelry, money, candles and bottles of expensive amber liquor that others had left during their own visit.

Ghost meticulously put down ten candles, one for each member of the 141, and the last four for his family. He pulled out a lighter and brought the flame down to the wicks one at a time, mentally recalling the names and faces of those he cared for as he lit the corresponding candle for each person until he had reached the last one.

He took a moment to stare at the flickering flames before forcefully shaking himself out of his daze and setting a bottle of his favorite bourbon in the center of the circle of candles as well as two pretty blue glass bowls that he’d found while at the thrift shop the other day since they were the same shade that the deity’s eyes were.

Or at least what color he believed they were. During his last visit, a painting that someone had left on the altar as an offering in an impressive display of artistic skill had caught his attention, the artist having decided to depict the man with eyes that were such a vibrant blue that they looked like they were glowing, which Ghost thought was befitting of the deity.

He filled the larger bowl with a couple things that he had collected with the intent to bring to the altar. Like the smooth stone that he’d taken from the lake earlier that week, when he had contemplated wading into the crystalline water until it swallowed him up but ultimately decided against it, or the little wooden penguin figurine that he’d spent the week carving, having picked up the habit of whittling a new animal to give the statue every visit.

He then dropped a black skull keychain that he’d spotted at a gas station a few towns over, the bleached skull of a small bird, and the inspirational quote that his therapist had him write on a notecard into the big bowl before propping up the letter that he got from Roach -which mentioned how he was getting sent on a mission with Gaz and Price- behind the bowl in order to ask for protection for the mad cunts.

Ghost finished off the offering by fussing with the small bowl’s placement until he was satisfied before taking the bag of chocolate he’d bought earlier and ripping it open in order to dump the contents into the bowl. He ran a hand over the individually wrapped candies until the pile looked a little less messy before pulling his hand away and letting it rest against his thigh.

He’d come a long way since the first time he’d stopped by the temple, that initial visit having been fueled by a mix of sleep deprivation, desperation and alcohol. The only offering that he had brought with him that time had been the bullet that he’d loaded and unloaded from his firearm so many times since being discharged from the military that the motion was now practically muscle memory.

He’d wanted to get rid of the bullet and the weakness that it represented and figured that the altar of a God he didn’t believe in would be the perfect solution, though he couldn’t have accounted for how the calm atmosphere of the altar room and the kind eyes of the statue staring down at him with a soft, inviting smile kept him coming back for more, chasing that feeling of peace he only got from being in the room.

“I-” Ghost paused, internally wincing at how loud his rough voice seemed in the otherwise silent room, swallowing hard as he ignored how stupid he felt talking to a fucking statue, and continued. “I know it’s not anything extravagant, I don’t have a lot to offer…”

Ghost licked his chapped lips as he trailed off, finally glancing up from the flickering candles enveloping his small pile of gifts to gaze up at the man towering over him, unable to shake the feeling that the statue was looking directly at him despite the fact that it had been carved specifically to look down at it’s devout worshipers. The amused eyes of the man felt like encouragement, the statue's playful gaze easing Ghost's insecurities and helping the tense line of his shoulders relax.

“But you’re already far too spoiled considering the fact that you do fuck all, so I think that you’ll be okay.” Ghost finished with a wide grin that pulled at the various scars on his face, the bite taken out of his words by the soft chuckle that followed the quip as he reached out to condescendingly pat an unoccupied portion of the stone altar, his hand lingering for a moment longer than strictly necessary before he pulled away and pushed to his feet with a grunt, various old aches and pains making themselves known after kneeling for so long.

Ghost picked up his bag and made for the archway leading out of the room, sparing one last glance back at the benevolent statue before finally turning away and moving through the threshold and out of view, oblivious to the subtle sound of shifting stone as the statue’s smile seemed to briefly widen, lips parting to show a flash of perfectly straight teeth.

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arijensineink · 5 months

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The Problem With Writing Ancient Deities and Characters

We all love a good solid scary ancient deity right?

In my main WIP, there are creatures known as the Deis who influence the course of the story. Throughout history the Deis have been worshipped on/off as deities but in reality they're not gods, but rather a primordial species of semi-corporeal inter-dimensional sapient creatures, but even so.

Their ancient-ness makes them a great challenge to write (in my opinion.)

I have two in particular, both antagonists, one who features quite a bit in the story, the other who shows up more at the beginning and end.

Basically, I'm really struggling with this aspect of getting into their headspace and actually making them feel this old and believable, as well as pinning their motives down.

So, anyone else have something similar? What are the ways you've made these characters feel more impactful? How do you make them feel old, ancient, and on a different level of consciousness than your human characters?

Please share your experiences and thoughts!

✨click me✨

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thedansemacabres · 5 months

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thinking of Artemis, I do not think that seeing her as fully untouched wilderness, far from man, is correct—even in her mythology, she has followers that are wild in their rejection of society’s beholding. Rather, Artemis gives us a way to be in the wilderness as a caretaker of it, as fellow wild hunters, as nature has it. Nature thrives in our care, but it is imperialism that makes nature appear to be something conquered instead of the foundation of our lives—and also as something idealised in environmentalism, in which can fail due to cultural assumptions of nature.

#maybe this is my indigenous heritage speaking #and my older brother’s teachings (he is Lakota)#but I was thinking about her and “wilderness”#The usa tends to view wilderness as other whether in good or bad #but perhaps the modern Artemis rather should be that of the mutualism of land and human #we are the caretakers after all #dragonis.txt #artemis deity #hellenic polytheism #helpol #hellenic polytheist #hellenic pagan #hellenic deities #pagan #paganblr #paganism

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aungcha · 2 months

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hi im drawing hermes (again) but in modern clothes and I need suggestions!!!

Any pins, quotes, patches, patterns to go onto his jacket is welcomed

#greek gods #hermes #art #hermes god #hermes deity #modern greek mythology #hermes art #aungchasart #hellenic pantheon

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sephospaganplace · 1 year

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I keep thinking, we should make a modern epithet for Apollon and his role in mental health/therapy. Unfortunately I cannot find an Ancient Greek equivalent to the word ‘therapist’, so I’ve used modern Greek.

Απόλλων θεραπεία (Apollon therapeía) = Apollon the Therapist

Απόλλων μυαλό/myaloú (Apollon myaló/myalou ) = literally Apollon of the mind

Απόλλων διατεθειμένος (Apollon diatetheiménos ) = of the mind/sanity

What do y’all think? I’m really loving all of them honestly, though I’m partial to Apollon myaló. Nους is another word for mind/intellect, however, the literal translation for ‘mind healer’ is "therapeftís tou myaloú". So I figured myaló/myalou would do fine? My Greek is by no means perfect, I am still learning! I’ve consulted a native speaker but if any other native speakers have any opinions please message me!

#Apollo #apollo deity #Lord Apollon #apollo devotee #apollo devotion #Epithets #upg #modern hellenism #my posts #Dammit tumblr give me polls #modern epithets

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the-whispers-of-death · 4 days

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Deity!Reader

This is the masterlist of all of the Deity!Reader Drabbles. The reader is gender neutral and with John Price.

First Time You See John Price

Sending Little Signs to John Price

This may not be a completed list (it may be expanded upon)!

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rabbits-of-negative-euphoria · 5 days

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could you elaborate your thoughts more on "but should we believe Wynne-Jones' Calcifer or the youkai/ayakashi of animanga are meant to be that kind of demon?" and "It's the same cultural disconnect that led so many Christian parents in the 90s to condemn Pokemon as satanic". Specially about Calcifer? Please?

I wish that when translating asian media, particularly anime, they would keep their non-translated nomenclature, it always translates to "demon" or whatever alternative we have.

Well part of the issue is that our word "demon" comes from the Greek word δαίμων or daimōn, which is the word used in the New Testament, but it is not a word invented by the New Testament writers. Here is an excerpt from the Oxford Reference about it:

Etymologically daimōn means ‘divider’ or ‘allotter’; from Homer onwards it is used mainly in the sense of performer of more or less unexpected, and intrusive, events in human life. In early authors, gods, even Olympians, could be referred to as daimŏnĕs. Rather than referring to personal anthropomorphic aspects, however, daimōn appears to correspond to supernatural power in its unpredictable, anonymous, and often frightful manifestations. So, the adjective daimonios means ‘strange’, ‘incomprehensible’, ‘uncanny’. Hence daimōn soon acquired connotations of Fate. Hesiod introduced a new meaning: the deceased of the golden age were to him ‘wealth‐giving daimones’ functioning as guardians or protectors. This resulted in the meaning ‘personal protecting spirits’, who accompany each human's life and bring either luck or harm. A lucky, fortunate person was eudaimōn (‘with a good daimon’: already in Hesiod), an unlucky one was kakodaimōn (‘with a bad daimon’: from the 5th cent. bc). Centuries later, Christian theologians, concentrating on their negative aspects, saw in daimones the true nature of the pagan gods: they were the embodiment and source of evil and sin.

With this in mind, it makes sense that for translators, the most sophisticated translation for any kind of supernatural weird little creature would be "demon" or "daemon." Especially in a modernist, materialist society that views Judeo-Christian demons as merely one mythology out of many.

Calcifer is a very interesting case, because while he is called a demon in the Japanese Studio Ghibli adaptation, he is also called a demon in the original book by Welsh author Diana Wynne Jones. What many people don't realize is that Mrs. Jones was highly educated, having studied at Oxford under the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Her husband was also a scholar of Chaucer. Unfortunately, I think because she was writing children's fantasy in the 70s and 80s, people don't think her work warrants much deeper analysis.

As with all her stories, I think she brought a special kind of cleverness to the table when writing Calcifer that is first exemplified by his name.

"Calcifer" is a common noun, referring to sea creatures like anemones which construct their own shells from Calcium Carbonate, much like how Calcifer constructs the moving castle.

"Calcifer" resembles the Latin model of "Lucifer" which means "bringing light" or "light bringer," but rather than "light" she's substituted the Latin root for "limestone" (calcis), which is also made of Calcium Carbonate.

You know what's neat about Calcium Carbonate? It doesn't burn.

Following this thread through to Calcifer's backstory:

Calcifer was a falling star that Howl intercepted, which slightly resembles Satan's origin story as a fallen angel of light. However, Diana Wynne Jones knew perfectly well that Christian demons are not really falling stars, so we can know she did not intend to write Calcifer as a Judeo-Christian demon. More likely, I think she was paying homage to classics such as Paradise Lost.

Calcifer strikes a bargain with Howl for his heart, which I consider an homage to Faust by Goethe, in which the titular character can be said to have devoured beautiful young women.

As a character, Calcifer is very morally grey and often seems in a league above the other characters as far as stakes and decision-making. This is very characteristic of the mythical creatures of Celtic legend, which are still a very present background element of Welsh culture today, much like the trolls and elves of Scandinavian culture. Many of these mythical creatures are referred to as demons, even though they do not align with the Judeo-Christian definition of a demon. Yes, they can be evil or tricky, but they can also be helpful, lucky, or funny. Mostly, they are volatile. Faeries, boggarts, goblins, elves, sea monsters, and more have all been called demons in Welsh folklore.

This could be due to the early interaction between the Welsh and the Romans (compared to, say, the Irish who kept up their Druidism for much longer), and consequently Christians. I know from Scandinavian folklore that the meshing of Pagan culture with Christian newcomers usually becomes very weird very quickly, with the resulting mythology resembling neither party.

Tl;dr Calcifer is the product of a Welsh upbringing and a classical education, and is explicitly not a demon in the Judeo-Christian sense.

As for Pokemon in the U.S., it's mainly a translation issue. Word got around that lots of Pokemon are based on youkai, which gets translated to "demon" in English, even though they are not Judeo-Christian demons and are much closer to the above cited faeries and goblins. Voila, Satanic Panic 2.0.

#- HK #thank you for this opportunity to nerd out today #Calcifer #DWJ #Studio Ghibli #x #Christianity #mythology #analysis #if you want to know what the actual demons of foreign cultures were; they were the primary deities they worshiped #and whichever spirits they invoked to practice magic or seeing #for this reason I would not watch Noragami for a long time.#but when I realized that modern Japan doesn't actually *believe* the Shintoism they observe #I knew it would be no different from reading The Odyssey or Gilgamesh #morally speaking

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