a newer Wilderness

julien, 28, they/them. ex sda/fundamentalist, current episcopalian stereotype. header by kelly latimore. 18+ please 🌻

[tamarrud]

While we continue to donate to personal evacuation funds, I think it is crucial to keep in mind that these individuals as well as millions more in Gaza are currently actively in need of basic necessities like food, water, shelter, and medical care. Keeping this in mind, and recognising that there is no way to know when the border crossing with Egypt will reopen, I think our attention should also be on raising funds for organisations currently on the ground who will have the widest impact on the lives of Palestinians who are still enduring the genocide in Gaza.

Below are some verified donation links of organisations that are currently providing assistance for the people in Gaza directly:

Food, water, and shelter

Taawon has launched a campaign to provide support in Gaza through food parcels, shopping vouchers, fresh produce, water bottles and shelter tents.

Watermelon Relief is a project initiated and implemented by a group of activists in Gaza, who work to provide aid to displaced families in Gaza through meals, support and activities.

World Food Programme (WFP) managed to provide assistance to more than 1 million people in Gaza in May by delivering food in shelters, makeshift camps and shops.

Life for Gaza is an initiative through which the Municipality of Gaza aims to provide basic necessities for the people of Gaza such as water projects, waste collection and the reconstruction of roads.

Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) is working to plant farmlands in Gaza through their "Revive Gaza Farmlands" project, through which they had already started planting vegetables, fruits and leafy greens in Gaza.

Purchasing eSIMs is one of the only remaining ways to keep Gazans connected with the outside world, to get their stories out or even enable them to call for help after Israeli strikes.

The Sameer Project is a donation based aid initiative that provides tents, cash aid, diapers and formula for displaced families in Gaza.

Care For Gaza is an organisation that works to provide essential aid such as food packages and cash to deliver to displaced families in Gaza.

Palestine Children's Relief Fund, through their "Gaza Relief and Recovery" campaign, plan to provide essential medical supplies and treatments, as well as food and clean water.

The UNRWA has an Emergency Appeal for Gaza, where donations will provide families in Gaza with lifesaving food and water, winter kits and to repair UNRWA shelters.

Mutual Aid for the People of Gaza is a fundraiser managed by Mona in Gaza, who personally purchases and distributes basic supplies including food parcels to families in Gaza.

Help Gaza Children is another grassroots effort operating on the ground in Gaza to support families with food, water and clothing.

Medical care

Palestinian Red Crescent has been on the ground in Palestine since 1968 as part of the Red Cross & Crescent movement. They have had a continuous presence on the ground in Gaza as the main source of medical care and assistance.

Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) provides medical supplies and supports healthcare services in Gaza.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provide medical and humanitarian aid in Palestine and have had their teams on the ground operating from MSF-supported health facilities across Gaza.

Gaza Wound Care is a medical team in a tent in Nuseirat, providing care to children and supporting pregnant women.

Children Not Numbers is an NGO dedicated to providing medical care for the children in Gaza including delivery of medical aid and medical evacuation for children.

[cuties-in-codices]

the soul as the bride of christ

illustrations for the early 15th c. poem "christus und die minnende seele" ("christ and the loving/courting soul"), constance, c. 1490

source: Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 710, fol. 10v-20r

[speciesbarocus]

Christ having sex with the Soul.

Christus und die minnende Seele (c. 1500).

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

Jesus raises Lazarus from the Dead, Catacomb of Callixtus, Rome, 3rd Century A.D.

[iscariotapologist]

Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss

[iscariotapologist]

Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss

[iscariotapologist]

Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss

[iscariotapologist]

Julian of Norwich, trans. Julia Bolton Holloway

[iscariotapologist]

Julian of Norwich, trans. Julia Bolton Holloway

[saintmelangell]

do you have any favourite historical overviews or introductions to christian mysticism that you could please recommend? ilysm habibti

works marked with * are what i would recommend for absolute beginners on the topic.

introductory works:

thomas merton, a course in christian mysticism: thirteen sessions ith the famous trappist monk*

william a. richards, sacred knowledge: psychadelics and religious experiences (on the practical applications of entheogenic, or drug-induced, mysticism)

william james, the varieties of religious experience, especially lectures 16 and 17*

bernard mcginn, the essentials of christian mysticism (arguably the best starter anthology of christian mystical writing)*

mircea eliade, the sacred and the profane

robert s. ellwood, mysticism and religion*

ed. amy hollywood, the cambridge companion to christian mysticism*

steven t. katz (ed.), mysticism and sacred scripture, especially the first chapter, "mysticism and the interpretation of sacred scripture," and the second chapter, "mysticism and scriptural justification"

primary works:

anon, the cloud of unknowing and other works (a.c. sperings translation for penguin is probably the most accessible)

teresa of avila, the life of saint tereesa of avila by herself

simone weil, waiting for god*

julian of norwich, revelations of divine love*

john of the cross, spiritual canticle (i recommend this to newcomers to christian mysticism over dark night of the soul, which is extremely dense and often devastating)

meister eckhart's sermons- though the book i'm linking is essentially a primer to german mystics

hildegard of bingen's scivias; but this selected works is a good place to start

margery kempe, the book of margery kempe by herself*

bernard of clairvaux’s sermons on song of songs*

marguerite porete, the mirror of simple souls

rebecca jackson, gifts of power*

catherine of siena, dialog

secondary works:

evelyn underhill, mysticism: a study in the nature and development of spiritual consciousness

evelyn underhill, practical mysticism*

caroline walker bynum, jesus as mother: studies in the spirituality of the high middle ages

caroline walker bynum, wonderful blood: theology and practice in late medieval northern germany and beyond

caroline walker bynum, holy feast and holy fast: the religious significance of food to medieval women*

grace m. jantzen, "eros and the abyss: reading medieval mystics in postmodernity"

grace m. jantzen, becoming divine: towards a feminist philosophy of religion

denys turner, the darkness of god: negativity in christian mysticism

jeffrey kripal, roads of excess palaces of wisdom: eroticism and reflexivity in the study of mysticism (+a lecture by him)

marsha aileen hewitt, freud on religion*

sarah clairmont, "she'll eat him up she loves him so" (one of my all time favourite papers)

also, the bible: which is probably the most vital of works on christian mysticism, as nothing you read about mysticism will not be influenced by it. i personally have recently been reading a combination of the JPS tanakh and the jewish annotated new testament, but the new revised standard edition (+apocrypha) is generally standard. if you are reading the bible academically for learning about mysticism, or have absolutely no background with reading the bible, i recommend the following books specifically:

the torah (genesis*, exodus*, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy*)

the major prophets isaiah* and ezekiel*

the minor prophets (all of which constitute my favourite part of the bible) joel*, jonah*, micah*, malachai*

psalms*, job*, the song of songs*

the gospels, especially mark* and john (mark is the oldest and most "jewish," john is the most recent and most "gentile"; matthew and luke are probably more familiar than both)

the epistles: james*, jude*, 1-3 john, 1-2 peter, hebrews

the revelation to john

everything i've recommended here you can find online (internet archive or annasarchive); i've also tried to keep it extremely general and limited to work that i've personally read and vetted. if there's specific aspects or topics you're interested in (ie women's mysticism, medieval mysticism, mysticism and eating, freud and mysticism, commentaries on specific mystics etc) just drop me an ask! very honoured you've asked me beloved <3

[boudicca]

how many modern hildegards von bingen have we lost since the advent of sumatriptan

[boudicca]

getting people hildypilled i love to see it

[ringthembells]

in addition to getting hildypilled everyone who agrees with this should watch the documentary crazywise which is about how pathologizing psychosis is actually a very odd cultural phenomenon and many cultures have important places in their society for people who hear voices and have visions. and how that pathologization might actually make psychosis symptoms worse.

[sacredheart-stigmata]

keep seeing people online talking about how horrific it is that the united states military's list of recognized religious beliefs inside the military just dropped from 211 to 31, how it's a violation of religious freedom and religious protection for soldiers, etc, etc, when the biggest problem here is: why are they serving in the united states military in the first place

[iscariotapologist]

pleaaasse get weird about the eucharist

there's not a lot i can say that's weirder than the actual doctrine about it. God and i meet at that altar rail and give our whole selves physically and mystically and totally to each other. and in the process i am joined to millions of other people across physical and temporal borders, and this all happens in ways i don't pretend to understand even a little bit. it's the only thing that, for some reason, i can let fly right past my rational postmodern mind that doesn't think god is real and thinks i'm a fool for wanting to believe otherwise. i would not be a christian without it. basically this is happening at every mass:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly-minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand. King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood; He will give to all the faithful His own self for heav'nly food. Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way, As the Light of light descendeth From the realms of endless day, That the pow'rs of hell may vanish As the darkness clears away. At His feet the six-winged seraph, Cherubim with sleepless eye, Veil their faces to the presence, As with ceaseless voice they cry: "Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Lord Most High!"

and it has an inescapable grip on me. not that i want to escape it.

[brookebitch69]

lowkey one of the most affecting sentences i have ever read. I have never been able to get it out of my head and i dont understand what it is trying to convey at all.

[iscariotapologist]

the eucharist is insane. i will never be over this.

[iscariotapologist]

today in the episcopal church we remember st ephrem the syrian, also known as ephrem of edessa and the harp of the holy spirit, a fourth century deacon, theologian, poet, and hymnographer. he used his music as a method of teaching and is known for his practice of having all female choirs sing his teaching hymns. st ephrem has over 400 surviving hymns attributed to him, and we have one in the 1982 hymnal:

Pour out upon us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which your deacon Ephrem declared the mysteries of faith in sacred song; that, with gladdened hearts, we too might proclaim the riches of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[edwordsmyth]

"At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely. . . . I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere." -Thomas Merton