Middas, Morning Star 01, 2025
(Wednesday, January 01, 2025)
Lots to report on today. Decided to be open about my Buddhism and Shinto practice on Tumblr that I've been doing for a while. I didn't share them before because like... I'm really just a baby in both regards, I have One(1) book on Shinto and it's as introductory as introductory gets. (The book is Shinto: The Kami Way by Sokyo Ono, it is a good read if you're interested in Shinto. It is mostly geared to explain to non-Japanese people, and I found the section on home worship the most useful to my position because I'm not lucky enough to live near a shrine). And as both are "living" religions, as in a religion that still has faith leaders and etc, I really want to follow them properly than my blasé "I can make my own rules and do whatever I want within reason" that I do for my PCP and magic. Same for things like HelPol, I don't interact with it much or do much about it on Tumblr because while it's considered a "dead" religion (keep in mind these terms are about things beyond if it's still practiced) it still has a lot of rules I don't quite fully understand. And while I have Zeus and Hera to guide me away from major mistakes and help me learn, I still don't wanna piss anybody off.
I've been seeing a lot of discourse lately, though, about how you can't be friends with the Gods, and I think there's an important caveat that there's a major difference between friendly and friends. And like. You can be friends with your elderly neighbor, without putting yourself on her societal level, as well. I firmly believe and stand by that we can be friends with the gods (if we can date/marry them, why can't we be friends or even family with them? you guys are chill with godspouses but not godfriends/godfamily? granted, some of these folks are probably anti-godspouse for the same reason which I at least appreciate the consistency) as long as we still always remember that we aren't on the same status level as them, and remember that they are Gods and we are not.
As well, I deeply trust my Gods to tell me what is and isn't okay, and I trust them to be honest with me. I put their words and their guidance above any random discourse post I see on Tumblr lol. If I step over the line, I trust that I'm gonna get told off and even bonked for it.
I'm gonna leave my thoughts there, though, I don't really want this to be a discourse blog, it's just been haunting my mind and I really needed to slap it somewhere lol. (If you have thoughts, feel free to send them to my askbox on this blog, or else it won't make sense to my other blogs, I'll answer them, but not if you're rude. I think this is a good thing to discuss.)
I did this "13 wishes" ritual thing. I wrote down 13 wishes on pieces of paper, folded them up, and put them in a bowl. Starting today, I'll take a piece out, not look at it, and rip it up (the original ritual is to burn, but I don't have many liberties to burn so ripping it up it is), to send it to my Gods and the Universe to handle, until there's one left, and that one I do read and is for me to handle and make come true.
I'm a bit worried about which one will end up in my hands - I made them all realistic and achievable, even if some rely on outside sources than my own two hands. But I still worry that the one that ends up in my hands will be one I really wanted the Gods to handle lol.
Also today, I've made a deal with Clavicus Vile for some help with a certain haunting. I wasn't requested too much in return, because, and I'm paraphrasing but saying directly, Liege Clavicus feels a bit bad for me that so many of my attempts to reach Them have failed (and thus I've been receiving next to no help despite asking for it repeatedly) and my offerings I've been leaving for Them have been stolen by the spirit haunting me.
It's an act of compassion I deeply appreciate, that I've been given a kind and pretty sweet (literally in some aspects) deal. I was requested to uptick my worship for Great Clavicus once the haunting is dealt with for a good while, and to make Him some cookies, and She "better get the first fresh ones" in Her words, which all of this is very within my means.
I plan on making hot chocolate cookies, as Their favorite is ones with tons of fillings, and I think hot chocolate cookies should count because they have marshmallows in them. (I just worry it'll be too sweet for Their tastes). It is a lot of work, but anything for the Gods helping me with the haunting. And besides, I did promise.
I'm probably gonna do more than this because I can, but I'm definitely gonna fulfill what parts we more explicitly agreed on. I just have to figure out what all to do for the increased worship... Probably make a playlist and play it every day for a while, and make moodboards and reblog more art of Them. That should do something at the least in the offering sector.