#ivkio

[ivkio]

Ivkio Holiday: Umuhi

Ivkio is primarily a religion based on community and environmental care. A part of care is repair (umu), which is emphasized during this week-long holiday.

While Nakamo celebrates relationship repairs, Umuhi celebrates physical repairs. Redyeing dull clothing, patching up holes, refurbishing furniture, fixing a broken phone, degreasing the bottom of pots, etc. We live in a time where broken things are thrown out and replaced, but take time this week to appreciate what you have, and give it new life to spark joy in yours.

This year (Yuja 1), Umuhi will be celebrated from week Me 2-6, Nima 9 (November 15- 20 in the gregorian calendar).

Happy Umuhi everybody! ✨🛠

Umuhi pronounced oo-moo-hee

[ivkio]

Ivkio Holiday: Panaka

Inspired by the concept of Lent in Christianity.

Rather than practicing abstinence, Panaka is about adding behaviours based on compassion.

For the entire month (from Sept 17, 2020- Oct 16, 2020 in the gregorian calendar), Ivkos are encouraged to focus their energy on helping other people, and forming new habits. This includes: Volunteering at a food bank and/ or soup kitchen (Food Not Bombs is a great organization!), doing the dishes for everyone in your home, paying for someone's rent, etc within your means.

Ivkos are not forced to participate, and discouraged from going beyond their capabilities. Panaka is about community and compassion, which includes compassion and care for yourself.

Have a wonderful Panaka everyone ✨

Panaka is pronounced pah-nah-kah

[ivkio]

Ivkio

Pronounced eve-key-oh, meaning "origin of all"/ "stardust"/ "universe"

Followers of this religion are called ivko(s), meaning "person/people made of stardust"/ "the universe in one body"

There are seven main principles of this religion, and are the only requirements to becoming an ivko.

Take care of yourself, take care of others, take care of the Earth.

Do not deprive others of what they need for your own personal gain.

Believe all in the universe to be inherently valueable.

Believe we are all of the same energy and source, continuously recycled.

Only your own body is yours to control and own.

Anti-proselytizing.

Celebration of sosim'wipa (a lunar based "rest" day)

Each of these principles have been explained further in the corresponding link.

[ivkio]

Seven Main Principles: Part 7

Celebration of sosim'wipa.

Pronounced so-seem-we-pah, sosim'wipa is a lunar-based rest day. Sosim'wipa is inspired by shabbat in Judaism, and the Chinese agricultural calendar breaks called huan during the Han Dynasty.

For an entire day, from sunrise to sunrise on primary and intermediate lunar phases (new moon, first quarter, full moon, and third quarter), ivkos are not suppose to work.

Work is defined as physical and mental effort or activity directed towards the productions or accomplishment of something for exchange. This encompasses cleaning out of responsibility (exception to this is cleaning for your enjoyment and ease), harvesting, production for sale, physically and mentally draining labor.

Ivkos can celebrate sosim'wipa alone, or with others. Each have different obligations.

Alone, an ivko should enjoy the day with non-productive rest, joyful creation (not for profit), and self love.

Together, a community of ivkos are to gather for free food, sharing of art (dancing, singing, and music), creating art, story-telling, bonding, and compliments (none are to be about physical appearance). Non-ivkos are allowed to join the celebration, even if it's just for food.

The sharing of art should be done through live performances and participation, rather than pre-recorded. No one is required to perform, but all are encouraged to share their joy. People can sit and enjoy the presence of the community without input if they wish.

The free food provided by the community should accommodate for the majority (meaning the elimination of common allergens), and ideally will accomodate for each individual with food restrictions. "Healthy food" is subjective to the individual, and there should never be the goal of eating "pure".

Sosim'wipa should always include a space seperate from the main event for people to escape the noise, and create art quietly (in the form of sewing, painting, pottery, etc). This space is dedicated to silence, and has a strict no-talking rule to accommodate for those who need the silence for their wellbeing. However, each individual can use headphones to listen to music, podcasts, etc. The goal is to keep the overall volume in the room to a minimum.

In addition to the quiet space, a confession box should be left in a public area for community members to submit anonymous confessions if they are overwhelmed with guilt. This confession box is brought into the main space on sosim'wipa, and addressed by the community together. Community members are required to keep an open mind, and are refrained from judging. The goal is to resolve, support, provide wisdom, and reassure the anonymous person.

[ivkio]

Seven Main Principles: Part 3

Believe all in the universe to be inherently valuable*.

The simplification of splitting the world into categories of good and evil is an injustice to the complicated nature of the universe. Is a lion evil for eating a gazelle? Is that gazelle evil for the destruction of flora?

Our natural functions in the universe are inherently valueable because we are designed to be different, we are designed to destroy and create and die. Bad, evil, good, and righteous are subjective to every individual's imagination, and not based in a universal truth.

Perhaps the greatest injustice of labelling any being as good or evil is the seperation of others from ourselves. All people are capable of making harmful decisions, and doing harmful things, but we are also capable of kindness, and capable of change. Our actions and thoughts are a culmination of our lived experiences, and reflect our past.

"We must learn to regard people less in the light if what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A cat that hisses at humans might've been traumatized by one, or is unsure how we'll interact with them, and responds with agression out of fear. A person who steals may not have enough money or goods to exchange, or perhaps they see the system as unjust and does so in an act of rebellion.

But when you reduce people to your perception of them, when you stop believing all people are inherently valueable, you allow mistreatment. You'll justify mistreatment as punishment, instead of seeking to end harm, you end up perpetuating it.

This doesn't mean we should accept wrongful actions and harm, but rather to recognize that all people are capable of change, and they are not doomed from corruption. A nazi should absolutely be fought against and stopped, but an ex-nazi is not your enemy. Fixing an individual to one label (good, or evil) denies them change. It denies their undeniable positive and negative influences on others, and the world.

When you accept that all beings are inherently valueable, you can focus on nurturing. You can forgive yourself for the harm you have and will cause, and do your best to make reparations. People thrive when given the support and opportunity to grow. "People grow when they are loved well." -Mike McHargue

*Valuable in this context does not mean monetarily valuable, or valuable to humans or domesticated animals.

[ivkio]

I can't find the post that I originally learned this from (believe me, I've tried searching for tens of hours 😭), and they put it a lot more eloquently than I will but... our thoughts and behaviours are just products of our environment.

Sure, nature comes into play, but I've always viewed nuture as triggering natural responses, instead of nature being an innate inescapable thing. Like a hoarder would have had the wiring for that specific illness before it was trigger by an event. Nature is why some people can develope PTSD while others cant, but nurture is was activates it.

It's why I like this particular scene in Fruits Basket so much:

Our only innate qualities are survival based.

Your reaction to anger is learned. Your self-depricating thoughts are learned. And they can be unlearned.

Some behaviours were developed to protect you. A neglected child may develop sociopathy to protect them from the stress-inducing anxiety a lack of attachment can bring. An abuse victim may develop severe anger so they aren't hurt again. Acknowledge how your body and brain protect you.

If something no longer serves you/ doesn't bring you joy or contentness, learn to let it go. (And what makes you happy will be different from what makes others happy; that's what makes us unique and beautiful)

Ask yourself, why do you think this way? Who influenced your thoughts/ who does your inner voice sound like? Why do you act the way you do? How do your emotions serve you?

Question, accept, and move on. It takes time to unlearn the things that no longer serve you well, but you're worth the effort. You're worthy of life and happiness.

[ivkio]

Happy Ivkio New Years!

Today, ivkos celebrate by planting or starting seeds for those who need it (be it the soil, native fauna, food for the poor, herbal medicine for the sick, etc). This plant will need to be nurtured by you over the next few months, and gifted to the being you chose.

Welcome into the second year of the Ivkio religion~ ✨

[ivkio]

As the first year of the Ivkio calendar comes to an end, we celebrate Nakamo, the day of giving thanks and reconciliation.

As explained more in depth in this post, ivkos are encouraged to give thank their relatives, friends, god(s), animals, soil, your body, your creativity, yourself as a whole, etc. Along with directly thanking them for their positive influence on your life, you can silently thank those you've left behind.

This day also provides the opportunity to apologize to those you feel you have wronged, even minorly.

Although it is a day of optional reconciliation, no one is required nor expected to forgive and reconnect. Rather, it's a chance to communicate and let the heaviness of your heart lighten.

Have a healing Nakamo! ✨