#religious ask

[echoesofthefall]

I was ecstatic to see you answering these questions. For the religious asks, would you be okay with answering 6 and 9?

Why I didn't know my blog had such an effect on people! But it's a pleasure to know.

Let's go for 6 and 9.

6) Do you have lots of religious paraphernalia?

I have way too much. As a person on the autistic spectrum, I have special interests, and religion is one of them (my main one, to be fair), meaning I tend to collect lots and lots of religious objects (some of which I don't even use, like Christian icons and rosaries). My main altar is covered in various religious trinkets, either bought, made, gifted or stolen, which remind me of my Master. Physical objects really help me in my devotion, serving as material reminders (and, for some of them, vessels) of my spirits' presence in my life. I do not think I need them, but they still hold value to me.

9) Has your faith ever helped you through a crisis?

Tough one. I'd say yes? But I ultimately tend to rely on myself to go through crisis. Which does not mean feeling G-d's - or the Devil's - hand on my back is meaningless to me: my spirits very much help me, but they are not my main resource.

[echoesofthefall]

Hi! 🌱 From the religious ask game, I’d love to know 1, 5 and 10!

Hi! I just answered 5 and 10 here, so let's do 1.

1) Which religion/spiritual path do you identify with?

Short answer: (Animistic) Judaism.

Long answer: I wasn't raised in a religious household. My parents didn't want to force me to believe, so they never really talked about it. As a child, I intuitively identified as what one might call an "animist": I believed everything was alive in its way. I kept this fundamental belief through my various religious phases. When I finally came back to Judaism, I couldn't just give up on that, and found that Judaism actually works pretty well with animistic beliefs, even though it implies some degree of unorthodoxy. While I do not (yet?) identify as a witch for various reasons, Traditional Witchcraft deeply resonated with me, and I can't seem to let go of a very much non-Jewish Devil (and G-d knows trying to make Him fit in Judaism gives me serious headaches). So here I am, a heretic Jew believing every thing that exists is constantly praising its Creator, and that a Horned Fucker is, at the same time, the master of our planet.

[echoesofthefall]

It's hard not to just roll my knuckles across the number pad of my keyboard, since I love seeing your takes on religion, but I'll start with 5 and 10 if you're willing!

Hi! Thanks for your interest in my opinion.

5) When do you feel closest to your deity/ies?

I'll answer this question both for HaShem and for the Devil, as they are the main deities/spirits I interact with on a daily basis.

I feel closest to HaShem in many different situations, sometimes in synagogue, sometimes randomly during the day, sometimes when I pray, sometimes when I listen to prayers, sometimes when I talk or sing to Her. Two elements also seem to work quite well together: silence and the sky. I often find myself in awe while looking at the heavens, and I always keep in mind the verse: "Because all the gods of the peoples are Elilim*, and HaShem made the heavens." (Psalms 96:5) ; it seems my ancestors also felt this way when looking at the sky, knowing Someone bigger is out there, Someone who made all of this. I don't see HaShem exclusively as a sky deity figure but She still feels connected to the heavens, the storms, the clouds, the stars, etc. to me.

The Devil tends to come and go. I've felt very close to Him in many occasions, though: while making offerings, while writing poetry, while protesting for our rights, while dancing or singing, while loving, while on drugs, while being surrounded by music, while walking in the woods, while seeing or hearing certain animals, or certain plants, while dreaming, while performing the Red Meal. He tends to be associated with the Moon and bodies of water in my experience, but not only.

*I might talk about the Elilim later; for now, understand it as "lesser gods" or "idols" as you see fit.

10) Do you have a favourite prayer/ritual?

I very much do. Regarding prayers, I dearly love the Shema' Yisra'el (especially the first paragraph). These days, I really enjoy Psalm 93, which I learned to sing in Ancient Hebrew.

My favourite ritual is probably my own version of the Red Meal, which I translated in French and adapted to fit my own practice, composing little poems for each prayer. I don't perform it as often as I'd like to, but the few times I did were very powerful experiences.

[rae-does-stuff]

3 and 9 for the religious ask game?

3. Have you ever doubted your faith?

Yes, but that was during a time when I was going through some stuff (not an excuse) and was learning more about other religions. But eventually the one that made the most sense to me was Islam so I stayed a Muslim.

9. Has your faith ever helped you through a crisis?

Yeah. I used to have nightmares all the time about a lot of different stuff. So I started making dua’s (a profound act of worship in Islam) before I went to sleep and the nightmares stopped after a while.

[vaijayantheee]

3, 5 ,6 ,9

Thanks for the ask @1nsaankahanhai-bkr! 🤗✨

3) Have you ever doubted your faith? Not really... I’m just not in peace with certain passages and stuff (y’all know what I’m talking about 😂😭)

5) When do you feel closest to your deity/ies? Ahh I’m a musician, so usually when I’m performing, playing, singing their songs. Mira’s Bhajans on Govardhan-Giridhaari and Marathi Abhangs on Panduranga really crush my heart and I absolutely tear up while singing itself. It’s like Krishna wants me to sing, and so I don’t try to stop. 😊💖💖💖

6) Do you have lots of religious paraphernalia? Bro the only thing I decorate my room with is LifeSize Krishna stickers/wallpapers. 😂😂😂 I also LOVE LOVE LOVE nataraja... he’s so aesthetic, and I literally want to decorate my living room (one day) with a giant statue of him. He’s so pretty.  9) Has your faith ever helped you through a crisis? My faith has no other job in my life, jk jk... it has helped me with so many emotional breakdowns and stupid shit where I couldn’t get through one particular assignment or was just really down after knowing what my extended family thought of my career aspirations (I want to be a sound designer and everyone’s like “iTs NOt PraCtiCAL” smh) but Krishna and Rama and Lakshmi and Parvati and Shiva and Muruga were always there to help me back up. 💖💖💖

[vaijayantheee]

7, 13, and 15 for the religious ask!

Thanks for the ask @fluffedstar, what a gem! Also I’m Hindu if anyone didn’t know lmao whoops

7) If you could change one thing about your faith community, what would it be? I guess I’d like for us all to be united... like the shaiva-vaishnava fights are so freaking stupid... like everyone please please PLEASE come to an agreement that there is one Parabrahmam and it manifests itself in different forms... it’s not important WHO is Parabrahmam... just acknowledge and respect it, for heavens sake!

13) Do you practise the majority faith of the place you live in? Nope hehe, I’m not Christian 😅

15) Have you ever had a divine experience? Bro honestly all the time... but I’m a pretty boring person who considers divine experiences to be between me and the gods involved (mostly Krishna lmao!) so not revealing the backstories here. Sorry! 😅🙏

[jeyaam]

How did I- HOW DID I MISS THIS???? OK BUT 3, 5 and 8 for the religious ask (welp its cri time)

thanks for the ask bb! 💗

3) Have you ever doubted your faith?

- yes!! from 13 y/o to 15 y/o, i considered myself to be atheist/agnostic. but after that some stuff happened and i couldn’t deny myself the fact that there may indeed be some sort of higher power (not necessarily a god(dess)).

5) When do you feel closest to your deity/ies?

- when i listen to music that has vibes that matches the deity. example: songs that have this ‘celebration’ kind of theme (and a catchy tune) is something that i’ve unconsciously matched with krishna and traditional songs (folk music too!!) are just really murugan’s vibe idk why. like whenever i feel kind of ‘disconnected’ in a way, i put on some music that i personally match with a deity and just... listen to it! yeah that’s one time when i feel super close to the divine.

also whenever i talk about krishna in particular, i feel super close to him idk why either. there was this one time last year when me and @animucomedy were fangirling about krishna and then we experienced this feeling of ecstasy and euphoria (it could have just been me tho) but yeah, that feeling was absolutely divine but it lasted for a super short while. this is just another one experience that really stuck to me which made me feel very close to a deity.

8) What is your favourite passage from a sacred text, if you have one?

- i don’t think i have a favourite tbh. they’re all nice in their own way. except manusmriti pls burn that garbage.

[jeyaam]

11 and 14 for th3 Religious Ask Tag please! 💖

thanks for the ask!! 💗

11) Have you ever considered converting to another faith?

- yeah i actually have considered that too many times to count tbh oops 😬 there was a (very) short time in my life where i’ve considered converting to christianity but i’ve mostly considered about converting to islam or paganism (hellenic and norse). the thought about converting to islam specifically still does cross my mind more than i’d like to admit but i love krishna too much to actually do that lmao (also because i’m still learning in depth about hinduism so i don’t want to jump into anything). but ngl i do see myself as a syncretic in the future.

14) Have you ever been discriminated against on the basis of your faith?

- just one time when this christian lady came to my door to preach about christianity but she saw this humongous ganesha painting on my wall at the doorway and was like “you’re worshipping the devil.” is this considered discrimination tho??