Discover Top Posts Tagged with #theophany

Orthodox Theophany by Peggy Theodorogianni. x

#orthodoxy #theophany #epiphany #eastern europe #christian orthodox #православные #православный #bulgaria

Who or what is Tammy Thompson (the dreadful singer)?

In season 3, we hear about her for the first time. Steve is interested in Robin, why? It is Dustin who opens his eyes, because Steve is El's mirror character. He is attracted to both Mike and Will. But of course, only in female form. Those are Nancy and Robin. Robin is the personification of Will's mind. Here, according to Dustin's logic: We are attracted to Will, but he is a boy = gay. So Steve hits on Nancy (so that Mike can be straight). Nancy is the representation of Mike, whether conformity/heterosexuality has a chance. If Steve wins, then Mike will remain trapped in the illusion (heterosexuality). Robin is now portrayed as extra feminine because Mike is trying with all his might to appear normal. If Mike falls in love with a female version of Will, then he doesn't have to admit that he is gay. So Steve is connected to Will and especially Mike. So actually Dustin (Mike's heart). Robin likes Steve, but she also likes girls (yes, she is a lesbian). She is also into the same sex. Means: Will is attracted to the same sex, that is, to boys. Problem: Mike portrays Will's mind as female in the story. But that doesn't solve the problem, because Robin says she likes girls. For Steve, it's a rejection. So Mike thinks Will likes girls. Here, Robin also explains that she was in love with Tammy. She, however, only had eyes for Steve. Means: Will is deeply in love with Mike, but he is in love with El. It's about the thoughts and the reflection. Steve is now trying his luck again with other girls and later once more with Nancy. Why? Mike is trying to show how much he tried to redirect his feelings/love for Will. El is the personification of Will and Mike's love (and also Steve). He desperately tries to get a woman, but is rejected every time. Why? Because he is not "real." In the end, he continues to date women, but he has fulfilled his task. He had no chance with Nancy, and Mike has made his choice. So in the end, he is good with children (because he is just the reflection of Mike and Will's love). He fulfilled his role in the story. So no chance with Robin, but also never a real chance with Nancy. This means for Mike that conformity and normality, the pressure of society, never really had a chance with him. Because as it was beautifully put, what Hop wrote in the Season 3 finale. You are growing up, and that scares me. But do it, little one, grow up. Because that's life. Yes, El is growing up. Hop, Mike's sheriff, fought for a long time. In the end, he never really wanted to be that harsh. In the end, he gave up and granted El her freedom. Isn't that what she always wanted???? Live and be free? Please understand the meta-level here and not just the little traumatized girl (child).

Now, back to Tammy.

It's about the trauma – the fear. This is explained to us by Murray. Murray is a mirror character of Mike. His profession as a journalist is to uncover truths. He then shares these with the audience (in the book with the readers, in the series with the viewers). He says: "Trust issues." Is it the father's fault? Murray quickly saw thru Johnathan (Mirror). Mike/Nancy, on the other hand, is harder to see thru. But in the end, he asks: "And how was I?" It's great to see it so clearly. He recognized and uncovered the problem. Mike, on the other hand, suffers from the illusion of wanting to be "normal." He is afraid of the consequences. What happens if I accept myself as I truly am (gay)? So he takes refuge in the safe choice. It's El's girlfriend. Nancy flees to Steve. They are mirrors. So Mike pretends to be someone else. He pretends to be straight/normal.

So Will has trust issues. Therefore, he uses a projection. What is a projection and what does it have to do with Mike/Tammy? Or should we start with the trauma of both and why neither sees that the other feels the same way? Will has trust issues, or an attachment trauma: His father Lonnie was homophobic, he called Will a faggot. He knew that his son was gay and found it wrong. Lonnie left the family and thus betrayed their trust. Will attributed this to his uniqueness. If I accept that I am "different," I lose people. He can't trust people, and especially not Mike (the boy he loves). He puts Mike on a pedestal. By defining Mike as untouchable or heterosexual, he is not a real partner but a sacred object that he admires from afar. He does this because a real partner could disappoint or hurt him (like Lonnie). On the pedestal, he can worship him from afar without ever exposing himself to the danger of a real, vulnerable relationship. He flees from commitment into admiration. He saw in Mike only the unattainable boy. As long as Will is safe. But he receives a signal from Mike on the field. It is the moment when he confronts his fear, realizing that Mike is also different. Will doesn't think, as many believe, that Mike rejected him and that he is sad. No, Will is more than overwhelmed because he now realizes that he saw something in Mike that Mike is not. Mike's smile betrayed him. Mike, on the other hand, is afraid of his true identity. He knows who El really is. Mike knows that he is gay, he knows the feelings are there. His desires do not align with his self-image. He loves Will, but accepting this fact feels to him like the annihilation of his existence. So he takes refuge in the safe choice (the girlfriend). So he pretends to be straight/normal (she is his safe harbor). By doing so, he keeps Will at a distance. He likes El, but he doesn't love her. She is just his safe choice. You can also call it conformity pressure trauma or fear of social death. By the way, it is well mirrored in Season 3 by Ted and Karen. The two serve as a mirror. This is what your future could look like if you (Mike) continue down this path. Ted and Karen (a loveless marriage). Karen is attracted to Billy (mirror of Will). Ted Wheeler feels no jealousy, he doesn't care. Because if Mike were to marry a woman, there would be no connection or love.

So Will is afraid of disappointment (closeness). Mike is afraid of change (truth). A projection is a psychological defense mechanism in which one does not perceive their own (often unpleasant or frightening) feelings, desires, or fears within themselves, but instead attributes them to another person. With Will, it works like this: Will was very afraid of real intimacy and of being hurt. Instead of feeling this fear, he "projected" it outward. He saw Mike as "unreachable." That was typical of him.

He saw Mike as "unreachable." That was the projection. It wasn't that Mike was necessarily unattainable, but rather that his own mind needed this image to avoid facing the danger of a real relationship. In projection, one uses another person like a canvas onto which they project their own inner drama, so they don't have to confront it directly. Mike was therefore the perfect best friend, a leader, later he seemed hetero/normal. Will's escape back then was D&D. Will now sees Mike as the unattainable friend because of the girlfriend (EL). He still wants to know from Robin / his mind how she knew that Vickie wanted to date her. Will learns about small tender touches or a glance (signals). These were like a small snowball that turned into an avalanche. When Will asks that, he has already noticed something about Mike (Season 3 and 4). Yes, Mike has long been sending signals, and Robin has collected them. On the field, he is testing something. There is also Mike's smile, that magical one between the two of them. Thru Will's touch, Mike drops his mask for a moment, Will looks behind the wall and receives a signal from Mike. Mike felt the touch, he loves Will after all. But before he perceives Will's interest as such, he takes flight. Because then Mike would have to confront his own trauma. Many take Will's look and Mike's departure as indifference, but let's be honest, it's the exact opposite. It left something behind for both of them. Now Robin chimes in. Mike didn't notice it, but Robin does. Will needs to end his projection.

So Robin was in love with Tammy and Robin envisioned her entire life with Tammy, believing that if Tammy loved her (including the part that scared her), then Robin wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. She thot Tammy would make her "whole." So Robin would then feel okay. Then Tammy falls in love with Steve. So Mike in El (girlfriend role). He is now the unattainable. Thru the flirtation, Mike now falls from the pedestal. Robin explains, thru the tape, to her younger self, that she had sought the answer in someone else (Tammy), but she had the answer all along. This little girl simply loved everything about herself, and when she realized that, she finally felt free. Will thot Mike was the answer. If Mike loves me, he makes me normal. He also loves the bad part of me. But Mike wouldn't have been able to heal the trauma. If Mike had already loved him back then, that is, if he had said, "I have feelings for you," a real relationship would probably not have been possible. The trauma would be there, and Will wouldn't have trusted Mike or thought, then Mike is also different. Something is wrong with both of us. He would have rejected Mike. He no longer sees Mike as an answer or a solution, but as the person Mike truly is. Mike is also a boy who is afraid, who is just as vulnerable. But it wouldn't be a stable foundation, as both would flee. The little boy in the tape is Will before his father. This little boy loved everything about himself. Will cannot find the answer in another person, in the outside world, but only within himself. No matter if Mike loves him now or not, it is no longer his reason for existence. He doesn't make the "I'm okay" dependent on Mike, but on himself. It is self-awareness.

Why Mike is no longer the answer. Before: Will thot that if Mike loves me, I am normal/valuable. As a result, he makes his worth completely dependent on Mike. The "answer" (the feeling of being right and lovable) has always been within Will, but it was buried by the fear of Lonnie's judgment. Will was looking for something in Mike that he couldn't give himself. As long as Will believed that Mike was the answer, he didn't have to confront his own pain or imperfection. Now that he sees Mike is also in love, Will realizes: "Even if I get what I wanted, it doesn't solve my inner problem." The trauma is still there. Mike can't heal it. He doesn't need Mike to feel "whole." The answer is no longer "I need Mike to be okay," but "I am okay just the way I am." Mike becomes a person in that moment. He is no longer the ideal, the savior, but a person with his own wounds. He no longer needs to be "normalized" by Mike. He accepts that he himself (the child) has always been right. The answer is therefore not Mike, but the permission to exist for oneself. Only now can he accept Mike's love. So it continues. Will now wants to know if Robin was able to date Vickie at that time. Robin explains that it wasn't possible, she was finally at peace with herself, but saying it to someone was something completely different. Robin then mentions Steve, her arch-enemy. This allowed her to open up to Vickie (mirror of Mike and the alchemist). Will is only viewer number 3, and she wants to double her number by the end of the year. Means with Will. He now has self-awareness and realizes that El is just a mask of a friend. She is actually not an enemy/rival/competitor. The secret lost its destructive power. The alchemist is a process. Robin is with her for a reason. She turns lead into gold. The gold of healing. It is the healing that only arises thru truth. But it also reflects Mike. Both must therefore go thru the same process. Mike can only be available for Will once he drops his Tammy mask. Vickie was with a boy before Robin. Only when Robin opened up to her was she ready for a relationship with Robin. So only when Will opens up can Mike also be ready to realize that one doesn't have to be perfect. So, Will is the third spectator. He himself has now achieved self-acceptance. He is at peace with himself. So, doubling the number by the end of the year represents Will's coming out. He must now open up to the people he loves the most so that his mirror Vecna loses power. Will has made a decision.

In the coming out, which is completely misunderstood by so many, Will is showing a true act of love. He shows that he is not over Mike, but that he loves him so much that he offers Mike protection and support and sends him a code. Will is like his friends, they have the same interests. He also admits that he wanted to be like his friends because he was afraid of being different. But he is different, he just doesn't like girls the way his friends do. He is now making a clever move. He uses the tenses of the past and present. He says, "I had a crush." He uses the form because it is a fact. He shows Mike that he is not alone. That Will has loved Mike for a long time, even when he thot Mike was straight. Many think he has gotten over Mike now. But no, don't worry. He felt the flirtation, and Mike knows about it now too. Both have also felt the pipe burst. Mike and Will both know what the other is feeling. He offers Mike protection and support in that moment. If Will were to say, "I'm still in love or I love you, Mike," then he would out Mike and put him in a situation that directly demands an answer. But Will knows that Mike is not ready yet. It would practically be a forced outing. Will would never do that. With the present tense of "although I know he is not like me," he lets Mike keep his mask. He doesn't force Mike to decide for him right now.

He loves Mike so much that he leaves the time and the decision to him. Mike is not "official" like Will at this moment. Will knows it, tho, since both got wet. Both felt the emotions on the field and during the pipe burst, but Mike is still hiding behind the ego/illusion. So no one else knows that Mike is gay. So by saying, I realized he was just my Tammy, he takes the pressure off Mike. It was all about his damn fear with Tammy. Mike understands in that moment that it was particularly painful for Will because he thot Mike was normal. He sees that Will was scared the whole time, just like Mike. Will had to come out so that Henry's version wouldn't win. Will hasn't lost anyone. His trust was rewarded. The people he loves, love him too. Vecna and the Mind Flayer are therefore one. They are so easy to kill because of Will's decision. Due to the coming out, there are no more Demogorgons in the Abyss either. They have lost their food. They represented negative fears and shame. Thru Will's acceptance, they disappeared or starved. If you take the tower scene now, it can be understood like this: Mike addresses it and admits that he wasn't there for Will. He was so self-absorbed that he didn't see it. But he should have been there for Will.

For Will, however, Mike is not an idiot. He has understanding for Mike because he knows that he is also going thru a trauma. Mike may seem selfish to many, and he admits it himself, but Mike was so preoccupied with his feelings that he ignored the signals. He didn't even let them in because of the trauma. He has loved Will since he was 12. He had such a strong inner conflict between letting feelings out and hiding them that Will ended up in the friend zone. He associated letting out feelings with final death. As a result, he ignored signals from Will. He kept his feelings for Will hidden in El, the girlfriend. As long as he hides them and doesn't let them out in the open, they are alive. It's about Sara (childlike mirror) and the DNA (Ted). She died when he was brave. If he were to let her in again, he believes, they would not exist and die in the toxic environment of his father and the world. His love would have no chance. So he kept hiding or suppressing his feelings over and over again. If he dismisses these signals from Will as merely friendly, he doesn't have to confront his fear. He loves Will, but keeps these feelings to himself. But the pressure became so high that his pent-up emotions had to come out (script). Like with Will, his love is stronger than the fear. He realized that in Will. So, if his love is strong enough and he finally accepts himself as he is, this love can also survive in a toxic environment (father/society/conformity/ideology). That fits Eddie. Eddie wasn't perfect, but he was real. When Will says that the most important thing is that Mike is still here (in the fight) and that he can imagine still being friends, it means: It is emotional maturity. He puts his own need for a romantic relationship aside to save the connection with Mike. Will's greatest fear was that Mike would turn away after the coming out. He says "that you can imagine" for various reasons: He hopes not to lose Mike because of the coming out. Friendship is therefore his lifeline. If Mike can imagine it, the greatest danger of total separation is averted. At the same time, he has hope for more, even tho he knows that Mike probably still needs time. He gives Mike the permission to take his time, and with that, Will accepts his pace. When Mike said no thanks, Will's heart skipped a beat. But Mike added "best friends" afterward.

Mike is sorry.

For Mike, just friends are not enough. You only have one best friend in life. With this person, you have a close, special bond that Mike definitely doesn't want to lose. It is the maximum answer "Best friends" that Mike can give at this point. It's his way of saying, I wasn't there for you, I neglected you, but now I am. He wants to maintain this connection, especially now that he knows the truth. Will is the most important person to Mike. No, this is not the end of Mike and Will. At this point, they are best friends, but well aware that there is more. It's now up to Mike. This is mirrored in Hopper, who is currently on the road with El and Kali.

Have a blessed Theophany! Καλά Φώτα! As Saint Basil the Great says, “The baptism of the Lord surpasses all human powers of comprehension. It contains a glory beyond all that humanity hopes or prays for, a preeminence of grace and power which exceeds the others more than the sun outshines the stars.”

#Theophany #Saint Basil the Great #Jesus Christ #Christianity #Orthodox Christianity

Violet Sorrengail

when she fights and Theophanie looks at her

the base I used

13 years ago, in December 2012, my then-boyfriend and I - still teenagers, still in high school - were at his house, eyes glued to the ticking timer of Theophany's doomsday clock on his computer screen, which heralded the release of his upcoming Majora's Mask remix album - and also, the end of the world.

When the album released, the world didn't end. We knew, deep down, that it wouldn't. But the tension was still palpable, the sinking gut feeling of "what if?" was still shared between us.

Those what-if's fortunately never materialized. We listened to the entirety of Theophany's album that night. And I've continued to listen to it throughout the next 13 years that would follow. Throughout high school, throughout college, through every break-up and career change and moved apartment.

The world didn't end for Theophany, either. He kept producing music, but nothing ever quite hit like that original Majora's Mask album release for me. It was a wholly unique experience, one that cemented itself within the collective experiences of those who were there, just as the experience of living through the supernatural fear and uncertainty of 2012 did.

Approximately 9 hours ago, Theophany released a remix of Midna's Lament. One of my favorite tracks in the entire franchise, from a game that became as essential to my childhood as Majora's Mask was, created by the same person whose work has stuck with me since I was a teenager. Equally grim, equally heartfelt, equally magnificent.

But I can't help but feel a certain sadness from listening to it. Not from the song itself, not even from the nostalgia, but from the weight of the reality that this song exists in compared to the music that made me love Theophany's work in the first place.

"No AI" it says in the title. A label that would not have been necessary nor would have even made sense not even 15 years ago. And yet, is required by some new unspoken moral obligation today, a new clause in the social contract of being an artist that asserted itself over us practically overnight.

This track isn't heralding the end of the world like his Majora's Mask album. We're not coming together as a species to both fear and satirize an apocalypse that we know won't come to pass, a prophecy based on a culture we don't understand and never experienced. It's not using childhood nostalgia as a means to commentate on real world apocalyptic events.

But the world couldn't feel closer to the brink of ending than it does today. Innocent men, women, and children are being detained and murdered senselessly in the streets of what's supposed to be "the land of the free". Rather than coming together to ironically celebrate a hypothetical apocalypse, we're coming together to survive an unironic revitalization of fascism that's happening right before our eyes.

All the while, we're falling on childhood nostalgia as an escape, a distraction, while forgetting that everything our nostalgia is tied to tried to warn us, tried to teach us while we were young that the systems we're now being oppressed by were always evil, always plotting, always waiting for their moment to strike.

And unlike the foretold apocalypse of 2012, none of these tragedies are coming to pass because of some cryptic prophecy that foretold it. They're coming to pass because of recent history that we've become so disconnected from and apathetic to that we don't even recognize it repeating itself. They're coming to pass because of choices we did and didn't make, many of which weren't even our decisions to make, but of those in power who couldn't be trusted to make them.

And so we lament. For everything we could have done to stop it. For all the ways our world has ended.

#off topic #self post #tw politics #tw murder #tw vent #sorry this is a grim post but it's a grim song ok #lemme be in my feelings for a bit #twilight princess #theophany #music share #there's always still hope and always still fights to be fought and won #freedom is a sacred right that's hard-earned but never promised to be eternal #it must be protected at all costs #we have to believe that it can still be fought for and protected

On the feast of Theophany (baptism of Christ) orthodox Christians plunge in the blessed water

#theophany #orthodox

God's favorite little angel <3

---

Commissions

#angel #seraphim #theophany #original character #original art #character art #oc art #I love drawing it staring with its big ol peepers #elva #blank heart #anna fawn #she's here too lol

“Then God manifested Himself in theophany through His Light to that Dust which is called by the people of reflection (ashâb al afkâr) “Universal Hylê” (al-hayȗlâ al Kull); within the Dust was the entire world in potentiality (quwwa) and readiness (salâhiyya).” —Ibn 'Arabi, The Meccan Revelations

Commentary: "The material world has been produced by God and is an aspect of His self-manifestation. It is in this context that God is not defined as a cause in the Aristotelian or theological sense. Cause and effect can be understood to be both one and the same thing yet simultaneously they are different. It is also important to know that the sensory realm does not represent the “totality” of God’s existence and is also not God. Rather the world is a “veil”. Ibn ‘Arabi does not establish an “absolute” identity between God and this veil and at the same time this veil prevents us from seeing the face of God. This incomparability of God with the world is again based on the notion of causality and the suggestion that God is both immanent and transcendent." Muhammad Kamal, "Ibn ‘Arabi and Spinoza on God and the World"

It seems many others have also found similarities between the metaphysics of Spinoza and Ibn 'Arabi... I guess I am a Spinozist Sufi??