Spider

21, you're probably more interested in my sideblogs

[the-spiderweb]

New Pinned!

If you're here because I liked your post, I have an nsfw side blog you're probably looking for. I don't use this account, I just can't figure out how to swap my main without deactivating this account.

Hello Internet. I am plenty sure, as I still get notes, that most people who follow this page are Witches! And I'm not going to take away this resource from you, feel free to request posts or send asks related to Paganism still and I will more than happily answer you! I was Pagan and Buddhist for so long I most likely have your answer. This will not be the end of this blog being a religious reource

HOWEVER! I am converting to Judaism, a more orthodox leaning branch as well. This blog will be Judaism based if I am not directly answering a question

This is not a rebrand announcement, I am not changing anything

[lucy-harker]

WINONA RYDER as LYDIA DEETZ BEETLEJUICE (1988) dir. Tim Burton

[wiisagi-maiingan]

Would like to once again remind my fellow culturally Christian Westerners that the idea of religion and culture being distinct and separate is very much a Christian idea designed to help Christianity spread as much as possible.

The reason why many non-Christians react with hostility to the idea of religion not existing one day is because for many of us, our religions aren't separate from everything else, they're fundamental parts of our people's cultures and traditions and religion being "obsolete" would mean that our cultures and peoples are "obsolete" too.

[meanderingdownthelongroad]

i love you visibly jewish jews. i love you jews that keep tznuit. i love you jews that wear tichels or head scarves. i love you jews that wear tallit katan and who openly and proudly wear their tzitzit. i love you jews that wear kippot. i love you jews that wear chai or magen david necklaces/earrings. i love you jews that are open and proud.

as a conversion student i see you. and i want nothing more than to be just like you one day.

[the-spiderweb]

I have a question. Is Buddhism a closed practice? Or can non East Asians practice it.

Hi!

So, this is a very complicated answer as it vastly depends on which branches you're looking into. Theravada and Vajrayana branches are more commonly crossed over at least in part with Hinduism and requires a lot of learning in order to be practiced properly. Most people will just start going into it and learning that specific religion, but I would advise researching both the specific branch and Hinduism before you make any decisions, and then find a temple to work with. Mahayana, on the other hand, is the newest branch and is very open to new practitioners. This is the branch I was practicing under. While it is widely open, I would still advise talking to a local temple and doing your due research to ensure you are practicing properly. Monks are very nice and very accepting and will most likely be thrilled to talk to you, so ease your anxiety about it, they're going to be lovely unless you start spouting nonsense and/or racism and even then they will probably still be kind to you.

On top of that, there are specific practices within Buddhism that are not for everyone. Tulpa is very specifically reserved for Tibetan Monks, Chakra must be learned before it can be practiced, etc. These are practices you must be trained in and initiated into, so these practices are closed.

As for the nature of it being closed, ancestry doesn't have anything connected to it. The practices that are closed are closed because the unpracticed and uninitiated could harm themselves. And the religions are closed because of their connections to Hinduism more than anything

Overall, Buddhism, despite being fairly simple, requires a lot of research in order to practice properly and respectfully. Mahayana branches are typically open, though that does not mean you can just start practicing willy nilly. And specific practices within all branches are closed.

Thank you for your ask, and for wanting to stay respectful!

[kittykatninja321]

My hypothesis is that in like 10 years gen z is gonna have a big cult boom the way the boomers did in the 70s

[chazymandias]

It’s already happening on tik tok. There’s a fun new thing going round that’s citing common symptoms of depression and anxiety as signs you’re about to have your awakening and that you are actually an alien and the reason you don’t feel right is because you’re home sick for your own galaxy. So that’s fun.

[aleatoryw]

agreed, and i don't mean this in a "haha gen z is so dumb they're gonna join a tiktok cult lmao" i mean that conditions are perfect for the formation of cults right now.

high unemployment and a lot of underpaying, pointless jobs = people are looking for things to do with their life, a purpose

skyrocketing cost of living = most young people will not be able to live on their own, meaning some will end up in a group living situation with people interested in recruiting them

it's a time of great cultural and political upheaval, nothing feels real, people are desperate for meaning and human connection. cults promise that

there is a new wave of acceptance and understanding for ways of life outside the norm, which is great! ...except for when cult leaders tell you abusive and controlling practices are just their culture, their religion, their lifestyle, their beliefs, their tradition, and if you disrespect it you are the problem

social media influencers have already shown us how easy it is to build a cult of personality and attract people from anywhere in the world who are interested in the exact brand you are selling

spirtuality is having a boom, as are things like astrology, crystals, tarot, meditation, energy... those things aren't bad on their own but they are often used as tools of cult spaces

wellness. i think a lot of people are already in wellness cults. you can make people do a lot of things in the name of "wellness" and a big factor of maintaining a cult is keeping members in a state of decreased cognition..... like say, with regular fasting

i think people are just unaware in general of how cults function, especially because the satanic panic was a big stupid false alarm that convinced the youths that dungeons and dragons or doom were gateways to cults, which are scary evil child murdering, satan-worshipping gangs. people don't know how to spot them in real life.

[queersatanic]

[ID:  Spongebob wrestling meme format. Buff Patrick labeled "predatory cult" flexes and growls in a wrestling ring at a stern, buff Spongebob labeled "my intelligence". In his corner Mr Crabs is labeled "my education". Final panel shows Patrick and whistling Spongebob walking out hand-in-hand, both labeled "rationalizing why this isn't really a cult" /ID]

(This is actually more relevant here than standalone.) 

Our popular media has tended to portray people in cults as ignorant or as losers when that’s really not how they work. Cults don’t want dead weight they have to support; they want talented, clever, energetic people they can exploit to siphon wealth and labor out of.

Some are religious, but some are political. You find yourself moving into a house full of Maoist revolutionaries because capitalism really is that awful and ecological collapse is imminent—but for some reason, the leader of the self-crit sessions is also the person everyone else in the house is in a polyamorous relationship with, and they can’t see anyone else outside of the house without her approval. Or you need a little extra money and you get told you’d be so good at selling Keto products. You’re a natural, and after you get through these first tough months, the leg under you will be developed enough you only have to work if you wanna hit bigger goals. Etc.

Loneliness, a lack of purpose, and desperation all make you susceptible to cults no matter how smart you are. In fact, your very clever brain is also extremely capable of redirecting your thoughts away from realizing you’re being exploited and abused because, after all, you’re not some idiot, are you? 

We’ve got a ton of very clever young people fully aware that they’re going to have to suffer through decisions of the selfish dead, and they’re going to crave salvation of all different kinds because the future is going to suck, and it won’t have been their fault, and they won’t be able to do anything to stop it. 

[queersatanic]

How to spot when you're in a cult

How to recognize that you're in a cult seems so obvious and therefore unnecessary to ask that most people never even bother to do so. Conseq

[whatbigotspost]

You may be thinking still “I’m not one of those WEAK MINDED FOOLS who would join a cult” let me remind you that there’s no one type of person who joins cults. But lots of people who join cults do so when their life is in some kind of crisis and they are extremely vulnerable, seeking a place to belong or escape.

Right now, I have a place to belong and I’m happy and I am hyper vigilant about high control environments and I probably wouldn’t join a cult…but if I had recently lost my job? My partner passed away? If a handful of my friends who function as family left Texas? If my house burned down? If I began struggling with addiction? If I became very ill? Who knows what I would do if just the wrong kind of predatory group bumped into my life at just the wrong time?

All cults start with some level of reasonable introduction. The whole boiling frog metaphor…none of us are as bulletproof to social manipulation and control as we may wish we are. Our circumstances impact us greatly.

I very much think we are not only going to but are already seeing modern cults in a big way. And it’s interesting how many of them are led by women. Gwen Shamblin Lara. Teal Swan. Mother God.

[dancinbutterfly]

its 1am. I dont have the energy to get into it

Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control

BITE Model of Authoritarian ControlTM Many think of mind control as an ambiguous, mystical process that is difficult to define. Mind control

Next time around

[rairii]

Ok real talk. I read about cults and was like “oh I would never join one” and I STILL nearly joined one out of desperation and hopes they could fix my depression. Even as the alarm bells were ringing in the self help group sessions, “oh I haven’t given this a fair try”, “I have no better ideas on how to improve myself”, “Everybody is so friendly here!” And I nearly nearly went through the entirety of their induction process.

The straw that broke the camels back was that for you to continue into the next step of the induction you had to convince a certain number of people to join the self help groups. Didn’t I want them to explore and be better? Didn’t I want to share all these cathartic emotional experiences I’d just had? Didn’t I love them enough to convince them to go to this life changing event?

And I just went. “Stop trying to force more people into this group. This is suspicious as fuck. Also there is so much crazy pressure from everyone to conform”.

So I left in the middle of the induction process. And later realized yeah that’s a cult. I nearly joined a cult.

[the-spiderweb]

I very nearly fell into a cult myself. The only reason I didn't? I was actively looking for something to go wrong. If I hadn't just lost a friend group due to ableism? If I hadn't just watched a friend be manipulated? If I hadn't just lost another friend group due to their spread of misinformed bullshit about chakra? I probably would have fallen for it. I can sit here all day and tell you that I'm too aware of my surroundings to fall into a cult, but I really did narrowly avoid it. I almost fell in too deep. But I was thinking about those three recent events, and once I pulled the thread exposing that this new group I was in was also spreading misinformation about chakra, it fell apart.

So, again, cults don't have One Look. Someone joining a cult is not just one type of person.

[jewishpositivity18]

Judaism is above all a communal religion. It is so much easier to be Jewish when you surround yourself with other Jewish people. Reach out. Find your people. No matter where you are in life, it is always important to find a community where you belong.

[primordialsoundmeditation]

Fairies, Myths, and Magic

Red's Safe Haven

[spider-sideblog]

It's candle time darling

[spider-sideblog]

Chanukah Sameach to those of you who celebrate

Wish a Happy Hanukkah to your friends who celebrate if you don't

And fuck off into the sun if you are going to be rude to Jews anywhere today regardless of the reason, including Zionists.

[the-spiderweb]

Trick or treat :)

For you my dear

[anyroads]

I know I'm writing this right as shabbat is coming in and tbh I'm fine with that. I'm so tired of Jews saying that if they don't keep shabbat or practice Judaism in an orthodox way they're "bad jews" or "not observant." Um, no, that's not true. That's now how it works.

Reform Jews who use electricity on Shabbat are just as observant. Because Reform rabbis did the same work of Torah law interpretation, and came up with a different answer than orthodox Jews, but using the same process and approach to reading the text. They didn't go, "this is inconvenient so we're just not gonna do it." They said, "where orthodoxy sees electricity as something that may create a spark and therefore violates the melachot around making fire, we see it as a current, like water flowing, and just as it is permitted to use a faucet on Shabbat, so is flipping an electric switch."

If you choose to not be observant because it's not for you, that's fine. But orthodoxy is not the only way to be observant of Jewish practice. There's no line of what makes you observant and what doesn't, and that doesn't just go for Shabbat but it's the easiest example to illustrate my point. The Torah just says, "observe the Shabbat." That's it. If you look around on Friday night and go, "oh hey it's Shabbat, huh?" then tell me how that isn't observing the Shabbat? If you light candles and make kiddush and then go out to a movie, haven't you observed it? The Rabbis in the Babylonian era interpreted what Jewish practice looks like in a diaspora without the cultural/religious structure around a central temple, but that has been re-interpreted in every generation since and continues to be.

The real question is, are you making informed choices about your practice or are you just doing what works for you? Which is also fine, by the way. The thing that bothers me is when people think that only orthodox Jewish practices are "real" or legitimate. An orthodox friend of mine once started shit talking Reform Jews to me (why???) and how they aren't observant like she is. So I asked her if she tears her toilet paper on Shabbat and she said yes, of course. I pointed out that there are a lot of charedi Jews who would consider that a blatant violation of Shabbat and that, in their eyes, she wouldn't be considered shomer Shabbat. It's all a spectrum, there's no ONE right way.

My favorite Midrash is that the Temple had 13 entrances - one for each of the 12 tribes, and one for those who weren't sure which one they belonged to/didn't belong to any of them. Judaism is such an inherently pluralistic ethnoreligion, please stop buying into the brainrot bullshit that only charedim can do it correctly.

[headspace-hotel]

So I wanted to know what kind of crystal could go in a wizard staff, right? so I googled “big crystal,” as one does, and got an Etsy ad for This

And as you all know I Am currently taking a geology class, so I am probably more emotionally invested in minerals than usual. But that is...very obviously not a natural crystal.

So I did some looking around on Etsy.

Now, these shops all seem to advertise to the “witchy”/“spiritual healing” type of person. And there are a lot of them. Crystals are a Big Thing on Etsy. And ALMOST ALL of them are obviously artificially cut into the same sort of prism with a triangular pyramid top, regardless of the actual sort of crystal it is supposed to be.

Even like, fucking, obsidian. Obsidian is volcanic glass, it doesn’t form crystals at all, it is not a crystal

I’m not throwing any shade at people who are into crystals for like witchy reasons, but it really seems like if crystals are spiritually important to you, you should know what a crystal is...right...?

[headspace-hotel]

So there I am. Caught in the helpless anger and distaste of looking at geologically inaccurate Etsy crystals.

And as I scroll, I start to see items in...interesting shapes:

“Oh,” I think to myself. “Oh no.”

But it is too late. I have heard the siren’s song, singing to me of knowledge that will destroy me, but that I cannot help but seek.

These...elongated objects are almost always ambiguously described as “massage wands,” “crystal healing wands,” and other such innocuous things. The egg-shaped objects are, um, “yoni eggs.”

...Right. Okay.

Maintain the youthfulness of my sacred organ.

IT’S A SEX TOY. SAY IT. BITCH, IT’S A SEX TOY, IT’S OKAY, SERIOUSLY, THERE’S NO SHAME IN IT, SAY IT WITH PRIDE, SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST,

OKAY.

Okay. I’m good. I’m fine.

Actually, you know what, never mind. There is shame in this and I want it to be never acknowledged again.

Additionally, I am not fine.

Why the fuck are there so many of these—

At this point I stop and start googling.

Now, Selenite is the crystalline form of gypsum. It is also known as satin spar. Selenite is brittle and breaks easily, and has a Mohs hardness scale of 2.

For those unfamiliar with the Mohs hardness scale, a mineral with a hardness of 2 is soft enough that it can be easily scratched with a fingernail. It also is dissolved by moisture.

NO. DON’T PUT THAT IN YOUR BODY???? DON’T PUT THE GYPSUM, WHICH HAS A MOHS HARDNESS SCALE OF 2, IS BRITTLE AND BREAKS EASILY, AND IS WATER SOLUBLE, INSIDE YOUR LITERAL ACTUAL VAGINA??????????

I try to reassure myself with the fact that these things are probably not actually selenite, because making a dildo out of such a soft mineral in the first place would be very difficult. Having seen fluorite before, I feel pretty certain that the fluorite yoni eggs are probably actually just glass.

I google fluorite.

Okay.

Further exploring online shows me that fluorite is soluble in various strong acids.

Some guys on a forum in 2004 have strong contradictory opinions on this.

(I google the pH of the vagina.)

I don’t understand how pH works. I give up on the solubility question and google the toxicity of fluorite:

I now know at least one orifice fluorite does not go inside.

Science.

[headspace-hotel]

No, dear followers, my journey did not end here.

I have opened Pandora’s box, except Pandora’s box is filled with minerals God did not intend to be anywhere near the vagina carved into the shape of dildos. Etsy is advertising me sex toys I wish I could forget.

And vaginal steam herbs.

It seems that there is potentially a correlation between wanting to steam your vagina and wanting to put rocks in it. I know, groundbreaking discovery.

Okay, so we’re talking therapy substitute therapy substitute.

(I begin to think about how desperately we need universal health care. Maybe I just need someone, something, to blame.)

At this point, I realize that I haven’t done any googling on whether dildos made of rocks are a good idea at all. So, very tentatively, as if typing it more slowly will make it any less observed by the FBI, I google whether quartz should be used...internally.

First result that pops up:

That’s, uh. That’s reassuring.

I decide I’m incapable of unpacking this particular suitcase.

There are, of course, a small handful of articles debating the safety of rose quartz sex toys. But I’m getting the feeling that this is not a normal question to have in the first place. I close the tab with little relief.

Etsy is still enthusiastically recommending me things that hurt me psychologically.

...pleasure chalk?

How can I describe the fear that this image struck in me, reader?

Pleasure Chalk? What could that be?

Is knowing worse, or is not knowing? I scarcely have a choice:

I check in with my emotions.

Is this relief? Am I relieved that they are eating the dirt instead of fucking it? One review complains about the taste. I don’t know what they expected.

I try in vain to struggle against the tide, to return to the relatively normal side of Etsy. I begin to resent, no, hate, these deceptively aesthetically pleasing hippie shops eagerly spreading medical misinformation and things as yet unknown.

This, unlike the other “crystals” I have shown, appears to show naturally grown crystals. They are, of course, quartz crystals, and $45 comes off as extremely overpriced. I have a quartz crystal I got for a dollar at an Eastern Kentucky rock festival, about the size and quality of the ones in the photo.

Quartz is the most common mineral in the Earth’s crust. But at least this is regular levels of annoying.

Then I see this:

Well, I see the photo and the price, and I think, that looks like a regular quartz crystal. There’s no way a regular quartz crystal is $1,347.

I read the description:

I am crying. I don’t want to google any of this. I am beyond googling. I no longer desire knowledge.

THATS A QUARTZ CRYSTAL. MOTHERFUCKER THAT’S QUARTZ. SIO2, MOST COMMON MINERAL IN THE EARTH’S CRUST. ITS FUCKING QUARTZ IM—

I click on a malachite.

The malachite promises to protect me from emails. And at this, darkest hour, I want to be protected.

I have been broken. I have been lured to my demise.

Big Brother: loved.

Geology lab I’m supposed to be doing: incomplete.

God: unmerciful.

[comeupinns]

This post has everything. Price gouging quartz, eating dirt, and fucking poisonous rocks.

[skxllz]

I'm absolutely ascending at this part of the entire post

[the-haiku-bot]

I’m absolutely

ascending at this part of

the entire post

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[incidentally-its-nonsense]

If you keep some level of kashrut observance, when you or someone else you know eats "dairy out" does that mean:

I keep kosher and dairy out means strictly vegetarian (dairy means dairy)

I keep kosher and dairy out means pescetarian (fish is pareve duh)

I don't keep kosher and dairy out means strictly vegetarian (dairy means dairy)

I don't keep kosher and dairy out means pescetarian (fish is pareve duh)

I'm not Jewish/Just show me the answers

Voting ended onAug 16, 2023

[mangedog]

48hr tumblr blackout proposal

tumblr mobile has seadily become near unusable these past few updates. not just from a user experience perspective (which is important enough in itself) but also from an accessibility perspective.

examples include the new way the image viewer works (if you can call it "working"), the tumblr live button replacing the profile button, and that newly created blogs will be forced to have their main dashboard tab be the 'for you' page.

the demands of the protest would be along the lines of:

reverse the recent image viewer update

scrap the new users 'for you' page default setting

let us turn off tumblr live indefinitely

increase efforts against spam / porn bots

make reporting abuse and hate speech as easy as reporting as reporting spam

let us go nuts show nuts again... for real this time

commit to improving usability and accessibility, and listening to users!

(suggestions welcome!)

to protest against these usability issues, and inspired by the recent reddit blackout, i propose a 48 hour blackout (where you don't use tumblr at all). preferably of both mobile and web (since web has problems too) but mobile is the focus here.

I suggest the 48 hours between the 30th of June to the end of the 1st of July.

this marks the end of pride month (for the "queerest place on the internet") and the start of disability month (since accessibility is a massive issue here).

tumblr office is in San Francisco, USA, so the times and dates will be calculated using their time zone (PDT).

you can find out the times and dates for your timezone here.

i can't afford to blaze this post so please spread it around as much as possible! protests only work if significant numbers show up!

[mangedog]

tumblr rejected the blaze campaigns for this post because they know it would hurt them. let's make this an indefinite blackout - it's the best way to get results.

(so the blackout would be from June 30th onwards)

[spacelazarwolf]

Why are you jumblr assholes so fucking obsessed with atheists? My guess is you found a group of people more despised than you and decided to join in on the atheist bashing. And you can hate on with impunity because no one else cares about us. And you have this build in defense where if anyone calls you on your bullshit you can just cry “antisemitism” and shut down the discussion. Because no matter what you’re always the victims. And then you wonder why we hate you!

good morning to u too.

[kerakitty]

Gonna blow anon's mind here: lots of Jews are atheists. And Jewish atheists are often shit on by non-Jewish atheists for their Jewish identity.

Also, bro really said the quiet part loud at the end there.

[spacelazarwolf]

it’s so funny to me bc according to a lot of ex christian atheists’ definition of “atheist” i would be an atheist. but ppl like this still don’t like me bc i don’t tolerate antisemitism. almost like it was never abt atheism…..

[jewish-kulindadromeus]

imagine thinking atheists are more hated than jews. couldn't be me.

[starlight-edith]

I’ll just direct you to this post, nonny.

You really need to learn that Christianity is not every religion ever. The shit that hurt you hurts us too, yet you insist on saying that we’re the bad guys because we *checks notes* prefer not to interact with Nazis???

[the-spiderweb]

So,,, this was a long time coming!

I had felt vastly unsure and uncomfortable in my Pagan practice for a long time and a little while ago, I had made the private decision to abandon Paganism for a bit and focus on myself and connecting more to the Buddhist part of my practice, hoping that would make me more sure of myself and where I am. But what I found was that something was not quite right. I didn't really fit into Paganism the way I thought I did. So I reexamined my experience.

Never really felt like I fit into online Pagan spaces

Pagan spaces I did fit in were either ableist or banned me (seemingly over nothing) within a couple hours of joining, often with very few words, none of which were ban worthy, spoken before the ban happened

Could never connect with it for longer than a couple weeks at a time

A lot of my practice felt rehearsed and empty and simply there out of habit

I did not take joy in telling people I'm Pagan in the way I took joy in saying I'm Buddhist

So, you know, a lot of very good reasons to find myself floating away

And of course, I did find myself again as I focused on Buddhism but something still felt missing. I began researching around casually, looking for anything that called out to me. And repeatedly, a single religion was catching my attention. I felt myself drawn to this religion, and had been interested in it for a while. And eventually, I took the plunge and will not be looking back. This is where I belong, it feels like home

I am no longer Pagan or Buddhist, and I am proud to announce my choice to convert to Judaism