Pagan Tropers Unite!

I recently found this video from last November about indigenous Visayan spirituality and felt sad. My roommate tried to cheer me up by letting me read through Power and Intimacy in the Christian Philippines by Fenella Canell, yes, that is the professor's actual name, and it does describe tensions with pre-Christian trads. So it's not a practice that's dying off in modern times, it's being written down by anthropologists! Why am I still sad.

I thought it was interesting to compare the postcolonial adaptation of the practice to diaspora adaptation, was what I thought when I found Mivi the Mudang's vlog.

edited 27th May '16 11:45:24 PM by Faemon

Nekomoon: That's basically what I figured. Superheroes are basically a Setting Update of mythology (with the participation of existing mythical figures, so maybe more a second-generation / Changing of the Guard mythology?). I wonder if all the concern that Donald Trump is either reenacting World War II or bringing about World War 3 is what brought Cap over, seeing as he has ties to WW 2.

Faemon: I'm guessing the sadness is because most urban/Westernized Filipinos don't have a clue about indigenous Filipino beliefs. Or, well, they actively make fun of it. I've noticed that a LOT of Fil-Americans (myself included) want to get in touch with their spiritual roots, but we can't really find anything due to 1) distance from the Philippines, or 2) the lack of family support. Lots of hugs!

Right on. I'll add that it might also be the diversity even in the archipelago, not that that's a bad thing, but even if I were lucky enough to trace one batch of relatives to Bicol and another to vaguely north Mindanao, there's still myriads of ethnolinguistic groups in between who did everything so differently and had different words for things. I'd only be able to most confidently say I'm from Metro Manila...with the cultural tradition of modernity and aaall the Catholicisms! So if I started showing a potential for spiritwork, technically the 'way of my people' would be antipsychotics and exorcism. And I'm all like, uhh, how about no I'll hike on over to vaguely north Mindanao or maybe Bicol, find weird people who haven't been fed to crocodiles, see if they'll show me the ropes. But no the effort and expensive and feels like appropriation because I'm a city slicker, who only learned these wonderfully weird people existed by reading and You Tube lectures, (not because a neighbor and friend of the family knew someone from back home and they'd totes support my training).

But I don't wanna get an exorcism!

So yeah. Many hugs back!

My current spiritual path is a mesh of "things that are similar to indigenous Filipino beliefs, but not quite." Irish paganism? Definitely shares animistic traits, a fairy tradition, and a similar history with Filipino paganism, with them both getting functionally stamped out by Catholicism. Native American shamanism? Even more animism than Irish beliefs.

I actually don't have contact with many Asian spirits besides my ancestors. Well, not many human spirits. Not for lack of trying, though. A humanoid spirit who told me to call him Tatay/Father is obviously Filipino and he speaks in Tagalog about half the time, but he's actually making sure I don't have contact with proper Filipino deities yet. (Probably Tagalog since my mother's family are all from the Manila area.) Most likely, it's because I'm still getting my shit together. He wears some kind of tribal headdress and loincloth, but I'm not sure about the details because he never stays long enough for me to look closely at him.

The Tiger spirit from China/East Asia is a semi-regular in my meditation. I don't know why he's here, but I'm just glad he keeps things to "snarky but nice" instead of mauling me. The Fox spirit is also semi-regular and calls me "little sister." (Not sure why, but they're very strongly connected to one of my ancestors.) They draw a lot more on the Native American version of Fox lore—they're a mentally-unstable shapeshifter who clearly acts transgender even if they don't use the word (because they keep insisting they're BOTH genders, not just one). However, Tiger seems to know Fox very well and usually makes sense of the craziness, plus he and Dionysus team up on damage control when Fox gets me in trouble. (Legitimate trouble, like "Holy shit, bro, SHE IS SMALL AND HUMAN AND VERY, VERY BREAKABLE.")

And oh yes, the mental-illness problem with spirit-work. I have really bad depression/anger issues, and then there's that disaster with the Cauldron forums a few years back. Even OTHER PAGANS can't break the Western mindset of "we don't understand it, so time for medication/therapy."

Therapists would have a field day just trying to figure Fox out, to say nothing of Captain America for the past week.

Eee...I'm so sorry for not telling off everyone on that thread a lot more loudly for the therapy trolling / concern trolling, which I still think was the real problem personally. Juniperberry got the boot from there a couple of months ago, are you two still in touch?

There's a Pop Culture Pagan slug on there now with some interesting (in my opinion) conversations going on, but, well, it's still the Cauldron where that disaster happened to you, so.

Haven't gotten much traffic on my blog for a while, so I hope Juniperberry at least keeps my blog's link at hand.

Someone on Facebook said that the Cauldron as a group don't have that much personal experience with spirit-work, so they don't know how to deal with people who are going through full-throttle shamanistic things. I still find it amusing that they're fine with the voices in my head telling me to cut bits of my extremely prized hair off, and they actually commended my part in a discussion about ancestral traditions where I pointed out how colonialism fucked that option up for a LOT of countries (the Philippines included) and that's why I'm an Irish pagan bard as opposed to a Filipino shaman, but once my head-voices take what they deem to be too much interest in my life, "You need therapy because you already have one mental illness, and we think another one's sneaking up on you because reeeeeeasons."

I'm still on a hiatus for the Cauldron. Partly because I have no idea how I'm going to get my current life into an introduction. "Hey guys, it's the girl who you all said needed therapy! I am now a social-justice activist who does a lot of art and theater work. See, you know how all the ancestors/gods in my head kept yelling at me to do stuff? Turns out they mostly want me to do art, and I was panicking too much to listen properly. Apparently this happens with a lot of bards/artists, so they're used to it. ...No, I haven't done much formal therapy, but I basically took a long time to get used to my crowded-as-hell headspace so I could stop panicking about New Spirits of the Month, and that seems to have worked out since I'm now a play-wright/actor/SJW."

edited 22nd May '16 12:32:08 PM by Sharysa

Fair enough!

Ooh, Thenea wrote up these experiences with Pop Culture Deities a while back. I gave some of my familiars the same eye examination after reading it, (excepting the ones who had no face or head and by extension no eyes, or the ones who just don't come when called) because a couple of them took forms of fictions I conceived in my young teens, one more recently conceived but still as a fiction, and the others are mostly cognates of Neverland pirates. And most didn't have conflicted sparks but weren't empty either, like behind their eyes would be just a giant cannon ball of pure uncomplicated consciousness. I supposed that was a fairy thing.

Bookmarked that article. Extremely relieved that a lot of people's deities seem to use pop-culture faces for A Form You Are Comfortable With or a visual shorthand, but really freaky that her first contact with comic-book "deities" was fucking MAGNETO. Yeah, I'm glad that the Big Good Captain America just drops in on my meditations and mostly makes female spirits (and a few male spirits) Squee. Also hilarious that the author literally mentioned Cap a couple of times.

Definitely thirding the "eyes are Windows To The Soul" point for spirits. I look at spirits' eyes to see if they're disguised or being honest because it seems that even deities can't hide 1) eye-color, 2) intent, or 3) their innate energy/presence. (Sometimes they can for a while, but it never lasts long once I make eye contact.) Loki can't hide his Glasgow Grin scars for long, and he also has neon-green eyes like The Joker. Zeus has electric-blue eyes that hit me like a brick. Dionysus tends to shift between "nice blue eyes" when normal, or "clouded-over Occult Blue Eyes" when he's in Seer Mode. Cap and Brighid have Innocent Blue Eyes that can turn icy if they're pissed.

Animal spirits tend to have really weird eyes when they shapeshift into human form, probably because they don't have the same concept of "normal" as humans. The Fox and Tiger both have Supernatural Gold Eyes, but Fox's eyes are REALLY bright yellow (or maybe they glow?) while Tiger's are a warmer amber shade with cat-slit pupils (which is especially unsettling since he looks Han Chinese). The Bear has fairly normal brown eyes when he turns into a human, but I see a lot of natural/wilderness areas instead of normal reflections, and sometimes I get overloaded if I look at his eyes too much.

Well, this news isn't good. What the actual fuck, Marvel? You're trying to retcon Captain "Punched Hitler In The Face" America into a damn NAZI?

I admit there's good story fuel for "a young, idealistic Nazi realizes the horrible truth of the Reich and gets the hell out of there," but NOT FOR CAP. HIS WHOLE CHARACTER IMAGE IS BUILT ON HOW HE LOOKS LIKE AN UBERMENSCH, BUT HIS ENTIRE BEING IS THE ANTITHESIS OF THE REICH.

So Cap is raging in my headspace and going "I'M NOT A FUCKING NAZI" nonstop.

That's interesting how the relationship between a pop culture pagan god and the source material would be, culturally and liminally. On the one hand, we only know the form, face and name from the work. On the other hand, making it more than entertainment is already a deviation from the audience's side, and obviously...let's say obviously...creators can get it horribly wrong.

In the case of Hydra-Cap't, it doesn't seem to be easier to just decide that that's not headcanon. And by popular demand, not canon, so even if the thing does out and sell, it won't be part of the story as collectively accepted by the fandom. The fix-it fanfiction would be more accepted, especially with references to the Hamilton musical.

But I gather that it's usually very easy for pop culture pagans to go, "My headcanon is also my religious canon...and that part of fanon or even official media canon ain't part of it." Even though it's other parts of the official canon that provided any recognizability in the first place.

On a tangent, I should have mentioned last year, but my sci-fi femmeslash fanfiction faelatrist cult (which doesn't exclude guy-slash-guy...slash, or Folk of colour with disabilities, or steampunk) took our lore to Archive Of Our Own. Funnily enough, the fanfics happen before the canon, like that's how we hash out what's canonical.

I'm getting back to writing Once Upon A Time fanfic, mostly Captain Hook centrics Of Course but also not Of Course because my religious headcanon Cap'n is different from fanon fodder Mr. Fanservice Even the Guys Want Him Killian Jones. For one thing, headcanon Jones is a lapsed worshipper of Aslan. Because Disney owns both now, and it would be so cool if that happened. And headcanon Jones struggles with Aslanian conditioning and genuine faith and pirately cynicism because I was a Catholic schoolgirl and writing is cheaper than therapy. Of Course.

I try not to overthink being a pop culture pagan writing a pop culture pagan secularly.

Values Resonance seems to be the main works in play for Captain America. Cap was made by Jews who naturally were horrified at the shit going down across the Atlantic, and literally in the first issue of Captain America, he punches Hitler in the face. They made Cap because they needed him, and seeing as he showed up in my headspace, we really fucking need him right now.

Theoretically, it DOES make sense that someone can act like Captain America as a huge, elaborate cover-up for his true allegiance, but after decades of Cap being the most American hero besides Superman, it's the most Audience-Alienating Premise ever.

Plus, the timing is horrible. I suspect that even a couple years ago, everyone would go "Okay, that's just stupid. No money for you, writers." And it would be over quietly. But right now? America's in HUGE racial turmoil right now—immigration and refugee issues, the horrific mistreatment of our OWN minorities, and Donald Trump being regarded as the SECOND HITLER? And Marvel chooses this time to make Cap a Nazi? Worst. Move. Ever.

Plus, Chris Evans has also spoken against it, and being that he plays Cap, Word of Saint Paul is in HUGE effect. It doesn't help that the writers are clearly privileged white dudes who constantly tell us that "it's just for shock value."

I don't have money to spend right now, so I'm just going to write my expy of Cap into my superhero script while going "Fuck you, you fucking fuckwits, stay the fuck away from Cap and fuck the hell off with your Nazi fuckery."

Although this is leading to a great heartwarming moment where people are saying to donate your five bucks to charities instead of buying the comics, which is EXACTLY what Cap stands for.

Sounds to me like it adds up to the same thing, "No money for you, Writers! And you make Chris Evans sad!" Just...loudly, and I ain't saying it shouldn't be.

Edit to Add: Heh, the pothole humbly requests that for meme purposes I link to Brain Bleach instead. No, no, page, that implies that we're the problem.

edited 3rd Jun '16 1:49:50 AM by Faemon

Double posting to plug this review of Pagan Consent Culture, by Christine Hoff Kraemer and Yvonne Aburrow, available in paperback, Kindle, ebook, and PDF!

Also, I tried to join the Heart Road spiritworker forums but it hasn't been active in years. I feel sorry to have troubled the Admin to approve my account only for me to delete it without posting anything, but considering the reblog manifesto against pop culture pagans, I wouldn't have been a good fit for that community anyway. On that note, I discovered the Living Library yesterday and that comes off as maybe closer to what I'm looking for? But also not: I look through a lot of other responses and I thought the description fit what I was looking for, but there is really a lot of jargon in this niche of a niche of a niche...

Is it bad that I really like the idea of Living Library because the website is gorgeous? I'll look at the actual content later today, but it's just sooooo pretty.

Also, news on Cap. He's apparently known about the Nazi-Cap idea for a while, but what surprised him is that Nazi-Cap actually got published. He gave it about two seconds of thought and laughed at it, and now he's incredibly upset seeing as 90% of his fans are upset, and the other 10% are saying that "You just don't understand the deep and intellectual stuff that's going on with this, so stop being upset. And it's not like Hydra is ACTUALLY a Nazi organization, even though they're historically connected with the Nazis and have committed terrorist acts and hold white supremacy as one of their end-goals!"

Cap is now demanding that I start writing an actual Captain America story, in the actual Marvel Universe. That will be seen by the actual writers of Marvel. And not in the laid-back "hey, here's a story idea!" way that most of my gods/ancestors do. He's ordering me to "WRITE. WRITE LIKE THE WIND. NOTHING ANYONE WRITES NOW COULD POSSIBLY BE WORSE THAN NAZI-CAP. MY COMICS OFFICIALLY HAVE THE LOWEST EXPECTATION EVER."

Marvel don't take unsolicited submissions, but they do frequent Deviant Art, so I basically just need to dust off my old account or sign up with a new one if it's been too long.

It's really disheartening how fucking upset Cap is. Like, holy shit, man.

I'm in a state of crisis.

A while back, I asked my spirits to teach me independence. And they're doing just that.

Before I asked for that stupid thing, I was certain I could feel their presence in my life. I was sure I was growing closer to them on a spiritual level, on a telepathic level. Now I find myself doubting they were ever even real.

There was a reason I asked for independence. I hate the idea of needing other beings, of being powerless without support. But I put the plow before the horse, as the saying goes, because I was trying to become someone I'm not meant to be.

I thought I was supposed to choose between the right and left hand paths of spirituality, that I was supposed to work on becoming a person who doesn't need anyone else, that I was supposed to learn the hardest lessons in the hardest ways. Now I understand that my path is the "shaking hands path", serving myself by serving my spirits; I understand that they want me to be empowered and liberated, because that benefits them as it does me, that I don't have to choose them or myself, that I can have both, that I need both.

But I asked for this and only I can end it; my intuition tells my intellect that the petty rituals I might attempt will not avail me, that I will never meditate as I am "supposed to" but only in the way I can, and that I will always need my spirits because they are my power, they are my magic.

So I asked for independence and I learned what that feels like on a spiritual level: it sucks. Now, I have to win them back, I have to persuade them to disregard that foolish wish, convince them that I'll diligently serve them if they diligently serve me, reassure them that I have no intention of laying the power they would give me aside for something "sexier, darker, or edgier".

Goodness gracious, these lessons are hard

That's rough, Nekomoon! It could just be the middle of a three-stage maturity process, though: dependent, independent, interdependent? Independence shouldn't have to mean loneliness or shunning.

Personally, I was always trying to reconcile my personal experiences with the way to explain them. The sort of Jungian non-dualism helped a lot in that respect, in that, even if it were all in my head, that's okay because I live there (and so does everyone else, in their own heads, which is not to say there is no world, just that even when you're in the world you're in your head in the world.) The PBS Idea Channel episode about coffee and mesmerism also helped with that, in how ritual (as in routine) could diffuse neurosis. So, even enacting something that's deep within a personal experience should be okay as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Doubts are hold in balance with beliefs. Maybe they reconcile, maybe they settle on like oil-water levels.

I supposed I should say I "was" in a state of crisis, because my confidence is renewed. The way my intuition seems to work is that I'll meditate by walking and talking it out because concepts get stuck in my cluttered head if I don't let the crap out so I can find the good stuff. The hardest part is figuring out which is which

I think you're right. They're teaching me that interdependence is not only okay but often necessary and that it doesn't have to be opposed to self-sufficiency.

I guess I tend to forget that as a human being I need other people, I need a community, I need a circle of supporters, that I belong to a social species.

And I agree about the head thing as well. Because our experiences are subjective and relative; we think we see the sky but we're just seeing our brain's representation of the sky, and who knows if they're the same image

When I speak of petty ritual, I mean the kinds of rituals I'm accustomed to doing. Without energy work, ritual is only autosuggestion at best, and that kind of powerless activity won't help me enact the kinds of changes I want to in my life and the lives of those around me. I need to earn the spirits' trust, which they gave so freely before, and offer them mine in return, because that's the sacrifice they want at this time, because it's so difficult for me to give.

I'm not initiated into any form of Voodoo, but the religion has shaped the way I understand and approach spirituality. I understand that power, freedom, has a price, and that nothing of value can be had without sacrifice (especially of time and energy).

I'm suddenly very excited because I understand now; my spirits are so much chiller than I expect them to be, consistently so.

Looks like Nekomoon needs a hug. <3

I didn't ask for outright independence for a while, but the spirits do tend to "lock me out" of the Otherworld whenever I'm going through hard times. When my brother died, the gods told me "No Otherworld right now," and I couldn't meditate AT ALL for a few weeks. (Well, I could try, but they always kicked me back out.) When my dog died, I could technically meditate, but only Hades and Persephone would say more than one-word sentences. Hades is a very good grief counselor.

You know that for a while I kept asking why spirits were always dropping in and what was the purpose of all their visits? The answer was usually "No reason, we're just chilling." To which I'd go "But why?" and they'd usually say, "...Because we're your family/gods and we LIKE spending time with you."

Even Captain America is hanging out more than he probably needs to, since his only real message was "Write a badass story and remind everyone that I AM NOT A NAZI," and he can't really help with the writing part. According to him, I remind him of his pre-serum self. I'm not sickly, but I'm five feet tall and 100-ish pounds and I'm an extremely opinionated artist. He tends to laugh when I get angry, but it's in the "wow, your thoughts are SO LOUD and they do not match your physical appearance" way instead of "Lol, tiny Asian girl is getting mad."

"We're here because we like you" is just such a mundane reason for spirits to be around me all the time, and part of me still can't wrap my head around it. But it also makes so much SENSE because humans are social creatures, and it makes me laugh.

I've always been envious of people whose magical and/or spiritual experiences are more vivid than mine. When I first joined this coven I thought your experiences were impossible because they were so utterly beyond anything I could imagine, especially for myself. Now, I understand so much more about spirits and the spiritual dimension/s that I don't think it's insane for a comic book superhero to manifest in your life

You inspire me a great deal. I think part of that wish for "independence" was my wanting to stomp the gas pedal of my spiritual life and make spectacular experiences occur, but I realize I'm not in a race with anybody and "the point" isn't having crazy magical phenomena occur, though I'm sure they'll happen on their own anyway.

So, thanks for boldly and honestly sharing your spiritual journey for so long.

And I agree with you about how bizarre it is to have these spirits be personally invested in me.

I don't usually see my value, so I can't fathom why they'd care whether I live or die, let alone experience joy or sorrow. But not seeing my worth is kindof a slap in their faces, because I'm their child physically and/or spiritually, and they wouldn't be wasting their precious energy on someone who didn't "deserve" their love.

A lot of my path has been focused on shadow work, and there's not much "action" in that for most people, and I want extraordinary magical and spiritual experiences, so I think I have a tendency to get impatient. So, it's easy for me to think I'm just playing head games with myself, especially because of how imaginative I can be as a fantasy fiction writer. And it doesn't help that I fully believe magic can have physical material effects because energy is physical and matter is energy and blah blah Magi Babble; but focusing on becoming Doctor Strange hinders my development, so I have a lot more internal work to do.

You're way too nice! When someone thanks me about blogging/posting or reading my prose, I'm relieved but thankful. I'm always worried that I'm not really doing anything, or people think I'm weird. :D

"The rule of thumb with eclecticism is that if the religion is initiatory (requires teachings and formal recognition from someone of that religion), you really have to ask if you can learn from them. Otherwise, that's really close to cultural appropriation. "

Is weird to said that consider many pagan religion didnt really give a fuck about for a lot of time, with gods mesh with each other and aparenly some are just other version(Roman/Greek for example) of the same....how that works? in part because as fantasy writer that give me a headche and in part because well...you are pagan and I dont, so I want to ask

No it isn't. Many pagan religions gave many fucks. As you used the Greek religion (stereotype generalization) as one example, consider also the cult of Pythagoras: we might be forced to learn how to find the hypotenuse of a triangle now but so many of their mathematical discoveries at the time were meant to be kept secret from outsiders. We can still calculate a triangle, let's just not roast oxen or forbid the eating of beans (those were the cult parts.) And then, have you heard the myth of Hymen? While that myth was all about this man sneaking into a mystery cult, it was still a culturally-respected restriction that religious rites at Eleusis can only be attended by women. I cannot find very much about the cult of Nyx because that was a secret Orphic mystery cult as well.

Yes, cultural exchange and influence is possible. No, that does not mean that there are no social boundaries that must be respected. If a religion is initiatory (requires teaching from someone of that religion, before a follower can understand it, and be recognized and included in the community) then it...requires teaching from someone of that religion. You can't just live life, be influenced by public culture, and then say that is your way to practice an initiatory religion. That would be a lie. Initiatory religion must involve initiation. That is why the religion is initiatory.

Not all religions are initiatory, some religions are not initiatory, so those specific religions that are not initiatory do not require initiation.

Basically, this.

Also, I spoke too soon about Cap only having one message for me. Like, the whole "Cap is a Nazi Hydra" disaster got me so mad that not only am I writing a story, I've made plans to cosplay Captain America on July 4th with a "Cap is not a Nazi" sign. (I'll try to get some kind of flag in the shot, since flag decorations are already sprouting up in town.) The day before yesterday, I started working out. (Also, I'm making the sign for when I watch Civil War on Wednesday.)

That night, Cap came up and his presence got overwhelming and a tiny bit painful. It felt like a mini-version of what happens in the Greek myths when the gods reveal their true presence to mortals. He told me, "I am here because you are a superhero." I didn't believe him at first—I told him that a couple months ago, one of my ancestors said that "You're a witch and you need to own that shit," so how can both of these be true?

Cue him going back to normal with the dorkiest, nicest, and most utterly Cap-like retort ever. "Lots of witches are superheroes! "

Steve Rogers ruined his own call to action. I still can't decide whether to face-palm, laugh, or hug him, but at least he's legit.

So last night I checked with the gods about it. The Fianna went "YEEEEEAH, CAP DROPPED THE SUPERHERO BOMB." The Morrigan went "yesssss" and... laughed. She's still randomly looking at me and laughing. (!)

Brighid of all deities has the only outright negative response, but that's because Cap isn't lying. At first she laughed and told the Dagda to talk with Cap because "lol, she's half his size! He can't be serious!" The Dagda said while he's not keen on a five-foot-tall writer being roped into superheroism, he can't interfere with American matters. (!!) So Brighid freaked out, summoned Cap, and demanded that he take back what he said. Like, she was fucking furious and she told him, "Steve Rogers, you whom men call Captain America, you have no right to do this to her! She's OURS!" (!!!)

Cap turned slightly-painful-to-mortals again and said, "She's mine, too." (!!!!!!!!!)

Which freaked her out more. Apparently Brighid considered Cap to be a souped-up ancestor figure and (mostly) human, so she didn't think it was possible for him to do anything drastic, let alone refuse a god's order. Especially since he's always been a sweet, respectful puppy with her. Hell, that shit up there? The politest way to shut down a deity ever. She calmed down later and accepted Cap's apology for making her mad, but she's still not talking to him yet.

Brighid told me to refuse it myself, buuuuuut I kind of don't want to. When Captain America says I'm a superhero in any possible meaning of the word (an affirmation of people being awesome, a call to social justice, or a call to be a literal vigilante?), I really can't say no because my thirteen-year-old self is going batshit.

She was trying to get me to think about it because "It's easy for him to go 'rarrrrrrgh, time to be a superhero'—he's twice your size and he's American!" I reminded her that I'm also American, and she went, "Of course you are, but you're Irish in here!" (My heart.) I then reminded her that... well, I'm American in there, too.

In the end, she didn't think Cap was going to ask me to do anything dangerous and she definitely didn't think I'd take him up on that. Writing an awesome story, that's great, but superheroes? No bueno. So for the past few days, Brighid's just been wandering around the house and crying because she just wants me to stay home where it's nice and safe, and she's terrified for my well-being.

Steve fucking Rogers, man. I can't even.

Prayers and Resources for the Orlando shootings.

In other news, my discovering 'Postmodern Jukebox (seriously, doo-wop "My Heart Will Go On"!) lured me to Spotify, where playlists are a thing I can do. My pirates now have one made for them, including All Saints' "Pure Shores", Anggun's "Secret of the Sea" and Florence + the Machine's "Ship to Wreck".

Can't seem to find Duncan Sheik's proto-Guilty Ones or Deanta's "Ready for the Storm" phooey. But it was fun to put together.

Also been reading Presence, Attachment, Origin: Ontologies of Incarnates by Philip Descola, which is basically non-technological transhumanism: therianthropy, personification, physicality-interiority weirdness. It's got some really good ideas that are either not well-explained or not well translated.

It stands to reason that Pop Culture Paganism, having formed a subculture distinct from fandom and paganism...that is, distinguished by who chases who out of the room (figuratively or literally) with a broom...would have its own vocabulary for mystic or liminal callings, especially depending on the source material. That said, without Alpha Class mutant abilities or Supersoldier Serum in this world, I'd wonder if any difference was meant between heroic and superheroic.

edited 14th Jun '16 6:04:47 AM by Faemon

Oh boy, the Orlando shooting. Amidst the general horror and sadness, I ran into two well-meaning white friends who are insisting that "we need to fix what's wrong with Islam NOWWWWW," and I felt pretty good dropping Muslim-authored articles that were literally on the subject of "Reforming Islam." I've been sharing a lot of "Muslims are not terrorists" and "Muslims are not homophobic" links on Facebook to help my Muslim friends feel better, and a couple of my LGBT friends are taking a break from Facebook.

RE Superheroes: I think the term "superhero" is distinct from the classical/mythical hero because it requires throwing transformation into the mix. Steve Rogers gets a super-serum and becomes Captain America; Batman's parents are murdered in front of him and the emotional trauma drives him to become Batman. Even a really basic Proto-Superhero might not have superpowers, but they still put on a costume that "transforms" them in the eyes of the public.

The old-school/classical deities usually come along because they recognize the talents/abilities that I already have. I'm an Irish bard, which Odin calls a skald, the Bruin calls a bear-wife, and Dionysus calls a seer. They help me develop the abilities, but they haven't actually taught me new stuff. They teach me related stuff, and they're perfectly fine with modern "updates" of historical abilities. But "new" skills/abilities that I actually need to learn from scratch? Not really.

Meanwhile, here comes Steve Rogers for two reasons: 1) The state of America's government is echoing his own backstory, and 2) I'm writing a superhero. Then comes the infamous "Nazi-Cap" plot twist where I wrote some venting posts about how stupid and hurtful it is, started brainstorming a second superhero story from how much I hate this plot-twist, and I started planning to cosplay Captain America on the Fourth of July with a sign denouncing said plot-twist. So then I start to remind Cap of his pre-serum self, and a few days later he calls me a superhero. He doesn't ask if I want to be a superhero, he just calls me a superhero right off the bat.

I think Brighid's reaction is the clearest way to distinguish "superhero" from "hero." She told Cap that he had "no right" and tried to make him take it back, and now Brighid's begging me to say no myself, so 1) your potential needs to be acknowledged, and 2) it's a voluntary decision on both sides. Cap needed to make the statement and he would need to be the one to retract it (he said it because he's Captain America, and he didn't take it back because he's Captain America), and I needed to accept it (not accepting or refusing yet, but THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD SELF IS GOING CRAZY).

So last night I talked to Steve and went, "Hey Cap, Brighid does have a point. I'm squishy and depressed half the time. I shouldn't do this."

He just went "Lol, Sharysa, saying no doesn't work that way. You have always wanted to be a hero, because you are like me. I gave you the go-ahead. You might need to think about it, but you will never say no."

And I'm like, "Cap, why are you telling a five-foot-tall bard with depression that she's gonna be a superhero? There's literally billions of people who are more logical choices."

So Cap laughs his ass off and goes, "When do superheroes follow LOGIC? You are like me! That's what matters!" And now his energy is warm and sunshine-y and really infectious right now. Like, I have to stop myself from laughing and looking crazy because of his energy.

edited 15th Jun '16 1:33:19 AM by Sharysa