fannishliss | Entries tagged with episcopagan

Got my big new NaNo idea very early this year.

Which is cool. But.

What. Even.

It's the life of Inigo de Loyola, aka St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits.

O_O

Okay, I'm not even Catholic. I just learned about his life story for the first time yesterday. You could have knocked me over with a feather. THE DUDE SAW A DRAGON.

From his autobiography, A Pilgrim’s Journey, section 19: after his conversion, he saw “a form in the air near him and this form gave him much consolation because it was exceedingly beautiful … it somehow seemed to have the shape of a serpent and had many things that shone like eyes, but were not eyes. He received much delight and consolation from gazing upon this object … but when the object vanished he became disconsolate.” He saw this over 15 years and eventually decided it was the devil ):

Nobody tells you these things!!!

If you ever wondered who the heck was St Francis Xavier, the guy so many high schools are named after??? Inigo's college Roommate, i kid you not. No relation to Charles Xavier (as far as I know...)... except I guess if your last name is Xavier you feel compelled to open schools for gifted youngsters?

And why did Inigo become a mystic? Because his life as a swashbuckling cavalier was cut short by HAVING HIS LEG SHATTERED BY CANNONBALL. !!!

It's like, now I'm writing in my head the weird Matt Murdock AU where Matt is a 16th century Basque swashbuckler and Foggy is, wait for it, HIS COLLEGE ROOMMATE. Elektra guest stars as a very beautiful Serpent, but when she vanishes, he is disconsolate. LOLZ.

PS His real name was Inigo. Yes, like Inigo Montoya. Except I don't think anybody killed his father. Except if you see his father as Christ. LOLZ. "HALLO. My name is Inigo Loyola. You killed my father.* Prepare to receive an excellent Catholic school education!!"

*Much like Buffy or the Winchesters, it didn't take.

--- So sad today to see that Anthony Mackie was convicted of Driving While Impaired. D: His sentence is to take a course about it, which is at least a good start. I live in Maryland, and my church is undergoing a time of penitence and reflection right now because a Bishop killed a guy while driving and texting with a crazy blood alcohol level. My church, the Episcopal Church, is a church of love and forgiveness.... but we have to understand that "forgiving" Heather Cook of her previous DUI doesn't allow for truly loving behavior, which would have been to insist that she go through rehab and face her drinking problem, and that she have a sponsor or people in her life who care enough to keep track of her state of sobriety. And now a father and husband is dead through her out of control behavior. Alcohol kills so many people in this country. So my honest hope is that Mr Mackie take a look at himself and make sure that this conviction doesn't point to a deeper problem with alcoholism or addicted behavior in his life. Addiction clouds the judgement -- so a conviction like this offers the opportunity to be a wake up call. Thank goodness it was a simple pullover and no one was hurt. People were saying on the site where I read the article, "Call a taxi!" but I'm saying, go cold turkey for a year and re-evaluate your life. If you make that bad decision once, you stand to make it again unless you change your ways. My heartfelt Prayers rise up for Anthony Mackie and for everyone who is dealing with problems around the use of alchol or other addictive substances.

--- Lent -- my Lenten rule is to be more open about my Christianity during our season of penitence and study. I've been on LJ all these years so I =hope= you know me by now, that I strive to be a fair and loving person. Honestly, my religion is a personal rule of life and I am always eager to learn from other people who incorporate ANY religious, spiritual, or meditative practice into their lives. My inlaws run a Buddhist Retreat house. My husband is pretty much Pagan and we celebrate the Sacred Wheel of the Year in our household (married on May Day!!! :D ) I am striving at this time to incorporate prayer into my life on a deeper and more systematic level, so if anyone needs prayer for any reason, please let me know! My other task for Lent is to read the Quran. I'm behind already.... and it is long... but interesting! I'm also working on learning the Shema Yisrael in Hebrew -- a longer term task but a very beautiful and enlightening one. :D

--In other news, I've long intended to write for a Kink Bingo card. :) So I found the list of kinks... and I thought doing them in ABC order would be a good plan. So watch out for Ageplay! :D :D :D

-- Husband's Acting Career -- still not a movie star! but we're laughing pretty hard right now because of a joke one of his fellow actors made about the latest poster -- which is his FACE all solarized in the background of the entire poster. They were, "I know you have a big head but the Whole Poster???" har har har! He is playing Shylock in an Original Pronunciation production -- Shakespeare's language as they would have pronounced it in his day (ie Pirates). If you live in the DC area let me know if you are interested in seeing more Shakespeare!! :D

-- Movies: went on a rampage and watched Jupiter Jones, Lucy (again), and Under the Skin. Much to think about! Also, Dale and Tucker vs. Evil. :D

JUPITER JONES -- DO go see this before it's too late!!! ( Read more... )

Pray for your animals today! Prayer can be anything you want it to be. Reach out to the Joy in the Universe, your sense of the Divine, or just commune with your animal to show him or her your love.

Pray for the whole world of animals on this day. The Whales, wolves, sharks, tigers, elephants, and gorillas especially need our support in this world, when we are edging so many animals out. Instead of focusing on the horror stories, focus on the glory and majesty the great animals bring to our planet, and pray for them wholeheartedly.

Take action! Bless an animal today. :)

Several years ago I took my two gerbils Battu and Boris to church on St. Francis's day to be blessed. We thought they were brothers. One month later we had a nest full of tiny gerbils, and two months later we had 13 gerbils in all. Boris got her name changed to Borishka. I told my priest she had a mighty blessing! The gerbils bring us so much joy. Of course they have no idea what a blessing is, but I think just the act of blessing them matters. :)

I'm so proud of my new icon. I painted it myself as a hex for my new porch. It uses traditional Pennsylvania Dutch design elements. I'm of that ethnicity, except the West Virginia variant. :)
The Blue Eight-pointed Star signifies Hospitality.
The Green Rosette is good fortune.
The four hearts, I think of as the Four Minds of Love: Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity. I am learning about Godly Love from the Buddhist perspective of living saint, Thich Nhat Hanh. :)
The sheaves of Wheat represent abundance, also Bread and Beer, since the porch is a place of welcoming guests. :)
The border is a rainbow of brown, red, yellow and green. Usually an Amish border is plain brown, signifiying the bounds of earth, but I'm always more rainbow than that, and this has a bit of a Navaho, four directions type meaning -- so that hopefully the harmony will not just be on the porch but throughout the house, grounds, neighborhood, and near universe :)

==
Thanks so much everyone for your Fae-themed reccs yesterday. I love new music. I always lean toward music that is atmospheric, weird, gloomy, foreboding, magickal, which is why I'm a bit of a heavy metal fan. :)

Here are some old favorites from my Fae playlist:
( playlist )

So yay, my NaNo is developing a plot as a Quest. Quests work for me. :D

Drafted my Rose meets Two fic quite suddenly last night! thanks to Dev for the encouragement! :)

Several spn ficlets are percolating, yay!!

title: Ex Cathedra
author:

fannishliss
length: 4378 words
rated: pg
pairing: gen, brotherly love
warnings: Slightly AU, spoiler for 6.19; sacrilegious use of a real Cathedral in Detroit (deepest apologies)
recipient: randomfan93 for Antchristmas 2011 fic exchange -- hope you enjoy it!

Summary: Sam is first in line for the throne of Hell, but the brothers aren't going to let something like that tear them apart ever again.

( story behind the cut )

( would you care for some WHINE with your meme? )

A friend who celebates Hanukkah and Christmas asked what we celebrate, and I told him Christmas and solstice. He wanted to know what songs we sing... thinking that they old and mysterious. But they are the ones everyone knows -- Deck the Halls is a pure solstice song, it has nothing to do with Christmas. Here We come a Wassailing is a good one. The holly and the ivy is a little christianized tho. ... there are a lot of great songs on Jethro Tull's album, Songs from the Wood, that we always play for solstice. I've been a little light on the holly and greening this year -- it got cold here all of a sudden, before I got my greens up. My husband's Moravian star is in place though.

Anyone have a ficlet prompt they'd like to see filled?

Madge Carrigan, from 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas

Okay, how cool is it that this came out even at 300 words? If you know who she is, you'll get why that's so cool. :)

( TRIPLE DRABBLE !!! )

I just wanted to say how impressed I am with fandom on this day. I was just over at help_haiti, and the number of offerings and bids is SIMPLY ASTONISHING.

So many people chipped in in so many ways, which is really impressive, especially since many of us are feeling the crunch of the economy, have our heating bills due, and might need to pay off holiday credit card bills. :P

Misha's Minions have SHONE in terms of pure cash giving, raising almost $25,000 for UNICEF --if you can, stop by and give two or three bucks to help them top it over! Going from a wacky, fun-loving group of fans and their wacky, fun-loving overlord, to a serious force for good is an inspiration to all of us. This is what can happen when fans flock around a guy with a can-do attitude and a high-powered BA in social theory!

And I can't even begin to imagine the dollar amount that help_haiti is going to be raising. It's awe-inspiring to say the least, and I'm just glad to be one tiny part of it.

I can't wait for the next round, I have more things to offer!
I am still offering lightning fics for the little $3 haiti heart vgift. Prompt me!

Under the cut, I've put a Prayer for Haiti taken from my local Episcopal Diocese (Washington). If you would like to adapt it as you pray, according to your own beliefs, please do so!! ( click and pray :) )

soundtrack: Sarah McLachlan's version of the St. Francis Prayer, seen here on youtube as a Dean/Cas vid !! by kiwioflurve

YOU READ THAT RIGHT.

RUBY/GOD.

I DARE YOU TO READ AND COMMENT! :)

585 words
rated G
no spoilers beyond s4
warning: second person!!

summary. Ruby dies serving her Lord, staring into the light. What happens next?

( Read more... )

Why Angels on SPN are essentially Monsters.

Spoilers through 5.06.

( Read more... )

Hi! I’m not trying to set up an oppositional dialogue, I just needed a short and catchy title for a chunky essay.

What I’m trying to talk about here is how Supernatural uses the lore of Christianity, without actually engaging with many of the most central tenets of Christian belief. In my humble opinion, Kripke has developed an independent, fictional mythology that uses language and concepts familiar to folks because of our “Christian” ethnic background as Americans – but not using them as a religious person would, but instead as a storyteller – much like the Easter Bunny and the Christmas Tree are part of American mythology, much different from the meanings those symbols hold for religious Pagans.

This is important because many folks hear the religious terminology, which has run rampant during season four, and seem to think of it as Christian, which it really isn’t. It’s religious language being used by Kripke to tell his story of two heroic brothers, their battle of good and evil, and the personae who populate their world.

Here are some of the things I’d like to touch on:

1. “christo?”
2. How to break a deal with a demon
3. Whether someone contaminated by demon blood is Doomed( more... ) My husband, the Pagan Witchalok, first read over and beta’d this for me (this is the kind of thing we talk about ALL THE TIME), and then used his Witchalok Power of Slow, Dramatic Clapping.

susannaheanes in a fit of MISHA MISHA MISHA challenged for this.
I did my best.
1. Castiel gets his freak on with Dean
2. This is set between the mid s4 and the s5 series finale.
3. Castiel attempts to heal Dean heartbroken over Sam.
4. It all happens in a Monastery.
5. Dedicated to a Rogue Gnostic Episcopalian, because Sex should be a religious experience. \0/
6. Bonus! misappropriation of Christian scripture.

No angel!peen, no deen!peen. Sorry! This is PG rated Angelic ecstasy.
Kripke, please avert your eyes, while I mess around with the pretty, pretty men.

“from the shelter of His mind, through the window of His eyes”

( Read more... )
super bonus if you get the song the title is misquoted from!!

FIC: Dancers at the Lake
Characters: Dean, Castiel, Ruby, Sam
Setting: Future, a little more than three years past mid s4
Rating: Adult
Warnings: spiritual kink; demonic appropriation of Christian ritual.
12,000 words.
Thanks to Nicole

tnhand1022 for looking this over -- any glitches are my own.

I did put together a nice list of atmospheric songs, if you're curious how all this sounds. You might notice this fic was written by a singer!

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us...--The Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent

( Read more... )

Is anyone curious about Angels in the Bible? If so, this is the meta for you.

( crickets )

A Supernatural fic : where soul meets body :
No pairing, Post season 3.
Summary: Sam finds it’s not exactly like flipping a switch.
Disclaimer: Supernatural is owned by Kripke and the CW and not by me. Thanks to the makers of the music mentioned below for all their inspiration.

: where soul meets body :

( Read the story )

Title: Who Do You Say that I Am?
Fandom: Supernatural
Rated: Gen
Pairing: none
Characters: Sam, Dean, Ruby
Summary: Sam figures out who the demons think he is.
SPOILERS: up to and including 3.12
Disclaimer: The characters and basic premise within are property of Warner Bros, Eric Kripke, etc. No money is being made off this work of fiction. Special thanks to the actors, writers, directors, and the whole creative team who make Supernatural so great! No offense intended. Thanks as well to the whole, crazy, SPN fandom. How is SPN fandom like AC/DC? AC/DC salutes rock with a cannon, and fandom takes canon and rocks!
Notes: 7,500 words. Thanks so much to my supercool beta,

pie_andcoffee, for her comments and encouragement on this.

Who Do You Say that I Am?

( Read more... )

Hey, friends, I am thinking of three projects. Which should I do first?
1. A disquisition on Sam, Dean and giftedness.
ETA: I eventually wrote this in January 2008.

2. A poem about starlings
ETA: Here is my Poem about Starlings (12-11-07)

The way the starlings fly through the trees
Shadows darting between the autumn leaves
Landing to kick up leaves from the ground,
Turning to wheel up together at an agreed-upon signal,
They sing and dance in their hundreds

As though the trees were numerous like before,
As though the trees were still part of the vast forest,
As though the magnificent chestnuts still loomed
And the starlings had not yet arrived
To displace the tinier songbirds
Whose own forests to the south and north
Have thinned and faded,

Oh joyful starlings, your rush and dance
Through the trees, the innumerable chirps
Of your speech with one another,
Your turns and whirls are music and dance,
Are so real, you must be true primeval,

Yet this is what’s left, a tantalizing shadow
Of what’s gone, a tantalizing hint of a promise
The dance and the song will go on, that this is not
Just a flock of starlings
Passing through
one mid-Atlantic suburb.

3. A discourse on how Sexual Intercourse is central to conceptualization of identity in Veronica Mars, Season One (which we just finished watching last night ) sorry I never did this!