#religious superstitions

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Ancient Philosopher on Prayer

“Pray all you want - heaven can't hear you.

It's not going to stop the winter because you are cold, and it's not going to make the Earth smaller because you don't want to walk so far.

You pray for rain and it rains, but your prayer has nothing to do with it. Sometimes you don't pray and it rains anyway. What do you say then?

If you want to have a better life, educate yourself and think carefully about the consequences of your actions.”

-- Xun Zi, 312-230 BCE

#Xun Zi #prayer #pray #praying #prayers are useless #prayer is useless #prayers #religion #superstition #religious superstitions #religion is a mental illness

[taegularities]

some men are textbook villains fr

#tw religion? #kinda need to rant.. kinda wanna explain what's going on #some ppl are part of humanity but don't know how to be humane... like the guy i started talking to almost 2 weeks ago #liked him a lot bc he was funny sickeningly sweet mature and understanding.. until he was not #tl dr version is that we somehow drifted to the topic religion and i told him im not too religious and don't believe in superstition much #i was extremely respectful and even when he said that he does believe a lot i was like 'thats cool!! different people believe in different #things!!' and at first it was a normal convo until man went all psycho on me (after one damn week!!!) and started talking about how #id have to be religious in a relationship with him.. my dude i barely know your fav food can we not talk about relationships yet #but he says he doesn't even need a woman who cooks/cleans just someone who believes.. n im like i get it but i can't change myself like that #and then guy moves to marriage and is all 'well my entire family is religious' n my mom and sister (who's 16) would be putting pressure on #you n force you to pray etc.. and I'm like???? who can force anyone to a thing like that are u kidding #things escalate and my absolute STUPID ass tells him about my deepest fkn trauma to explain what made me abandon religion bc #life just never got better and this trauma remained for yrs... and he gets so angry that he says he wants to stop talking to me just to spam #me all day next day.. he'd keep messaging me switching between 'i still want you we shouldn't throw this away i have feelings for you' #AFTER A WEEEEEEKKKK!!! and then goes back to 'i wasted my time with you you were so unnecessary im in a bad mood bc of you' #even said 'you'll never find a guy with a trauma and mindset like this. i will find a religious girl but no one will love you like that' #and the worst thing is that he told his friends and mom about the trauma i had just to spite me.. note that he promised to never tell anyone #(and then still asked for forgiveness and for me to rethink whether we want to end this after telling me 473626x he wanted to end it) #(nothing even ever started you bitchass) #also note that his mom knows my mom n basically most of my relatives.. so i was here trembling for days fearing they'd get to know about it #mom somehow convinced her to not tell anyone bc it's important to me and very very fucking personal.. #but he harassed me all day - i wouldn't answer and he'd send 55 messages.. multiple missed calls like dude i got so fkn scared #my heart jumped whenever he texted he was so fkn aggressive and SO MEAN #'you just needed to adjust and we would've been okay' 'tell me are u gonna fkn be religious or not????' 'you ruined everything' kinda mean #i just :') it was the worst time and i don't think i've ever seen someone degrade me so much or make me feel this defective #but.. it's finally over. his mom called my mom and mine was like pls teach him some manners.. n since i couldn't and wouldn't text him back #and literally avoided whatsapp bc of him she ended it all for me and now it's hopefully done forever #anyway i saw jks gcf performance yday n him singing still with you put a genuine smile on my face.. ill stick to THAT boyfriend honestly lol #def gonna delete later #but ty for reading if u did <3

[suitmana]

father hans you are the best worst old man to me (yes more than old jochen). i love how the game tries to give him some depth without shying away from his actions

heavy discussion of the apostasy route ahead

so, yeah, he's very zealous in his religious beliefs.

but despite (or maybe because of) his strong convictions, he cares a lot for kieferberg, even if only out of moral obligation:

i mean, he has the decency to feel a little guilty about the supernatural terrors he puts the town through:

that very religious zeal, unfortunately, also makes him willing to have any of kieferberg's residents burnt at the stake for the sake of the town's "salvation". ironic, then, that in the same letter that he condemns walpurga's followers he starts with this:

his well-meaning, yet extremist religiosity is also apparent in his relationship with elise. even with the clear animosity on both sides, he was genuinely concerned for elise's soul after learning about how holle had her in the first place:

...as that concern later turns into condemnation:

yet he doesn't even word it as something he looks forward to either. just something unfortunate that needs to be done.

the way he tries to keep the peace throughout the game and is actually one of the more vocally skeptical among the townsfolk (even if part of that is to diffuse suspicion towards his own experiments) is also interesting considering how his religious beliefs enable him to do genuinely terrible things. like he believes that his god has no problems with him burning people alive but also he wants to be absolutely sure that there's an actual witch to burn in the first place. he is simultaneously the personification of everything wrong with kieferberg and one of the few (aside from gustav, leb, and freya) who are barely keeping the village together

#little goody two shoes #lgts #father hans' study #tangential but while father hans is the worst manifestation of the dangers of religious extremism #kieferberg as a whole is just tragic #even when you understand why elise wants to get out so badly #talking to the townsfolk also reveals that they're just people doing their best #given that kieferberg's a small and somewhat remote village #i also get why they would rely on superstition and their religious leader to explain or rationalize what's happening to them #when you feel so small compared to the overwhelming horror of nature that could consume you at any moment #why wouldn't you grasp for any semblance of an explanation #especially from someone like father hans #stern yes but he at least gives off an air of authority #idk i guess that's just the appeal of kieferberg's small town horror? #i love how this game takes place from elise's perspective but i can't help but sympathize with the villagers anyway #i won't overlook how harmful their mindsets are but they're not just one-dimensional bigoted set-pieces either #planning to talk more about that eventually

[ladytabletop]

Could I please request 1d10 smuggler superstitions? A new campaign has started n my character is a smuggler who moves elven slaves n other goods from one country to the other free country

A cart anointed with linden oil and grave dirt will go unhindered.

An onion added to hidden cargo is good luck.

Never speak on the first day of a journey, or else you invite suspicion and violence to walk with you.

Woe to he who does not pour an ale out to the Road God before a journey.

Tap the toe of either boot to the opposite heel thrice as you approach a checkpoint to avoid suspicion.

A handful of bitter fennel consumed after a safe delivery is necessary for safe future ventures.

A magpie spotted when the sun is directly overhead is a portent of difficulty to come.

Every person involved in a venture must wear a poppy in their lapel until it has shed every petal, or else face bad luck.

If you encounter a fellow traveler headed the same way as you, it is bad luck to share a soup with them.

Wearing green at journey's start is good luck.

all d10 lists

#d10 random list #wow it's been a while #this was hard bc like #there's just a lot of practicalities about smuggling #that make superstition seem like a matter of safety or rather just religious style faith

[zombiechoir]

I want to share this. I got off work and sat in my car. I thought of Reita and started bawling for a moment. When I looked through the window I saw a blackbird in the bushes in front of me, sitting there. A black one so it means it's a male (females are brown). I love birds and especially blackbirds so it gave me comfort. When I started the car I expected it to fly off but he didn't. He looked at the car and didn't fly away. I waved at him when I drove off and it felt so fucking nice.

#i'm not a religious person but i love superstition #reita #the gazette #loss #forever missed but never forgotten #personal

[astudyincontrasts]

wondered this during my weekly 12 hr session of "think nonstop about Penance and pray to be reincarnated as Lilah/Reader": has Penance!Silco ever considered if his vision of God during the drowning was like, a lack of oxygen or something else that had a scientific explanation?

Ok so, great question. I based Father Silco’s revelation during drowning on the DMT or Dimethyltryptamine studies mimicking the white light syndrome and euphoria of near death experiences. See here for more info. For the sake of the narrative Father Silco is either unaware of the mighty tricks your brain chemistry can play upon you at the moment of death, or else it just felt far too real for him to doubt, and he framed it in a religious context to help himself cope. But he’s an enormous bastard with a big brain, so there were more reasons than one for him to seek refuge in the priesthood.

#penance #asks #scientific fact and religious superstition are bad bedfellows

[prolibytherium]

I'll be real though I think attributing some innate moral or intellectual superiority to atheism is ridiculous and not the answer to questions about the power structures inherent in organized religion. That argument is based on a (conscious or subconscious) belief that atheism makes your outlook automatically rational and your perception of reality close to completely objective. If you think you are beyond falling for cults/magical thinking/your own internal biases etc bc of a disbelief in deities, you are wrong and also might be especially susceptible for falling for that shit

#THIS IS NOT REFERRING TO THE PREV POST just other things ive seen on here recently #Im probably considered an atheist but also maybe more like ignostic because I think #the meaning of 'god' as a philosophical concept is too abstract and subjective to fall into belief/disbelief. #and think intentional usage of myth and ritual for psychological outcomes can be helpful sometimes #Also I am not going to be convinced that any form of religious belief/superstition/ritual thinking is bad #and also the idea that it can/should be eliminated is genocidal. full stop #so thats where my bg on this is i guess #Like for example there are a whole lot of atheists who believe they are utterly rational in all things and also are like #prone to quasi-religious beliefs that theyre going to be able to upload their brains and attain digital immortality #Shit like that

[entropy-sea-system]

Ok so. My in sys partner figured this out when I told them about my avoidance of personally having spiritual or religious beliefs (I have OCD and STPD and experience magical thinking) and I hadn't thought of it before but.

One may be avoidant of personally engaging in spiritual or religious activities or beliefs if they experience magical thinking.

Magical thinking is defined as "the belief that one's ideas, thoughts, actions, words, or use of symbols can influence the course of events in the material world" (from Encyclopedia brittanica website)

So magical thinking is when you believe causations or correlations between things that aren't necessarily rooted in actual consequences or possibilities. It's associated with some neurodivergences like schizospec (includes schizotypal pd, schizoid pd, schizophrenia, etc.) and OCD although anyone may experience it at some point. For example if you think unfollowing someone led to that person breaking up with someone. Or perhaps if you think that being jealous of someone led to them being injured in an accident.

Many superstitions and some religious and/or spiritual beliefs may literally have tenets that reinforce or include magical thinking (if you think this you will be punished for sin, 'step on a crack break your mother's back', etc.) . So if you're already prone to magical thinking, some such tenets or beliefs may make it worse (or it may also not, as not everyone has the same experiences).

This doesn't mean religion or spirituality is wrong(and this post is not antitheist or supportive of being antitheist or otherwise bigoted towards religions), it just means it can be difficult for some people to engage with spirituality and/or religion as a result of experiencing magical thinking.

#neurodivergent #magical thinking #ocd #actually ocd #schizospec #actually schizospec #actually neurodivergent #just. thing where someone has an insight and Im like OH that makes so much sense actually #ritual abuse can also make one avoidant or even fearful of believing in religion or spirituality #Ive also been forced to follow the bodys parents superstitions n religious beliefs so the trauma from that is part of why I experience this #too and I also suspect its what gave me magical thinking in the first place (not to say its always due to trauma just that for me it might #be) #-Rift

[bucephaly]

Love seeing an argument on my dash where both sides are kinda stupid

#one side: animism is the belief that everything is alive which is true because of microscopic life #the other side: nature like rocks and shit arent alive and animism is dumb superstition #like. neither of yall really understand it lmao #for one yea its an umbrella term for a variety of beliefs with a similar respect for the natural world #my understanding of it is that its just about respect. its about the definition of 'person' and its about your worldview #do i think if i talk to a creek or a rock it can understand and talk back? no not really! #but i believe that the creek is an important part of the community that is this land #and it deserves the respect and care that i would afford a human neighbor #like its literally just a different worldview that isnt any less correct than western science #its defining things by relationships rather than distinctions #yes animism is often tied into spiritual beliefs. but it doesnt have to be #i never say im religious and im hesitant to say im spiritual sometimes i literally just have a worldview thats different than #the common culturally christian one. #i didnt even read the whole post im tired of this persons unnecessarily longwinded shit haha #anyway read braiding sweetgrass mwah

[pinkfey]

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION -> CORINTHA TREVELYAN

"There was about her a wildness that flashed in her eyes. She was spoiled and beautiful and easily bored."

#i need to stop posting things as soon as i'm done with them...... but i don't want to 👁️ #this looks tacky methinks but idc i’m in a DA mood !! #dragon age #edit* #ch: corintha trevelyan #yes her being born on wintersend has significance 😩 #something something toxic religious superstition and the enabling of her false prophet complex #and ofc the transition of the end of winter #metaphors symbolism etc etc :]

[butchfeygela]

im done with that post bc all the atheists have decided i believe science is a failed falsehood woth no bearing on reality bc i said a science is not an unfailable thing seperate from religion. they just have decided that religious must be the antithesis to any ~rational~ thought instead of addressing the very fucking point theyre proving (christain superiority over those deemed backwards carries over into culturally christain atheists when they refuse to acknowledge how they are in fact culturally christain)

#but no just keep moving the goal post while projecting abt refusal to address criticism to their pov #like not even looking at my words i swear i litterally mentioned islamic mathematics in the first like sentences and their main point for #me was 'have u ever heard abt non western science' #do they include things western science would view as 'religious superstition' in there understanding of science? #honestly i cant say it bwtter than her go read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer #nikanie

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"Even when life is as hard as it gets, I know I don't have to rely on religion to make it past all the struggles.

I have my own strength for that."

#religion #strength #personal strength #religious superstitions #religion is superstition #religion is a mental illness

[indizombie]

In India, belief in black magic and paranormal healing is fairly common. During the course of my reporting, I repeatedly encountered an unquestioned belief in devils, demons, ghosts, djinns and evil spirits. A recent Pew Research Centre survey on Indian religious practices revealed that nearly half of the Indian population believe in angels and spirits, 71 percent believe in purification by the Ganges, 38 percent in reincarnation, 76 percent in karma and 70 percent in fate. These beliefs are shared across religious groups, including Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.

Srishti Jaiswal, ‘Ritual Killings: How crimes of superstition thrive in the new India’, Caravan

#Caravan #Srishti Jaiswal #India #superstition #Pew Research Centre #Indian religious practices

[tabernacleheart]

A false worship is a superstitious worship. It is a worship given, not out of a sense of need nor out of any real desire, but basically because a man feels that it might be dangerous not to give it. Many a person will refuse to walk beneath a ladder; many a person will have a pleased feeling when a black cat crosses his path; many a person will pick up a pin with the idea that good luck will follow; many a person will have an uncomfortable feeling when he is one of thirteen sitting at a table. He does not believe in these superstitions, but he has the feeling that there might be something in them and he had better play safe. [Likewise,] there are many people whose religion is founded on a kind of vague fear of what might happen if they leave God out of the reckoning. But real religion is founded not on fear but on the love of God and gratitude for what God has done. Too much religion is a kind of superstitious ritual to avert the possible wrath of the unpredictable gods.

William Barclay

#william barclay #a vital warning #true religion #Religion #Superstition #Worship #False worship #I am tragically guilty of this #Religious terror

[prokaryotics]

i don’t think i can cut it as a horror girlie the exorcist legiterally scares the fucking daylights out of me

#i rewatched it recently bc i was like okay surely i am older now and it won’t be as scary to me #as when i first watched it #WRONG #blaming going to a catholic school and inheriting my mother’s religious superstition #lou.txt

[seveneyesoup]

underrated character type: the selective skeptic. someone who 100% believes that ghosts are real, but demons? bullshit. someone who fully believes that their friend was abducted by aliens, but who doesn’t believe in any kind of afterlife. someone who believes in bigfoot but doesn’t believe esp is possible. the more adamantly they believe and the more vehemently they deny other superstitions the better

#it’s just. one it’s funny to have someone be a die hard believer in xyz superstition and think that often-lumped-in-with-that beliefs are #*obviously* bullshit #and two it just. lends itself to better characters than the 100% nonbeliever or the guy who believes it all #maybe the bigfoot believer/esp denier believes that bigfoot is another hominid that evolved in earth; but that esp is people getting lucky #sometimes people have suspicions sometimes they’re right. and the times they’re right get press and the times they’re wrong don’t type thing #ghost believer/demon denier believes in the human consciousness lingering after death but sees no reason to believe in nonhuman spirits #alien believer/afterlife denier believes that intelligent life must exist but that there’s not evidence to suggest life after death #and justifies that sufficiently intelligent life to get to earth would be intelligent enough to hide itself from being seen #and all of those like; suggest something about the character beyond the usual skeptic/believer tropes #anyway if you reblog this post and talk shit about peoples religions or religious people i’m blocking you #this post is about ‘conspiracy theory’ folklore and the supernatural as it exists in pop culture #so i don’t wanna hear anyone saying that following a religion and not others is an example of this