#mythologist

D&D is if anything a playground for brewing cocktails of legendary stories. Stories steeped in a broth of human experiences that penetrate the greater depths of our psyches. I don’t know about you, but that’s half the incentive — to try on new ways of being, seeing, and moving through the world. I’ve long had an interest in researching the East Asian aspects of D&D and took a moment during…

Leonora Carrington, UNTITLED (THE WHITE GODDESS), 1958. Oil on canvas.

The Ultimate Yogi

We think of Hanuman of the ultimate devotee - Ram bhakt. Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik says that Hanuman was the ultimate yogi too.

In Yoga, man can achieve the cosmic 'union' through four broad pathways, depending on his nature and aptitude:

1. By using one's mind to acquire true knowledge - Gyana Yoga

2. By using one's heart and emotions - Bhakti Yoga

3. By using one's physical body for dispassionate action - Karma Yoga

4. By using one's energy body for inner action - Kriya Yoga

The beauty is - one may start on any one of the above pathways. However, cosmic union or Yoga, happens when all four paths merge.

Hanuman was a Gyana Yogi. It was in the form of a gyana-yogi-brahman that he first met Sri Ram at the foothills of Mount Rishyamukh.

He was an adept Kriya Yogi, a Siddha. Before he met Sri Ram, he would spend most of his time doing Tapas.

He was the epitome of Karma Yoga, always eager to do the bidding of his Lord Sri Ram, without wanting credit or accolades.

But the world knows him best as a Bhakti Yogi - the quintessential devotee, who surrendered himself, his Gyana and Siddhis, at the feet of his Lord.

Hence, he is the Ultimate Yogi, the avataar of Adiyogi Shiva, and one whom even death cannot touch.

This rendition of Hanuman Chalisa, by Kailash Kher, is unique, in the sense that it is accompanied by an animation video explaining the forty couplets.

I enjoyed watching it. I hope you too do so.

the real, once commercially available, item, or the D&D magic item?

I mean, ideally, both. :D I know I could probably find the real one online, and I might just to have some fun at the next party I attend.

ohgreatblackbunny replied to your photo “I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of the chanukiah in Texas because Mum...”

Chag sameach Sam! Have you seen pet kippahs? The hannukah fair I went to at a friends synagogue had some dog sized ones that were cute.

I’ve definitely seen dogs and cats in kippahs! I don’t think mine would tolerate them well, though. :D 

samjohnssonvt replied to your photo “I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of the chanukiah in Texas because Mum...”

The reflection has the Shammash lit, it looks like, so either you've got a parallel universe in your window, or you've some stellar timing.

Maybe that’s why the window won’t open....

mythologist replied to your photo “I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of the chanukiah in Texas because Mum...”

dearborn is such a tiny bby! <3 she's also questioning why you brought a firebird into the house dad, the plants are nervous

She is a wee one. They’re curious about fire, which is why I tend not to burn many candles, and never leave the flame unattended. But she also knows that particular windowsill is off-limits, so it’s safer than most places to keep the candles. 

mythologian replied to your post “drgaellon replied to your post “maplerosekisses replied to your...”

I think this is a case of some meds work for some people and not others and in some case they only really work for a small group so they're largely dismissed. I've had sinus issues all my life and now I'm curious if it would help me out, I'll have to ask my Doc about it

what if because they 'miracle' money it gets taken from places where it would be least missed? (or places where money is better off being distributed to elsewhere) I headcanon that miracle money comes from like the off shore bank accounts of politicians and those obscenely rich people that can basically sway whole economies (these transactions are 'miraculously' overlooked by the auditors or accountants of said people)

Not to be a downer, but since you mention sacrifice, I might as well bring up a line that’s been worrying me a bit: in 2.07, Wednesday says of Gungnir, “Every soul she takes is a tribute to me.” Now, on the surface, Sweeney’s final moments seem like a victory over Wednesday — an EXTREMELY Pyrrhic victory, yes, but a victory nonetheless, in that he undoes in an INSTANT all the hard work that Wednesday spent the entire SEASON accomplishing. (And what an absolutely iconic note to go out on, grinning through a mouthful of your own blood and flippin’ the double birds! Legend.) And that’s all cool and badass, but because he was killed by Wednesday’s spear, I hate to think that Sweeney’s death could actually count as a “tribute” or sacrifice to Wednesday. :/

Um, to get back to your actual question, though… Personally, I don’t think Sweeney intended to die, and I don’t think he consciously sacrificed himself in order to get Gungnir. He and Shadow are a pretty equal match in a brawl, which is probably part of why Sweeney didn’t want him interfering, and it was just his trademark rotten luck that things turned out the way they did. But I do think Sweeney knew that he was almost certainly going to his death. He’s heard the banshees all day; his mind is full of all the brushes with death he’s faced over the years. He’s not, as Ibis said, thinking about tomorrow. So although killing Wednesday (and surviving the process) was always his goal, he was resolved enough to the possibility of dying that when it happened, he had enough presence of mind to improvise a way to do as much damage to Wednesday as possible in the final moments he had left.

I LOOKED UP THIS ANIME BECAUSE OF YOU PIA AND I HAVE FALLEN DEEP INTO THIS HOLE. HELP

What does your writing space look like? :)) in my bedroom because of limited space I set up a folding picnic table at the foot of my bed + a lamp so I have work space

I am very mobile with my writing space - Most of the time I end up on the couch with the recliner up and the laptop on my legs. Sometimes I’m one side of the couch, sometimes on the other. Every now and then I’ll sit cross-legged and prop the laptop at an angle against my knees. I like being where the TV is, only because I like (almost need) background noise when I’m writing. 

My other writing space is in bed (which I call the nest). I have many, many pillows, and I arrange them like... well, a nest. Get cozy, put on some music, and off I go. 

Depending on Master Pyg’s mood, I frequently have a cat for an “arm rest.”