#sophian

(This also applies to translations about "Hell", by the way, as everytime the word "Hell" occurs in the Bible, it has a different meaning. So there's no evidence Hell is an actual location. The fiery pit aspect came from them discussing a fire pit where they threw dead bodies, the "dimension you go after you die" aspect came from drawing parallels to the Underworld of Greek beliefs because they were literally talking to Greeks and trying to use language they'd understand, etc, etc. There's no consistent "Hell" described, unlike the consistent Heaven described. Hell = dying, thats the only similarity across all translations of it. Sorry for the tangent, but it is relevant to what I was saying in my post too, about how so many mistranslated things have been turned into a "theme" in modern Christianity.)

I also added on about how Jesus is Jewish, and how Jewish cultural genders exist(ed, they still exist, but I was referring to the past and how thats relevant to Christianity).

Finally, I said that the Bible was written by humans, not God, and so it could have human biases of that time (ie; certain foods were banned because people of that location and era were getting diseases from them, mixed fabrics were banned because people of that location and era couldnt wash them efficiently by hand due to conflicting fabric needs, etc, etc.) And that the Bible isn't even one consistent book, it is a collection of texts from a variety of contexts, so it wasnt written with the intention of being a coherent book. So even if it had anti-queer sentiment, that can't be applied to the Christian beliefs as a whole, but rather the biases of the people who wrote whichever text got thrown into the mix.

With all this context given, you know what 99% of my responses on both Tumblr and Reddit were?

"Great, now tell that to the church."

"Sorry, no, Christianity is a tool of oppression."

"Christianity should be eradicated, it does nothing but harm."

"Ya'll will do anything but take accountability."

"This is a massive reach."

"So the time period excuses the harm its done?"

"Stop calling yourself a 'progressive Christian.' There is nothing progressive about Christianity."

"Queer Christians are in such deep denial. Ya'll are bootlickers. To be queer is to be untouched by Jesus. He doesn't deserve you."

"Queerness is Godlessness. Embrace it. God is an evil oppressor."

This is anti-religion, specifically Christian shaming.

SPECIAL INTEREST MENTIONED! SPECIAL INTEREST MENTIONED! AWHAAAAAAAA!

*clears throat* Anyways, would also like to add on that Yahweh himself is genderqueer. He is above our human concept of gender and, on top of that, has been referred to in the feminine multiple times (my favorite is Moses calling her a mother that nurses her children at her breast).

The banks are muddy and freezing, the rocks grind her feet down in her shoes, and there’s not a whisper of comfort to be found.

But it’s the one place where her father can’t find her, and the one place where Arthur feels like what he is: a distant memory. It’s not that she doesn’t love Arthur, because she does. She barely eats or sleeps for loving him. And nobody speaks to her, which is all well and good because she’s never had friends and she doesn’t need them now.

She doesn’t need to talk to anyone about how exhausted she is from the manic love that consumes her every waking moment and her sleeping ones, too, as visions of Arthur dance in her head nonstop. She’s perfectly fine, and everything is perfectly romantic.

Lakes are also famously romantic, which is surely why she’s drawn to it. Not at all because it gives her a few moments of peace away from other people. A place where her thoughts can run by themselves without being spoken over.

The water ripples, the leaves rustle. It’s calm. So calm.

Vivian closes her eyes and lays on the bank, uncaring of the mud on her dress. Perhaps, if she tries hard enough, she can have a nap.

Splash.

Vivian screws her eyes shut harder.

Splash. Splash splash.

She covers her ears.

PHWOOM.

Water rains down, and Vivian squeals as some undeniably evil-sounding laughter echoes through the valley.

“Yes! I roam your world once more, Emrys! Fear me, for I will avenge my father and wreak destruction upon Camel—uh. What are you doing here?”

Vivian splutters and scoffs to her feet. A girl in a hideous golden dress—is that crushed velvet? How vulgar—stands in the shallows, carrying some stupid stick and frowning at Vivian as though she’s had her afternoon ruined.

“I could ask the same of you! What kind of person rises from a lake? How indecent!”

The golden girl scowls. “I’m not a person, you fool. I’m a Sidhe.”

“Well, yes, obviously,” Vivian huffs, “I didn’t very well think you were a he.”

Golden Girl’s scowl deepens. “Are you an idiot?”

Vivian gasps dramatically. “How dare y—“

“No, seriously. Are you? I knew you humans were sheltered, but most at least seem to know what I am.”

Vivian puffs up with offense. “If anyone should know anyone here, it’s you. Or are you not aware you’re in the presence of royalty?”

Golden Girl giggle-snorts. Vivian’s mouth drops open.

“As are you,” she manages through high, twinkling laughter.

Vivian arches a brow. “Oh really.”

“Certainly.” Golden Girl steps out of the water and curtsies. “Lady Sophia Tir-Mòr of the Sidhe, at your service.”

Vivian doesn’t falter—rather, she curtsies even lower and gracefully-er. “Lady Vivian of the kingdom you are standing in.”

Sophia smiles sweetly, so much so that it’s slightly saccharine. “Is that supposed to impress me?”

“It impresses most,” she says coolly, and is about to threaten Sophia with a swift beheading when she steps closer. Her smile falls.

“Oh.” She reaches out and grips Vivian’s chin between her fingers. Vivian squeaks.

“That’s why you’re so stupid. Somebody spelled you.” Sophia tuts. “Poor thing.”

Vivian blushes furiously. “This is absurd. Unhand me!”

“I don’t think I will. In fact…” Sophia hums and raises the ugly staff to her eye-level. “I’d quite like to see the real Lady Vivian.”

She murmurs something, her eyes glow red, and Vivian’s world falls apart.

She comes to moments later lying in the mud, which, under normal circumstances, would enrage her, but something is wrong. No. Something is right. Her head doesn’t hurt. The world is clear. And Arthur…

“What an ugly twat!” She cries, slamming her palms into the bank and splattering mud everywhere.

“What a horse-faced bastard!”

She leaps to her feet, raging. “Chicken? Flowers?! What girl wants chicken and flowers?!!!” She gasps and belatedly covers her chest. “He saw me in my nightdress!”

Sophia smirks. “Lucky him.”

“He fought my father to the death, and he didn’t even have the balls to kill him! What a lily-livered codfish!!”

Sophia’s brows shoot up.

“How could I have humiliated myself so thoroughly? And on such a waste of a man?!” Vivian shouts, then stops in her tracks. “Wait. No. I’ve spent years thinking about nothing but Arthur. I’m not going to waste one more second on that addle-pated pillock.”

She turns sharply to Sophia. “What happened?”

“You were under a spell,” Sophia says. “A powerful one. But lucky for you, I’m very practiced in the art of love spells. Making and breaking.”

Vivian storms over and sticks her finger under Sophia’s chin. “You saved me. My mind is quiet. I bet I could sleep now. I could eat a proper bleeding meal!”

And with a start, she realises how tired she is, how hungry. Her entire body aches.

Sophia toys with a lock of Vivian’s hair. “You could.”

“And,” Vivian says slowly, gaze fixed on Sophia’s pink mouth, “I could have whoever I want.”

Vivian’s rather hot under the metaphorical collar, she realises. She’s been under a love spell for years, but it was just that: a love spell. No lusting required.

Vivian watches Sophia’s elegant fingers follow the lock of hair down her chest.

Oh, it’s been ages.

“Gold’s a hideous colour on you,” Vivian flirts.

Sophia grins. Her teeth are slightly pointy. “You should probably take it off me, then.”

Inspired by the Avalonion tradition and their teachings shared with me by @ihearhercalling , I decided to make my own wheel of the year based on the archetypes of Mary Magdalene. This is a work in progress but this is what I have so far.

Imbolc - The Rose Child

Mary Magdalene is seen by many as part of the Rose Lineage, along with figures like Mother Mary, Inanna, Hathor and Venus. There is scarcely any legend regarding her birth or childhood, save for an oral tradition by Sophian Gnostics, who believe her birth was as foretold and celebrated by the mystics of the time, and that she showed great wisdom and compassion from her early years, that would lead to her Calling in the priesthood. It is theorised by many that she was born into a wealthy family, or was given special education and means to provide for herself. But money nor privilege did not corrupt her heart.

Spring Equinox - The Christ-Sophia (Anointer of Wisdom)

The Magdalene is central to the Easter story that takes place around Spring. While Yeshua is the anointed (Christos), it is She who anoints him, he cannot go forward with his sacrifice without her blessing. In my path I do not believe Yeshua thought himself God incarnate, but he was seen as the King and leader for his people, and Magdalene plays the role of the bestowing his Sovereignty. She has earned this right through her own training and redemption that has earned Her the title of Christ-Sophia. Just as Persephone rises to be reunited with her mother and rejuvenates the land, the Magdalene has ridden herself of seven demons that tried to bind her soul, with the help and love of her dearest friend and partner.

Beltane - The Sacred Bride

A title I have mixed feelings on but am learning to appreciate in the context of understanding the Sovereign Goddess archetype. Whether or not the Magdalene and Yeshua were officially married, they carry the Lovers or Union symbolism, that echoes throughout time and into stories like Simon Magus and Helen, Arthur and Guinivere, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and so on. The Holy Bride is the Goddess within that our own soul seeks in union. Yeshua loved Mary more than all of his disciples, She was the first to receive the vision of his soul existing beyond death, She was the torch that lead him out from the tomb.

Christianity and some other faiths interpret the Bride as fallen humanity, a damsel in distress, awaiting completion in divine marriage, when in truth it is the Bride who is Co-Savior and Redeemer.

Midsummer - The Tower

Arguably the Magdalene's most renowned archetype. People remain split on whether her name Magdalene was simply to denote her being from the town of Magdala, or a title in itself similar to Messiah. After Yeshua's death and parting from this world, it is the Magdalene who is the first to stand among the distressed disciples. She becomes the tower of faith and wisdom to whom Yeshua wished for his church and the kingdom of Heaven to be built from. In Tarot, the Tower fittingly represents upheaval and change. No doubt this one change in particular was seen as too radical to accept for many of the early Christians, as is reflected in The Gospel of Mary when Peter and Andrew try to dismiss her. But Levi chastises them and reminds them of her importance and how Yeshus saw her worthy, who were they to question Her?

Lammas - The Holy Mother

There are a handful of legends where Mary Magdalene becomes a mother herself. The first that I was aware of was from a group of Gnostics in France who believe she had a daughter called Tamar. The more commonly known one popularised by the Da Vinci Code is that Saint Sarah is the daughter of her and Yeshua who arrived on a boat with her mother and Joseph of Arimathea. The Sophian Gnostics led by Tau Malachi believe she had a son, Michael. I personally go with the Saint Sarah legend, but honestly we may never know for certain, and it's possible that she may not have born children at all. But I do still believe she became a Mother in some way, even if it was in her role as teacher and leader of those who did believe Yeshua left his ministry to her. I believe there was a deep connection and relationship between her and Mother Mary, who is also a reflection of Heavenly Mother Sophia. The image of Mary Magdalene as a mother holding her own daughter is symbolic of the Rose Lineage continuing.

Autumn Equinox - The High Priestess

Having lived and been reborn through many experiences, Magdalene sits as High Priestess, leading but also serving her flock, imparting the wisdom she has gained through her years and her connection with the Lady Sophia. As the darkness of the year approaches, She encourages us to gather and harvest all that we have learned to prepare us for the unknown. The teachings of Yeshua live on through her, while also imparting her own teachings of introspection and shadow work. She encourages all of us to find the Rose Child within ourselves, our own Christ Consciousness. That which is hidden, She reveals.

Samhain - The Queen In Exile

While the disciples met rather gruesome deaths, Magdalene's story fades with a whimper as opposed to a bang. Facing persecution, even from those who once called her 'sister', she flees Palestine and is said to have travelled to France. There are other legends that say she went as far as Britain, to Glastonbury itself. The Magdalene is rejected and her legend and role in her male companion's story diminished. She becomes Christianity's own Woman In The Attic. They call her a prostitute and a sinner, merely another soul needing to be saved. But even in this scorned image, she remains at the forefront of Christian art and an inspiration of many who feel they are outcasts or deemed unworthy. While Mother Mary appeared in visions of beautiful white light and singing angels, the Magdalene came to those lost in shadow. She is Lilith and Eve reunited as one. She is Zoe Sophia, living wisdom, the snake whispering at our ear to consume the fruit of knowledge and regain our power.

Midwinter - The Hermit

What is it?

A new religious system & magical egregore for druidic worship and magic that draws on the cultural heritage of England, acknowledge Christianity as the primary vessel of religious heritage, engaging with the pre-christian background of the peoples who became English and the way they shaped it, and acknowledging post christian movements as ongoing expressions of the evolving spiritual landscape of people with heritage from england.

It's a system that focuses on the immanence of God in people and the natural world. One of the strongest symbols of that available in the English religious heritage is the incarnation of God in the world, especially prized by the franciscan tradition.

It engages (dual-aspect) monism, pantheism, panentheism, animism, polytheism, polycentrism and arguably monotheism as different viewpoints on a complex spiritual ecology that we are constantly engaging in.

It's also by and for queer people. Its gender politics differ from and oppose the patriachal structure of mainstream christianity and the hetero-normativity of most neopagan spirituality.

Why Polytheism?

It is useful in maintaining a balanced spiritual outlook to have different aspects of divinity represented. It is functional for magic to be able to invoke different aspects in ritual. It's also true to my experience of the divine.

Traditionally English ceremonial magicians used Kabbalah and the emanations of the tree of life for this purpose. I think Christian appropriation of Jewish mysticism ends up exacerbating the negative aspects of Christianity, especially as it often downplays the Incarnation

Cunning-folk and other folk magicians used saints and angels and we will partly continue this tradition.

Why Christianity?

Many reasons could be brought forward, for this post we will focus on one. As the primary cultural heritage of many people it has a strong spiritual resonance - for good or for ill. Also as the primary religious system for more than a thousand years there are vast riches hiding in it's overgrown garden. If you are fluent in interpreting these resources you unlock your heritage. It also has the strongest community support to access worship and devotional space in your day to day life.

Re-expressing a new Christian egregore allows for the strength of this to be brought into dialect with new ideas. There are already Many Jesuses out there with different values and expressions of spirituality. This is another. This one found me and offers strong support to queer people, nature mysticism, and poor people.

Calling on the divine in the faces of it you worship seems to help increase the potency of magical workings. While mixed pantheons can work, I at least find that a network of symbols expressed inside one set of myths expresses itself more clearly.

Why franciscan?

Franciscan theologies distinctive emphases have long included a view that the incarnation is central to the whole relationship of God and the world. They de-emphasize concepts of original sin. They focus on gospel as action in service to those harmed not as adherence to dogmatic beliefs or obedience to the church. Plus St Francis most famous writing is the deeply animistic canticle of the creatures.

[pt: actually making something end pt]

So some of y'all may have heard of the terms aubrian, lancian, and parkian. Y'all may have seen sophian and jamian and charlian too. We threw them into a blender.

How does all of this work, you may ask? It's all feelings and vibes. If you vibe with any of the terms here, feel free to use them (but we can't speak for averian, since that's not our term); there is no wrong way to be taylian and ainslian. We're assuming that extends to averian too.

All of the flags and terms presented here are based on haunted-thing's coinings.

Like the above-mentioned terms, all of ours are based on (semi-) random (gender-neutral) names.

If taylian and ainslian are recoins, we're sorry (and feel free to use them as alt names and flags!) We couldn't find words for those experiences.

Taylian [alt text: a rectangular flag with 6 equal horizontal stripes; the colors are, from top to bottom: medium-dark blue-magenta, cyan-blue, medium-light pink, medium-light yellow, desaturated blue, medium-dark blue-magenta end alt text]

Taylian: experiencing both gay/queer and hetero/straight attraction to men, women, and enben (non-binary people)

Taylian is a combo of sophian, jamian, and charlian.

Averian alt flag

Averian (coined by haunted-thing): experiencing neither queer nor straight attraction to men, women, and enben

Averian seems to be a combo of aubrian, lancian, and parkian.

Ainslian

[alt text: a rectangular flag with 6 equal horizontal stripes; the colors are, from top to bottom: medium-dark blue-magenta, cyan-blue, medium-light gray-orange, light yellow, pink, medium-dark blue-magenta end alt text]

Ainslian: experiencing gay/queer, hetero/straight, and neither queer nor hetero/straight attraction towards men, women, and enben

Ainslian is combo of aubrian, lancian, parkian, sophian, jamian, and charlian.

Cenesophgai: a combination term of orientation such as Cenelian, Sophian, And gai where one's orientation can be described by the combination of the three.

Tragedy's attack on: @emailmeurheart | Point calculation: Base attack, nongender term bonus: 8 points. | Previous points: 43. Current points: 51.

21.8.2025. // Feel free to ignore/ask to be untagged from future posts + this through comments or asks!

Taglist # @radiomogai @obscurian @rwuffles @smilepilled @catonliine @discrophy @coinfight

— by the graveyard's keeps; Maddox.

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