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Reposted by Rev. Alcyone Daze

Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 22h

For October 8th’s #DIYandDie, a bit of a change of pace—I posted the text of Contagion Press’s “Queer Goetia” for TDoR last year because it unintentionally answers a question that comes up a lot for me: what are my duties to the Beloved Dead, to myself, and to a given person’s survivors?

Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · Nov 21

1. [QUEER: “strange, peculiar, eccentric.” From the German quer meaning “oblique, perverse, odd” which in turn comes from the Old High German word for “oblique.” twerh, which is derived from the root terkw, “to turn, twist, wind” as in “the labyrinth turns, twists, winds.”]

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 1d

And the second half of "Dissolution of the Elements." (I understand *why* the last three chakras are combined, but it makes me slightly itchy because I appreciate a good 1:1 ratio!)

Image is of a desert, with red-gold sand and footprints from the foreground winding to the horizon. The sky is a deep blue. The text reads as follows:

As Fire Disintegrates

* Body thermostat fails. The person’s body temperature fluctuates—there may be chills, fever, or sweat. The room temperature may be hot, but the person may feel cool. The breath may be cold.

* Eating is minimal, and when it occurs it is hard to swallow.

* Warmth withdraws from the hands and feet, moving into the vital organs. Numbness may occur.

* The mind begins to disconnect from the outside world. Set up signals of communication not involving speech.

There's a line drawing of the Solar Plexus chakra, alongside the text:
When Fire dissolves it gets absorbed into Air, moving from the Solar Plexus chakra into the Heart chakra

An image of a blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds.
Text reads:

As Air Disintegrates

* Generally loose speech; the person is unable to communicate through many words.

* Flying dreams occur.

* The breath begins to change, including air hunger as respiration increases or becomes shallow. There may be gurgling sounds as air moves through a thin layer of fluid. There may be apnea— longer spaces between the inhale and exhale.

* Use fans in the room.

* The person may see things you can’t see. They may pick things out of midair or point to the ceiling or the sky.

* As appropriate, lead the person through life-review visualization, focusing on outstanding accomplishments .

A line drawing of the heart chakra, with the text: When Air dissolves it gets absorbed into Space, moving from the Heart chakra upwards towards the Throat, Third Eye & Crown chakras.

A deep blue background with a white line-art drawing of the crown chakra. Text reads:

AS SPACE DISINTEGRATES:

The inner dissolution of sights, sounds, thoughts, emotions, sensations, and feelings. Depending on who you talk to, life energy leaves through the heart or the crown of the head.

I don't know where we go from here, but I hope that it's kind.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 1d

For October 7th's #DIYandDie, something halfway between mnemonic and meditation—the classical elements retreating from the body at death. While chakras aren't really a part of my own practice, this is a pretty helpful model for understanding what to expect at a dying person's bedside.

Cover slide reading "Dissolution of the Elements"
Transcribed by S. Euphemeo for DIY & Die, 2024

(The background is waves crashing against rocks with snowy mountains visible behind them.)

A picture of ice floating on the surface of a lake, with snowy mountains in the background.)

The text reads as follows:

The following slides articulate an understanding of the human body as being composed of earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Our very existence depends on these elements, and when they disintegrate, we die.

The following slides enumerate the external and physical signs that can be observed as each element dissolves in turn.

For readers who find it useful to think of bodily energy in terms of chakras, the corresponding chakras are listed, moving up from the base of the spine with the notion that life exits the body through the crown of the head or the heart.

(Image is a sidewalk covered in orange autumn leaves, with trees forming a canopy overhead. It is a season of brilliant decay.)

Text reads:

As Earth Disintegrates

*Loose connection with the ground. The person tires easily and is drained of normal energy.

* Experience of a loss of strength or steadiness. The person is unable to stand alone, has episodes of dizziness, and/or experiences sensations of spinning, falling, or sinking while sitting, standing, or lying down.

* May feel as if a great weight is upon the body. The person has a new tendency to drop items out of their hands.

* The mind is spacey, wandering, or agitated.

*
If anxiety occurs, place a hand on the person for connection and grounding.

(Next to a line drawing of the root chakra, text reads)
When Earth dissolves it gets absorbed into Water, moving from the Root chakra into the Sacral chakra

An image of a person in a yellow rain jacket and holding a black umbrella looking out over a body of water. There's a bench in the foreground and hills faintly visible across the water. Text reads as follows:

As Water Disintegrates

* Begin to lose control of bodily fluids. The person may be incontinent, or urinary output may decrease.

* The person may have a runny nose, watery eyes, chapped lips, and/or a dry mouth. The person may require more fluids.

* The person may experience edema and/or swelling as the body retains water.

* Can include dreams of being in or floating on bodies of water, such as the sensation of floating downstream.

* The mind becomes more confused, irritable, and anxious from loss of normal control.

(Next to a line drawing of the sacral chakra, text reads)
When Water dissolves it gets absorbed into Fire, moving from the Sacral chakra into the Solar Plexus chakra

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 2d

For October 6th's #DIYandDie, a Stephen Jenkinson quote and me highly recommending a) tracking down his book "Die Wise" and the documentary "Griefwalker," and b) going out and fighting an angel secure in two pieces of knowledge: first, that you'll get your ass kicked and second, that you'll win.

[Image is a stone cemetery angel against a black background with white diagonal stripe and neon pastel swirl motifs; very lowkey vaporwave]

Text is a quote from Stephen Jenkinson:

If you wrestle an angel, you will grow muscle. There’s no doubt of that. You will also hurt in places that you didn’t know you had. There’s no doubt of that either.

And you will lose, by the normal calculus of trying to engineer the life that you’re sure you deserve. It will not come out as you planned, wrestling angels. Your plans are usually the first casualty of the match.

But here is that great secret of it: you will be able to boast of your defeat. You will be able to stand in the wreckage of what used to be your certainty, your creed, your way of doing life’s business, and you can tell wild, true stories about how it all came to ruin.

Whatever is left standing—and there is always something left standing when you wrestle angels—is the thing that was true about you and your life all along, as faithful a companion as the Earth that will one day cradle you again.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 3d

And here's part II. (This is from 2024, and critiquing my own work I don't like that I used the term "patient" for someone who's ostensibly much closer to the reader, but I also personally dislike frequent repetition of "loved one" because it feels suffocatingly treacly over time.)

[Image of two people sitting on a dock overlooking a cityscape. Their backs are to the camera and the sky is overcast.]

04: Depression

DO:
— Accept and listen
— Allow space for the patient to cry & feel their sadness
— Encourage family and friends to cry and share their sadness... in an environment where the patient isn’t having to manage everyone else’s feelings
— Present realistic positives
— Give them peace & quiet
— Acknowledge anguish or anxiety
— Simply sit with them in silence

DON’T:
— Use hollow cheerfulness
— Suffocate and pamper the patient
— Try to snap the patient out of it
— Talk too much
— Be afraid to share your own feelings
— Make demands in conversation, activity, etc.
— Reprimand uncharacteristic or atypical behavior

[Image of a woman with her back to the camera gazing out at the sea. The sunset is muted and misty, and the surf is swirling]

05: Acceptance

DO:
— Let them be alone without letting them be lonely
— Be aware of diminishing circle of interest(s)
— Recognize increased need for sleep & quiet (as in newborn state)
— Minimize interference
— Keep visits short
— Help family understand this stage
— Use nonverbal communication
— Create a calm, peaceful atmosphere

DON’T:
— Neglect or isolate
— Associate this stage with giving up
— Give them a busy schedule
— Encourage a fight back when they can’t go on
— Talk too much
— Let visitors bother them
— Let close family feel rejected

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 3d

For October 5th, a transcription of an older CPE resource—
spiritual support do's and don'ts themed around the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief.

The images throughout this deck are black and white photos of stormy or foggy weather. The color scheme otherwise is a pine green and beige because I should probably have any Boring Corporate Visuals available.

The title of this presentation is
Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief: Caregiving Dos and Don'ts.

[Image: A white person of unknown gender is sitting on a pebbly beach and has their back to the camera. They are looking out at a body of water and the sky is overcast.]

01: Denial & Isolation

DO:
— Allow expression of denial
— Encourage patients to talk and explore their feelings
— Accept patient’s refusal of treatment
— Accept patient’s own decisions
—Be there—listen
—Relate honestly with family and encourage them to talk about details of illness, care plan, etc.

DON’T:
—Reinforce the denial
—Cut off conversation or make trite statements
—Contradict the patient
—Avoid conversation because of your own fears
—Talk too much

[Image of a cloudy sky; the storm is rolling in]

02: Anger

DO:
— Respect, understand, and accept the patient’s anger
— Recognize your own fears and/or reactions
— Leave them alone, as the patient requests, *but do return*
— Explain technicalities patiently
— Be tolerant whether the patient is behaving rationally or irrationally

DON’T:
— Answer their anger with your own irritation
— React hastily because of your own feelings
— Take the patient’s anger personally
— Leave the patient in the dark about test results or other uncertainties
— Be afraid of the patient’s anger

[Image is a white person with their back to the camera walking through a tunnel carved of some type of pale stone. They're heading towards a light.]

03: Bargaining

DO:
— Listen and reassure patient of their worth
— Give credence to and recognize the importance of the patient’s
bargaining
— Beware of some guilt association
— Help reach fruition if feasible; help the patient make amends and find where possible
— With bizarre bargaining, help the patient identify the reason(s) behind it

DON’T:
— Belittle or berate
— Be judgmental
— Panic due to your own feelings of helplessness
— Overemphasize the patient’s feelings of guilt or play psychiatrist

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 4d

For October 4th, "The End" collect from Liber XV. As someone with a lot of proselytization-flavor trauma, this perspective is so healing:
"What happens when we die?"
"Well, what do you want to happen? Because that's what I want for you, too."

[Image description: Black background, with a lit match smoking and glowing a cloud of gold and orange]

Image text is "The End" collect from Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass—

Unto them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen may there be granted the accomplishment of their true Wills;
whether they will absorption in the Infinite,
or to be united with their chosen and preferred,
or to be in contemplation,
or to be at peace,
or to achieve the labour and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another, or in any Star,
or aught else,
unto them may there be granted the accomplishment of their wills;
yea, the accomplishment of their wills.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 5d

(And our conclusion! Thank you for tuning in for today's installment of #DIYandDie.)

[White slide with dark green text; the right side of the slide has a photo of a Black person kneeling in the dirt (only their knees and part of a hand are visible) and their fingers are reaching for a head of cabbage.]

Conclusion

This is only a very short summary of The Five Invitations!

If you are accompanying the dying—whether by vocation or by necessity—this is one of my few “must-reads.”

Also, given that I’m reproducing a Metta Institute handout without their explicit permission to make this presentation, please check them out; they do good work:

* https://fiveinvitations.com/the-book/ .
* https://mettainstitute.org/ (Charmingly early-internet!)

For the Zen Caregiving Project, formerly the Zen Hospice Project:

* https://zencaregiving.org/

If podcasts are more your thing, here’s the first in a three-part series from Everyone Dies:
* https://every1dies.org/2020/episode-25-living-fully-part-1/

Full New School at Commonweal interview with Frank Ostaseski
* (Full 83 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAgw9xsxgms
* (26 minute summary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTb_ec9x42k * (10 minute summary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uRebssW-A

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 5d

(A continuation of the Five Invitations)

[White slide with forest green text and a photo of what I think is sage down at the corner but I'm not very good at IDing plants.]

Invitation 2: Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience

“In the process of healing others and ourselves we open to both our joy and fear. In the service of this healing we draw on our strength and helplessness, our wounds and passion to discover a meeting place with the other. Professional warmth doesn’t heal. It is not our expertise but the exploration of our own suffering that enables us to be of real assistance.

That’s what allows us to touch another human being’s pain with compassion instead of with fear and pity. We have to invite it all in. We can’t travel with others in territory that we haven’t explored ourselves.

It is the exploration of our own inner life that enables us to form an empathetic bridge to the other person.”

[Forest green slide with a pale green silhouette of a tree whose branches are bare for winter.]

Invitation 3: Don’t Wait

“Patience is different than waiting. When we wait,we are full of expectations. When we’re waiting, we miss what this moment has to offer. Worrying or strategizing about what the future holds for us, we miss the opportunities that are right in front of us. Waiting for
the moment of death, we miss so many moments of living.

Don’t wait. If there’s someone you love, tell them that you love them. Allow the precarious nature of this life to show you what’s most important, then enter fully.”

[White slide with dark green text. The left side of the slide has a photo of a pair of white hands holding a succulent up to the camera, inches away from where it's being planted into or recently taken-from the dirt.]

Invitation 4: Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things

“We often think of rest as something that will come when everything else is complete, like when we go on a holiday or when our work is done. We imagine that we can only find rest by changing the conditions of our life. But it is possible to discover rest right in the middle of chaos. It is experienced when we bring our full attention, without distraction, to this moment, to this activity.

This place of rest is always available. We need only turn toward it. It’s an aspect of us that’s never sick, is not born, and does not die.”

[Dark green slide with white text, right side of the slide has an aerial view of a deep forest with a trail cut through it.]

Invitation 5: Cultivate Don’t-Know Mind
“This describes a mind that’s open and receptive. A mind that’s not limited by agendas, roles, and expectations. The great Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi was fond of saying ’in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.’

From this vantage point we realize that ‘not knowing is most intimate.’ Understanding this, we stay very close to the experience allowing the situation itself to inform our actions. We listen carefully to our inner voice, sensing our urges, trusting our intuition. We learn to look with fresh eyes.”

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 5d

For October 3rd, a (multi-post) summation of "The Five Invitations," by @frankostaseski.bsky.social, an absolute must-read for anyone mortal (and whose meditation about waves passing overhead while diving is one of the most reliable cues I have for getting my thoughts to stop racing.)

[A green background with an ombre of olive to creme plants.]

The Five Invitations, by Frank Ostaseski

Part of the DIY & Die series, transcribed by S. Euphemeo 2024,
(I don't have any rights to this, but I'm also making no money off of this; it's just good wisdom I hope I can help spread.)

[A cream-colored slide with olive leaves framing the following text]

"A while back I developed five precepts as companions on
the journey of accompanying the dying. Perhaps they have relevance
in other dimensions of life and can offer some inspiration and guidance.

I think of these as five bottomless practices that can be continually
explored and deepened. They are not linear and have no value as theories or concepts. To be understood and realized, they have to be lived into and communicated through action.”

–Frank Ostaseski
Author of The Five Invitations
Founder of the Metta Institute
Original Director of the Zen Hospice Project

[A white slide with pine green bubbles of text; the bottom of the slide shows white flowers sitting in a tote bag.]

The Five Invitations

01/ Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing
02/ Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience
03/ Don’t Wait
04/ Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things
05/ Cultivate Don’t-Know Mind

[A forest green slide with a glimpse of a cabbage planted in the dirt as a border.]

Invitation 1: Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing

“In welcoming everything, we don’t have to like what’s arising.
It’s actually not our job to approve or disapprove.

It’s our task to trust, to listen, and to pay careful attention to the changing experience. At the deepest level, we are being asked to cultivate a kind of fearless receptivity.

This is a journey of continuous discovery in which we will always be entering new territory.
We have no idea how it will turn out, and it takes courage and flexibility. We find a balance. The journey is a mystery we need to live into, opening, risking, and forgiving constantly.”

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 6d

For October 2nd's #DIYandDie, a "Grief Bundle" exercise adapted from Final Passages. I rewrote this a bit; all of my items ended up sealed inside an Altoids tin and buried in a place where it would be extremely inconvenient to retrieve them but that I can visit if I want to sit with them.

[A two page spread where the background looks a bit like torn handmade paper; pale brown with visible fibers. There are also pressed plants; ferns and some kind of purple flower.]

Text begins:

Grief Bundles: A Process for Letting Go (adapted from Final Passages)

This exercise invites you to both take some time out in nature and to explore the types of grief you carry with you. Start by taking some time outside to watch and listen to the larger world around you, staying alert for natural elements—stones, moss, feathers—that remind you, in some way, of different losses you’ve experienced.

Grief is multifaceted. We mourn specific people, sure, but
what about relationships? Pets? Lost jobs? Missed opportunities? Specific abilities? Maybe you mourn the loss of a literal place
to live; maybe you mourn the sense of feeling at home.

In either case, start by looking for a base. A piece of bark, a large piece of moss, large leaves, or a favorite bandanna. All of the items you collect will be placed on (or within) this base and released back into the elements at a later time.

Next, gather items to represent each loss, such as shells, twigs, flowers, leaves, seed pods, fur, snakeskin. Don’t overthink this. If an item attracts you and you don’t know why, pick it up anyway. Choose an item to represent unknown losses, too—things that have been gone so long and buried so deeply that they live in the unconscious and surprise you when they surface.

(instructions continued on the next page)

(Instructions continue)

Find a quiet place to sit, and consider each item you’ve gathered. Observe its qualities, notice what emotions and physical sensations arise in you as you interact with it. Does it remind you of anything specific? If so, name each loss as you add it to your bundle. (If you find journaling helpful, you may find listing these concordances to be useful later.)

Take the bundle home and keep it with you for a time. Let it serve as a monument to your grief, whatever that looks like for you— Place it on your altar, if you have one. Light candles around it. Talk to it, or sing if you feel so moved. Write letters to the Beloved Dead and add them to the bundle. Improvise a divination system out of the assembled elements.

And when the time comes to let it go, let it go.

Go back into nature to release the bundle. There is no single correct way to do this; trust your gut. You can set the bark base in running water and watch it make its way downstream. You can tie a bandanna through a hagstone and sink your bundle in the sea. You can bury the bundle at the base of a favorite tree. You can build a bonfire and have your bundle burn at its core. (Make sure in that last case that all of your items are safe to burn!) In any case, give your bundle a proper send-off. Take photos of its making and unmaking. Raise a toast to it. Have a picnic.

Be kind to yourself. Some grief is always going to be with you. Name it. Give it physical space in your home. Touch it. Speak to it. And eventually let it go free.

(adapted by S. Euphemeo/A. Daze, DIYandDie 2024)

Assembling my grief bundle atop a lavender hankie. I'm not going to explain the meaning behind the items visible, but there're some wooden prayer beads, a phial of ashes, some rosemary, some seashells, and some old jewelry visible. The Altoids tin they're being assembled in is ringed with flowers from my altar.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 7d

Happy #SpookyMonth! I'm spending October rounding up some death doula resources, since so much of the work is either learned through direct practice or just knowing how to find legal resources online.

For October 1st, here's an adaptation of an exercise from "The Devil's Death" by Shiva Honey:

A black flyer with a purple border of skulls, candles, and assorted bones. Text is as follows:

ADAPTED FROM “THE DEVIL’S DEATH” BY SHIVA HONEY

DEATHBED DESIGN

MATERIALS
* SOME WAY OF DRAWING A PENTAGRAM
(CHALK, MARKERS, ALTAR CLOTH, ETC.)
* A BAG CONTAINING 25-50 SMALL OBJECTS FOR COUNTERS
(COINS, PEBBLES, SEEDS, ETC.)
* A NOTEBOOK AND FAVORITE PEN

INSTRUCTIONS
THIS EXERCISE ASKS YOU TO CONTEMPLATE YOUR IDEAL DEATH, SO BEGIN BY MENTALLY PREPARING FOR THAT EXPLORATION.

FIND A FLAT SURFACE AND SET UP YOUR PENTAGRAM, EITHER DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU OR WITH YOURSELF IN THE CENTER OF THE FIVE POINTS.
LABEL THE POINTS OF THE PENTAGRAM “SIGHT,“ “SOUND,“ “SMELL,“ “TOUCH,“ AND “TASTE.“

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

(Second page of DEATHBED DESIGN)

INSTRUCTIONS (CONTINUED)

FEEL THE WEIGHT OF THE BAG OF COUNTERS IN YOUR HANDS. IMAGINE YOURSELF AT THE TIME OF YOUR IDEAL DEATH, AND CONSIDER THE SENSATIONS YOU WOULD MOST WANT TO EXPERIENCE IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?
WHAT DO YOU HEAR?
WHAT DO YOU SMELL?
WHAT DO YOU TASTE?
WHAT DO YOU TOUCH?

EACH TIME YOU THINK OF SOMETHING THAT YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE, PLACE A COUNTER AT THE CORRESPONDING POINT OF YOUR PENTAGRAM. RECORD EACH SPECIFIC WISH IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.

(IT‘S POSSIBLE THAT YOU‘LL PLACE EQUAL VALUE ON ALL SENSES OR FIND THAT ONE OR TWO SENSES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOU!)

EACH TIME YOU THINK OF SOMETHING THAT YOU DON‘T WANT TO EXPERIENCE, TAKE A COUNTER AND CAST IT FROM YOUR PENTAGRAM. RECORD YOUR AVERSIONS AS WELL AS YOUR DESIRES.

REPEAT UNTIL YOU‘RE OUT OF COUNTERS, REVIEW YOUR NOTES, THEN DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO RESET BOTH THE PHYSICAL SPACE AND YOUR MENTAL SPACE.

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DanoGambler @danogambler.bsky.social · 1d

Daily Doodle 075 "Underwater"

We continue on the exploration of Droran's hidden horrors for this month! Why not!?

Lurking Lily. Death Lily. Glow Gobbler. This thing always has a different name depending on who you ask...

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 20h

Shesheshen reflects the universal Panicked Lesbian experience of flirting in several ways, “oh god, do I have the correct number of human mouths and thumbs right now??” chiefly among them.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 22h

For October 8th’s #DIYandDie, a bit of a change of pace—I posted the text of Contagion Press’s “Queer Goetia” for TDoR last year because it unintentionally answers a question that comes up a lot for me: what are my duties to the Beloved Dead, to myself, and to a given person’s survivors?

Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · Nov 21

1. [QUEER: “strange, peculiar, eccentric.” From the German quer meaning “oblique, perverse, odd” which in turn comes from the Old High German word for “oblique.” twerh, which is derived from the root terkw, “to turn, twist, wind” as in “the labyrinth turns, twists, winds.”]

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iylishr @iylishr.bsky.social · 1d

I need to make a sign at work that says:

WE DO NOT HAVE:
-metallic paint markers that dry instantly
-opaque white fountain pen ink
-turpentine that’s “safe” enough to drink
-opaque alcohol ink markers

Not Because We Don’t Want Them, But Because These Products Do Not Exist. Blame Physics.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 1d

Oh my god, I feel like this guy and Phoebe could get along decently; he’s got a limp and she’s got no teeth.

Phoenix Talion @phoenixtalion.bsky.social · 15d

I know this is a waste of time, but of anyone in the Bay Area can take on a cat, this ~5 month boy I trapped for TNR turned out to be way friendlier than I thought and also has a limp that does not pain him but can't be easily fixed.

An orange and white teenage cat with orange eyes, sitting in the corner of a metal crate.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 1d

And the second half of "Dissolution of the Elements." (I understand *why* the last three chakras are combined, but it makes me slightly itchy because I appreciate a good 1:1 ratio!)

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 1d

For October 7th's #DIYandDie, something halfway between mnemonic and meditation—the classical elements retreating from the body at death. While chakras aren't really a part of my own practice, this is a pretty helpful model for understanding what to expect at a dying person's bedside.

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 2d

God I miss Clockwork Couture.

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Anne Laurie @annelaurie.bsky.social · 3d

The nuns used to tell us that every pun which made our classmates laugh earned us another month in Purgatory.

("Tongue so severely in cheek as to protrude from the vulgar bodily orifice... ")

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 3d

You have to make sure the children can’t escape, of course. You can’t make an Omelas without breaking legs.

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taber @kvetch.gay · 2d

Santa Claus-ass theology

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "I want to be good because you want to prove to God so you go to that next step, right? So that's very important to me."

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Rev. Alcyone Daze @facilitatrix.bsky.social · 2d

From my own wardrobe:

* skeleton kigurumi

* black velvet wizard robes with an ominous hood, worn on low-spoons/laundry days

* a guro-themed circle skirt with screenprinted neon entrails spilling down the front

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Igneous Sigil @igneoussigil.bsky.social · 2d

Going to become a contra-Buddhist... the only way out [of Samsara] is through. We should not live to escape pain, but rather accept that pain is part of life, that it is a bearable cost for living a life of sensation and wonder and connection.

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