Reality disagrees with the CBCP... as usual.

As if President Aquino's halfbaked support for LGBT rights wasn't sad enough, a certain Fr Melvin Castro had to make it all worse. Here, he says: "Essentially we don't believe that same sex attracted people are discriminated upon in the Philippines. What we do not agree is for them to have marriage."

Erm, what? In what alternate universe is denying marriage equality not discrimination? In what fucked up cosmos is all the shite that gay men and women have to put up with in the Philippines not discrimination? Can somebody give this priest back his brain?

I refuse to believe that these people speak for Jesus.

Fr Melvin Castro probably left his at the door



Bastos?

Siyá: Ikáw ba, hindî ka magagalit kung lagyán ko ng titì ang picture ng tatay mo?
(Him: Wouldn't you get angry if I placed a penis in your father's picture?)

Akó: Hindî. Hindî ko namán tatay 'yan e. Walâ namáng titì sa mukhâ ang tatay ko e.
(Me: Nope. That's not my father. My father doesn't have a penis on his face.)

Sapagkát ang larawan mong pinapangit ay hindî mo na larawan... kung hindî ka talagá pangit.
(Because a defaced picture is no longer your picture... if you don't actually look that way.)

Christ or Mickey Mouse?
Neither.
This is Chrismouse.

An oath is fulfilled

To Hermes
Ever our friend and ally
A holy herm now stands before our door
Wine and honey stain the stones
As sweet gifts to our Vigilant Apotropaios
So that He may guard over our garth
Our pass and paths
Averting all evil and ill
Misfortune and mischief
From hearth and hall
And kindred
Today
And ever more.

Mia klopodo po esperanto

Saluton! Ĉi tio estas mia klopodo blogi en esperanto.

Mi estas Aldriko Lŭis, sed Aldrin estas mia angla nomo. Aldriko estas mia primara nomo; Lŭis estas la nomo de mia patro.

Mi loĝas en Imus kaj laboras en Manila. Ambaŭ estas bela urboj kaj tre maljuna. Vulgara, mi vojaĝas por du horojn. Ĝi estas tre laciga!

Verbojn uzis:

• esti - to be
• blogi - to blog
• loĝi - to live
• labori - to work
• vojaĝi - to travel
• uzi - to use

Adjektivojn uzis:

• angla - English
• primara - primary
• maljuna - old
• laciga - tired

Vi povas korekti min nun.

Conformity

Do not let the seemingly uniform world stop you from being who you are. You'd be surprised by how different we all are. Most of us just try too hard to be like everyone else (whatever that means).

If I don't get to sleep tonight, I am going to start killing bears.

Yesterday, I napped at around 2:30 in the afternoon. I woke up at around 4. I ate nothing but a piece of sausage. I worked out at around 7:30. I finished just a few minutes before 10. I ate a slab of tuna with chili, some Doritos, and dark chocolate for dessert. Then I had a glass of cold milk. I surfed the Intarnetz. I went to bed a few minutes before 1. I stared at the darkness. I stared some more. It went on for some time. I counted sheep. It wouldn’t work. It was already 1:30. I abused myself. I took a cold bath. I was cold and exhausted. I thought I could sleep. I couldn't. I stared at the darkness some more. I recited a mantra to fall asleep. I beat the mantra. I read a book. I drank some milk. I could not sleep. It was nearing 3. I shat and drank more milk. I gave up at 4. I prepared for work. Now, I’m at work. I have been awake for 24 hours now and will have to stay for another 4. I am expecting a good night’s sleep tonight or else I am going to start killing bears.

The kid makes an excellent point.

Friend: Anó 'yan? (What's that?)

Friend's 8-year old: Si Jesus na-a-attract sa apoy. (That's Jesus, getting attracted to fire.)

Friend: Anó ibig sabihin niyán? (What does that mean?)

Friend's 8-year old: Walâ. Drawing lang. Kailangan ba laging may ibig sabihin? (Nothing. It's just a drawing. Do drawings always have to mean something?)

 

Might be blogging in Esperanto from time to time

Okay, so I'm learning Esperanto. Just thought I'd leave you anglosaksoj a warning that I might blog in pure Esperanto from time to time. I believe this will help me learn faster as my lazy arse will be forced to study more frequently. Consider this self-blackmail. 

If you speak Esperanto, though, I would appreciate it if you could comment on my grammar and vocabulary if you spot anything wrong or inappropriate.

Dankon.

Blasphemy in polytheism?

The ancients had no qualms about portraying the gods in humorous or irreverent ways: that kind of freedom is one of the great joys of polytheism, and the deep and profound reverence we also show the gods is an important and powerful paradox. Our gods are not humorless tyrants. They can take a joke.

Conrad Deitrick via Polytheism

Being 'just friends'

Nothing does the greatest disservice to the sacred bond of friendship than the ubiquitous phrase "just friends". Just friends? Just friends? Are you bloody mad? Have you any idea how hard it is to maintain true friends these days? It takes a lot of love to be a true friend. And if you're not a true friend, then you're not a friend at all.

It's the cake that matters in the end, not the icing.

A romanticist approach to life is nice and sweet and pretty. But at the end of the day, we have to be realists. There's nothing more precious, more valuable than raw, unveiled truth: the basis for a bullshit-free world. That's where you should take root, not in short-lived conveniences.

Jesus doesn't need your repetitive rhetoric.

I just saw this in my News Feed today and I thought I'd tear it up for Christ's sake (you can take that both ways).

 

Greatest man in history...

Speak for yourself. Nobody ever gets to declare the greatest man in history.

...named Jesus

Hardly. More like, Yeshua bin Maryam.

...had no servants, yet they called him Master.

Master can also mean 'adept' (which he was) not just 'lord of servants' (which he also was if you consider all his yes-man disciples).

Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.

You're speaking in contemporary terms. No, he did not receive a degree from university; nobody else did. All you needed to do was to study the scriptures or the law, which all rabbis did (including Jesus).

Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.

So could a witch-doctor.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

What were their names? From where? There is a story about one king who feared his coming; he was paranoid.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

If you consider the popes and the bishops and the vast papal armies part of Jesus, then yes, he did conquer most of the known world in a span of two thousand years -- quite forcibly and with a lot of blood.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

Actually, he did: He was executed for blasphemy and sedition, grave crimes at that time for both Jews and Romans.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Okay, look: Historically, we don't even know for sure if he was ever born. Aside from the gospels we have -- which, by the way, were strategically picked from 20 or so other gospels of the time, written at least a hundred years after the supposed time of Jesus of Galilee -- we have nothing else but ambiguous archaeological clues.

Re-post if you believe.

When has believing ever trumped actual doing? Even if I did believe, it doesn't really prove anything, and it won't help the cause of christian love and hope, in the same way that posting a photograph of your favourite cartoon character helps stop child abuse. If you really love Jesus (I know I do), go out there and share that love with actual people. Make it practical and relevant instead of passing on some meme on Facebook about how lucky you are to be a "Christian".

Dweller-in-the-Centre

Hestia as I see Her:

Hestia sits at the centre. She makes Her dwelling in the hearts of all things. Her most popular and, presumably, most relevant function in human civilisation is that of a hearth goddess. She guards and protects the home and the frith of families, as well as the cores of entire communities. She is the light, warmth, and heart of domestic life. Where her cult is established, familial relations are well.

In the past, her cultus was tended solely by women, especially maidens, because of her association with purity, which in turn comes from her association with benign fire (fire being the only element that cannot be polluted by any external substance). Hers are the first and last portions of offerings, but never of meat or blood or other items that have been “polluted” by violence. Where she is disrespected – i.e. if the hearth is untended – domestic life is put at peril, as is bound to happen in any circumstance where family relations are taken for granted. Naturally, in myth, she remains unwed and ever-benevolent.

The mythos of her being the first and last-born of her god-siblings comes from her role as receiver of offerings (hearth fires were not only seen as places where dinner was prepared but also as places where prayers were uttered by family members). As a living metaphor for community building (the family being the most basic unit) and fire domestication, she is undoubtedly one of the first gods to be worshipped by Man and definitely one of the most important.

“Shining One, 

She who dwells within,

sitting at the centre,

Guardian of family and home and frith:

Beat strong and pure in the heart of our home, [1]

And burn within our hearts no less,

Shining bright for those who gather around You, [2]

Granting grace to pray before Your pure fires.”

I missed last year's Magdalene karakol; I shan't miss it this year and for ever.

Something I wrote for Her several years back.

Mayo a veinte ocho nanamán.
Simulâ na ng pagbuhos ng ulán.
Dalá ng lakambining nangantimugan.
Magdalena ang kanyáng pangalan. 

Aba at Junio na.
Nagbalik na ang Magdalena.

Maryá Magdalenang dalá ng dayuhan
Salamín ng bathalumang nakalimután.
Ngayó'y sa amin nang nanahan
Naibsán ang pagtangis sa nakaraán.

Sakáy ng alon saami'y nakaabot.
Kamí'y isukob sa iyóng salakót.

Kulóg at kidlát ang kanyáng dalá
Ulán para sa nangansaka.
Pagkaing tubo mulâ sa lupà
Siyáng biyayà ng Magdalena.

Halina at kamí'y basaín.
Dingín itóng aming dalangin.

Papuri't galák sa lakambining Maryá
Sayáw mo sa amin ay ligaya
Ulán mong buhay sa amin at paritó
At sa susong-lupang inalayan mo. 

Aba, aba! Poón naming Maryá.
Amen; siyá nawá ang wikà nilá.

Yes, I know, she's not at all like the biblical Mary Magdalene. This is pure polytheistic love.

So, the world's going to end in 7 days?

So says familyradio.com. It's disgusting, really. Every time a natural disaster comes our way, a bunch of crazies claim it's part of some ancient desert prophecy. Really now?

These doomsday-mongers should really just calmthefuckdown. All these natural "disasters" are only omens of a living and breathing world, not its final destruction. A real doomsday sign would be green rain or cold fire; but why would that even happen?

Of course, the world will surely end. It's a probability supported by science. All things die. A creature's death is the end of its world, after all. Stars and planets are no different. Our planet is no different. Our species is no different; no matter how convinced others are that we're something special. There is no preexisting reason why things live or die. We just do.

But if you think a major catastrophe happening sometime soon makes these bible-thumping crackpots right, think again. "The End of Times" is something that nature determines; not man or scripture. If you're the type to identify god with nature, then yes, god determines the expiration date. But who is privy to the mind of such a god? No one. And especially not these nutters.

Why should it even matter, anyway? Should our world begin to crumble on the 21st of May, suck it up and survive. Cease your whining; it's not about us. It wasn't about the dinosaurs when it happened to them. The world is simply reshuffling, and it's best to play her game and dance her rhythms; because that's the only thing we can do.