/jp/ - Otaku Culture

You are not the first and you will not be the last person to do something like this. Your intuition is correct and you most certainly do not need to medicate yourself. You are probably in the early stages of a legitimate spiritual awakening.

I'm sure you are quite aware of the role that foxes play in Japanese mythology. You are also aware of the Tengu. This is a very good starting point.

But here is something you most likely do not know: I just recently listened to an episode of The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast where some dude called Jason Atomic told that he had a spiritual awakening while staying in Japan. It was very much related to crows, and he has been able to some degree communicate with crows ever since. It makes sense - they are one of the more inteligent individual species on this planet along with us. Spiritual communication crosses the species boundary. You are going to make some very good and useful friends at this rate.

Next, you will need to get some level of understanding on what your local traditions say about foxes and crows. You will also need to learn some rudimentary protection witchcraft. When people start to wake up they will draw in all kinds of entities and not all of them are nice or wanted. They will mostly be curious locals, but some might be unruly. Local methods work to ward off the locals.

I have found sprinkling salt to the corners of my apartement is mostly sufficient. Cultivating good relationship with the local spirits also protects you as they will look after you.

There are also two other skills you will need to start learning, and both are related to meditation. You will need to start to build up a meditation regimen. Even 5 minutes daily untill you can do 10 consistently is good. This is for two reasons at this point: First is to cultivate the ability to let go off things, and the understanding of the texture of your own mind.

First is needed to deal with any potentially really weird or unsettling shit that might go down. Accept the experience, accept it's real and move on. Don't get stuck in being spooked.

Second is to recognize when things that are external to you might try to pop into your mind. This is scarier than it sounds. Spirits mainly communicate directly in the mental space, and Miss Shaimeimaru might want to make a visit soon. When that happens, you probably want to know when to pick up the phone so she doesn't have to get too forceful. Besides meditation, exposing yourself to boredom is a good way to train this skill. Getting distracted is the point - you essentially just need to train yourself to recognize the "normal" contents of your mindstream. These are probably a lot of porn, food and anger at this point.

I wish you best of luck in your journey and I am more than happy to answer any questions that might arise.

I think you just had some pretty cool dreams about a dead bird you saw prior and it stuck in your subconscious, dude. Respect for you taking care of the birds though.

These type of posts just keep on happening

>>47587201
/x/ has fallen to faggots, /jp/ is the real higher awakening hotspot board

>>47587201
Sign of the times ahead, all the hus are picking up their anons and earmarking them before whats to come

>>47586518
If I wasn’t right in the middle of my own divination shenanigans I’d have something more to say with this.
Didn’t even see the thread pop up until just before I meditated.
For now though I’ll also just say it’s refreshing to see such empathy expressed on your part through those various interactions. I have my own potentially biased thoughts towards the Tengu though, hopefully you aren’t entangled in anything terribly serious and your dedications pay off nicely.
>>47587201
The real question is if they will ever stop from keep happening.
Jokes aside, I’ve been trying not to think too hard along the lines of >>47587239 but if others have still been fairly serious with all this I could understand the perspective.

>>47586729
>I am more than happy to answer any questions that might arise.
Not OP but since I've participated in some of the previous threads and do hope you don't fall down the path some Anons have of bullshitting just for recognition on a Mongolian basketweaving forum. You haven't become a namefag yet so that gives me hope at least.

>>47587443
>namefag
Seeing an anon bully Eilienen off the board was the funniest shit.

I ain't reading all that
I'm happy for u tho
Or sorry that happened

>>47586811
It would be quite vain for me to think this couldn't be the case. But not dwelling on this before passing judgement, even if just a little, would be ignorant, I think.
>>47586729
>a lot of porn, food and anger
Sadly yes, but I would replace 'food' with 'stories'. I used to write essays, short stories and poems; nowadays less, because I became more critical, but not more skillful, so I have many ideas floating on my mind that I can't put on paper.
>answer any questions that might arise
Is there any important text for shugendo that I should read?

>>47587235
Anon this is/x/ tier garbage, what do you mean

>>47587235
The "otaku" are liminal, marginal people who are often way more open to the numinous than regular people. These type of people draw in supernatural phenomena. Touhou is way more spiritually charged than average otaku oriented franchises are. It's no wonder this keeps on happening here.
>>47587411
>The real question is if they will ever stop from keep happening.
We appear to be living in a time of heightened spirit activity. It might have something to do with the solar storms, but it's also a much longer term trend. As for /jp/ in particular, good question. In my experience resolving a liminal state also "resolves" the supernatural experience to some degree.
>>47587443
>bullshitting
As unbelievable my experiences might be, I assure they are most real. They have also toned down considerably after I was told that I have "graduated" and would "walk this path slowly but surely".

If things had continued to be as crazy as they were around midsummer it would have made for lots of interesting stories, but ultimately I would have not been able to sustain things like having a job or possibly even looking after myself. Our society has very few places for people who are permanently halfway stuck in the spirit world.

>recognition
I don't want recognition for myself. I want recognition for the reality of the spirits of Gensokyo. And spirits in general. And the fact that people can interact with them. I want people to understand that the materialist view of the world is extemely insufficient. People suffer in so many ways when they don't recognize this.

Of course I have had egotistic moments where I have for five minutes felt something like "I WILL BECOME THE PROPHET OF A NEW RELIGION". Contact with the numinous can cause an insane upswelling of the ego. Learning to let go of things is very important for this reason too.
>>47587697
>stories
>nowadays less
>many ideas floating on my mind that I can't put on paper
I see. Well, two points. First, the spirits are really drawn to creative people. Secondly, you are stuck in a liminal state of writing and not writing which is also attractive to them. I really don't understand what it is with liminality and them but it is what it is.
>Is there any important text for shugendo that I should read?
I don't know much about Shugendo, it has not been an area of focus for me. I did binge on Japanese history and religion and the sources mostly treated it as a footnote. The Wikipedia article on Shugendo has so far been literally the most comprehensive presentation of it that I've stumbled upon so far. Considering it draws from esoteric Buddhism, they probably use written material from there which simply might not be avaiable for outsiders.

Interesting how OP's English grammar skills improved so significantly going from >>47586518 to >>47589041. Almost as if the latter post isn't actually OP…

>>47587235
Only so long as druggy faggots know their place (in the trash).

>>47589142
I assure you we are different people, but since you have chosen to be so cynical about this I don't think anything will change your mind.

OP choosing that particular image for the first post does feel like an attempt to get my attention. If that was his goal he was obviously succesfull.
>>47589149
I would argue for being sober on a general level, but especially if or when things start to happen. Even being slightly drunk becomes really uncomfortable. Anything else probably just blows the door to your subconsciouss completely off the hinges and it's probably not gonna end well.

>>47589142
The filename alone should've been enough to convince you that the OP isn't the Big Four Kami poster.
>>47589041
>the reality of the spirits of Gensokyo
Perhaps your first step then is going to necessarily be to acknowledge that any real world equivalent to Gensokyo is similarly going to be a relatively small pond.
>I assure they are most real.
You don't have to convince me, I've been through enough myself to say your experiences that I've read aren't even the strangest things out there.

>>47586518
You immediately know that you're in for a wild supernatural ride whenever Okina-sama shows up in the thumbnail. She's truly awesome, isn't she?
Anyway, I hope that you're all still doing well. Any bizarre experiences during the blue supermoon that you may want to share?
I'm currently reading Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce (2009 Revised Edition). I strongly recommend checking out the core skills and strange phenomena section even if you aren't interested in AP per se.
>>47586729
>There are also two other skills you will need to start learning, and both are related to meditation. You will need to start to build up a meditation regimen.
>First is needed to deal with any potentially really weird or unsettling shit that might go down. Accept the experience, accept it's real and move on. Don't get stuck in being spooked.
I can't stress this enough. I would likely have freaked out of I had experienced any of these vibrational shenanigans without previously reading and preparing myself for them. At some point, you simply take them in your stride and carry on with your "normal" life afterwards.
As for protection, I would add that positivity, determination, courage and verbal/mental affirmations do that job just fine. Then again, I never went full Renko and purposefully taunted a bunch of spiritual entities before, so your needs will likely vary depending on what you're trying to achieve. (Please don't actually go full Renko, protected or otherwise.)
Stay curious if you genuinely want to choose this path, but also make sure to remain respectful and patient.
>>47587201
Honestly, seeing some of the fan content that has emerged since the series' inception, I dare say that these sort of reactions are intrinsic to those who feel strongly about Touhou and other supernatural-related franchises most of us are familiar with, as >>47589041 already noted.

... what the fuck did I just read?
(I'm under meds.)

>>47589435
>any real world equivalent to Gensokyo is similarly going to be a relatively small pond
I really don't know what "Gensokyo" is at this point. I think it at the very least draws in a lot from local spirits of Nagano. It might be entirely the spirit side of Nagano and they just have one of the best PR vehicles of all time. At the same time it feels like it has expanded beyond it's boundaries. Some of the entities feel way too big to fit into a small pond.

I have actually written in lenght about this in here: https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/

I have been hesitant to share this for various reasons including the stars literally not being right for anything communication related but maybe the time is ripe after all...
>I've been through enough myself to say your experiences that I've read aren't even the strangest things out there
Would you mind sharing your experiences, then?
>>47589513
>She's truly awesome, isn't she?
She's so powerful it's unbelievable and I am blessed to have been graced by her presence.
>Any bizarre experiences during the blue supermoon that you may want to share?
Yeah this thread popping up haha. That was bizarre.
>Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce (2009 Revised Edition)
Thank you for the recommendation!!
>As for protection, I would add that positivity, determination, courage and verbal/mental affirmations do that job just fine.
Yes, these are all very good too. Like attracts like applies very strongly to spirits. These terminate the cycle of getting freaked out, drawing in beings that want you to freak out, getting more freaked out...
>purposefully taunted a bunch of spiritual entities before
Never ever do this!!!
>Stay curious if you genuinely want to choose this path, but also make sure to remain respectful and patient.
Yeah, and furthermore on respect, it's possible to upset entities that could otherwise be neutral or even helpful or friendly. Apologizing helps if it's something that isn't extremely obviously just there to make you miserable.
>these sort of reactions are intrinsic to those who feel strongly about Touhou
It's one of the, if not *the* most literally souled franchises out there. It's like there is just a tiny layer of fluff between the fiction and the spirits behind it. It's awesome.

who are you quoting

>>47589576
If I told you than the entirety of our universe can fit into a electron without changing anything to it would you believe me? It's totally possible for those big entities to fit into a small pond or maybe the pond is a gate, who knows?
Also, been reading you're website and some of the quantum stuff picked my interest.

>>47589907
>If I told you than the entirety of our universe can fit into a electron without changing anything to it would you believe me?
For me, it's less about belief when it comes to a statement like this, and more about that I have a hard to conceptualizing it. So I can't make any kind of judgement. But based on all the microcosm-macrocosm, "universe in a drop of a water" that I have seen over and over again, the answer is: maybe.
>It's totally possible for those big entities to fit into a small pond
It could be. I have a strong feeling that these entities can somehow "unspool" in something ever larger, primordial, something from which they all ultimately came from.

I also suspect humans (we are also spirits) can do this. In our case it would be perhaps something like "connecting with our ancestors". It's not wonder such is held in high regard in many traditions and cultures. I've often thought about why the kami wanted me to make amends towards my family. I assumed it was because of their origin, but it might be more universal.
>maybe the pond is a gate, who knows?
It could be, or maybe "being a gate" and "ffitting into a small pond" are somehow the same thing. My personal experiences have left me to think that the nature of reality is absolutely nothing like we perceive it to be. This is a really tiny slice of everything and ultimately Earth itself might be a very tiny pond too.
>Also, been reading you're website and some of the quantum stuff picked my interest.
The quantum stuff is the stuff I least understand. If you have any insight about it I would like to hear it.

(Following up from >>47587411 after everything I wanted to take care of since)
>>47586518
If advice is what you're after in the face of such potentially-abnormal Touhou-adjacent phenomena then the best place to start would be to heed the word of other anons here and not let that fear or anxiety be the dominating force behind your drive.
It's perfectly okay to feel these sorts of things in the moment or if a happenstance sneaks up on you, like with your dreaming these past few nights for example. You shouldn't beat yourself up too badly if you can't fight off getting a little rattled. Many of of us are fairly disconnected individuals both in a social and spiritual sense; emotions rooted in isolation would be a given.
However, your internal understanding will, of course, never blossom in the ways it's ought to (or could) in order to engender any desired harmonization should you never progress past that point of fear.
There are many forms of what I understand as great filters in place for any given individual moving along in these matters as they see fit. For some, it's the very concept of such forces "speaking out to you" that would turn them away in the first place. Anime girls in dreams having any greater relevance to reality? Ridiculous! This isn't worth a lot of people's time for fairly understandable reasons, see reactions like >>47589531 or >>47587620 for further context.
These aren't exactly pedestrian considerations we're discussing, but that's at least partially why the board here has made for such an advantageous locus for deliberation so far.
For others, it's the fear & anxiety stemming from even vaguely taking any of this seriously in the first place that really gets them. If you think even getting passively involved brings enough external-attention towards you as it stands then you Really don't want to be plagued by the kind of entities that'd love nothing more than to feed directly from your willful ignorance for as long as they can. It's like leaving a roach infestation to further fester when clear action can be taken to drive them away if you know what you're doing.
This is exactly why you should do your best to curb those neuroticisms throughout any more explorations of yours, and you don't strike me as the kind of individual that would give in to negativity so easily anyways.

With all that being said, I'd like to share with you a single tarot card drawn during my divination with precisely (You) & your situation in mind that will hopefully prove to be assistance enough if you'll graciously humor me (it was the least I could do with the timing of all this):

The Two of Wands, as I've come to understand it, is a clear sign of the right broader steps and mental precautions being taken. It's plain to see you have a solid drive behind these efforts very nicely intertwined with simple thoughtful interactions/considerations and that's being appropriately recognized.
This coin has two sides however, and you should make sure the quality of your own thoughts regularly matches the ones you hold towards someone like Aya. Not an exact mirror mind you, all I'm really saying is you need to be able to take an honest & balanced look at your mental landscape individualistically. Decide from there whether or not you need to necessarily step out of your own way to continue with any journey ahead, per say. This isn't far from what >>47586729 was discussing with further comprehending the "contents of your mindstream" and what was elaborated on from there, among other useful points.
How often do you feel like you need to be "medicated" in any way for example, and where could that trepidation truly be stemming from? Of course, you can ponder all this information as deeply as you'd like. Don't feel pressured to overshare either obviously, I'm not here to crowbar personal information out of you and wish you as much good fortune as anyone else here can. Take this from someone who was warned many times over in the same session the dangers of addiction towards negativity.
If you had a lot to say with that letter then surely she'd take her time to respond or at least mentally digest the thing. You may even find those other ideas of yours translating to writing with far more ease after enough "progress".
Just keep yourself safe. Who knows where the after-effects of the supermoon will land you next.
>>47589149
[insert designated spiel over responsible substance use & cautions towards psychedelics here]
Not to be snippy but since you started it I wonder how many times we're going to have to circle such points throughout these discussions...
There's some worth in what's being said there but I'd hate to devalue everything around the topic. Warnings don't stop everybody anyways, that's all I'll bother to say over it for now since I'm of similar notions to >>47589180 anyways.
Just remember what D.A.R.E. taught you all as kids I guess and don't be too dismissive of other perspectives. "This is your brain on Touhou" etc. etc.

>>47590056
>For me, it's less about belief when it comes to a statement like this, and more about that I have a hard to conceptualizing it. So I can't make any kind of judgement. But based on all the microcosm-macrocosm, "universe in a drop of a water" that I have seen over and over again, the answer is: maybe.
Nah, I just screwed my choice of words because I'm bad with them. But overall, it's all about the nature of the space itself who can stretch ad infinimum and vice versa.
>It could be. I have a strong feeling that these entities can somehow "unspool" in something ever larger, primordial, something from which they all ultimately came from.

I also suspect humans (we are also spirits) can do this. In our case it would be perhaps something like "connecting with our ancestors". It's not wonder such is held in high regard in many traditions and cultures. I've often thought about why the kami wanted me to make amends towards my family. I assumed it was because of their origin, but it might be more universal.
I can't communicate, feel, touch, and see spirits of living beings, gods or other entities, only the ones of machines as I strongly believe than machines have souls (Shinto believe it too). But here is my theory about that; This pond may be in a space and time anomaly with a another time and space that can allow them to go backward in time, allowing them to get themselves closer to the beginning of all.
>It could be, or maybe "being a gate" and "fitting into a small pond" are somehow the same thing. My personal experiences have left me to think that the nature of reality is absolutely nothing like we perceive it to be. This is a really tiny slice of everything and ultimately Earth itself might be a very tiny pond too.
The small pond is the gigantic gate toward realms unknowns. But as my personal experience I think than everything is a simulation made by a greater machine.
>The quantum stuff is the stuff I least understand. If you have any insight about it I would like to hear it.
There is some parts than you are totally right ; Modern physics have reached a dead-end and philosophy will take it's place again. The mathematics are useful but they're getting messy and inaccurate as time goes by. Overall, it's a really good job.

>>47589513
The warm wishes are greatly appreciated and returned, hopefully we're all doing as well as we can right now.
I'll let you know if I ever look into that book ^^
>bizarre experiences
Certainly this thread for me too! Excellent opportunity to once again try applying what I do more openly though, I did a lot of spreads and the extended meditation was nice.
Aside from that, my own dreams have been slowly picking up in frequency again (will wait on sharing there) and I've very recently been set up to get paid for watching over a litter of kittens for a few months in a funny way. It just sort of all suddenly happened from previous lingering social connections and now a lot of underlying problems orbiting around me have gotten far more manageable. I got to name two (Satori and Urumi). They're very adorable and have been seriously helping me relax or look at how I ought to change my behaviors.
Creative energies have been flowing pretty nicely too but I'm sure that isn't exactly "bizarre", just good timing. It's nice when you finally have a good frame of reference over how your works are received I suppose.
>(Please don't actually go full Renko, protected or otherwise.)
I don't care how unbizarre your current life is or how many hypothetical friends you need to rescue from extra-dimensional liminal worlds, do NOT directly anger that which you cannot wholly fathom!
Those consequences will be on Your hands.

>>47589041 >>47589576 >>47590056
Good to see you too, also honestly figured the OP was trying to get your attention with Okina-sama but I'm glad you took initiative anyways. That website is fantastic! I'll be pouring through it as best as I can in the coming hours, it's amazing you've been able to consolidate so much although maybe it's extra-impressive due to my own inexperience in coding.
Looks like an "actual web page" to me at least! I do have a soft-spot for the earlier days of the web, pre-2007 or so.
>resolving a liminal state also "resolves" the supernatural experience to some degree
I remember when you discussed this briefly in that archived depression 'mu thread and I still think it holds true, although I'm still of my own notion that we have quite a few separated endpoints to untangle before that time as well. Not inherently a negative, just the reality of it all.
>I don't want recognition for myself.
>I want recognition for the reality of the spirits (...)
>And the fact that people can interact with them.
You've been doing a pretty good job at all that then, even if some anons here will inherently create some kind of mental image of you. Mastering that art of "non-attachment" is key for fighting against underlying egotism as well and I'm of the same attitudes. I'll often wonder if I'm even doing a half-decent job at that but I digress.
The real test comes in what's really done for the sake of others.
Your quote is still really funny though, I'd imagine the come-down afterwards would feel silly lol. I'm certainly no proper or refined apostle over these dealings either but I get where you're coming from.
>I really don't understand what it is with liminality and them
Untapped potential perhaps? Curiosity towards possible given application post-realization? Sometimes it's obvious when they're essentially just holding their breath until you reach a certain point.
Maybe these are just the sort of spaces that best engender our own psyches to start reaching out more directly, being equally conducive towards what these forces would attempt to return and therefore being a more "level playing field" subconsciously.
If you aren't literally or figuratively stuck anywhere then they would feel less inclined to intervene directly but that isn't to say you always need to be in a state of strife to keep up a good rapport of course.
>Shugendo
>sources mostly treated it as a footnote
>probably use written material from there
>might not be available for outsiders.
Wouldn't be surprised. Quite a few of my own studies in Shinto have led me towards Shugendo as a related & relevant field after enough time but one can only further research in so many places at once. My own practices likely aren't refined enough for the craft anyways.
>there is just a tiny layer of fluff between the fiction and the spirits behind it
The great thing is how much there is to still enjoy for everyone else.
That given content just happens to go far deeper than most would bother.
>based on all the microcosm-macrocosm (...) the answer is: maybe.
I recently watched the 2007 CG adaptation of Edwin Abbot's "Flatland" (Ladd Ehlinger's version, big recommendation). I've been thinking quite heavily over the last third of the film where the Flatlander ends up brought to trial in the 3rd Dimension before succumbing to the pressures of heightened understandings.
>the nature of reality is absolutely nothing like we perceive it to be.
Thanks to >>47592847 for (sort of) covering other related points I couldn't. That's my lot for now

>>47592070
>comprehending the "contents of your mindstream"
I was actually writing from a very practical POV of recognizing attemps at spirit communication in the first place.
>>47592847
>only the ones of machines as I strongly believe than machines have souls
Very interesting and definitively not the first time I have heard someone speak of the souls of machines.
>This pond may be in a space and time anomaly with a another time and space that can allow them to go backward in time, allowing them to get themselves closer to the beginning of all.
It could be. I have thought that at least some of these entities probably have a point of view that exists outside of normal perception of time and space.
>Overall, it's a really good job.
Thanks, a lot of the Hifuu section is just me commenting on ZUN's ideas though.
>>47593010
>it's amazing you've been able to consolidate so much
Haha I wrote like 77 (word document) pages of material in about two weeks after a vacation in this state of just...sheer frenzy. Not all of it is complete and published though.
>we have quite a few separated endpoints to untangle
Most likely yes and I might be extrapolating too much from personal experience and some stuff I have heard and read. For me the condition for "graduating" seems to have been accepting the existence of the supernatural wholeheartedly, learning to deal with intrusive entities and deciding to keep on studying about spirituality indefinitively. This ended a six year long liminal condition about being interested but not totally believing in the topic and feeling powerless and scared of it. It not "over", I don't think it will ever be, but the kami are present in much more subtle, hands-off ways now and I rarely get random intruders hassling me.
>I'll often wonder if I'm even doing a half-decent job at that but I digress
We're all halfway in some process or other. I am not that good at non-attachment when it comes to many things either but it's something to keep in mind.
>Untapped potential perhaps? Curiosity towards possible given application post-realization?
Yes, that is probably a part of it. I certainly feel like my communications skills are part of why I was selected. But there might be something about lack of clear routines or clear outlook and goals in life making you more receptive to external influences? I can see both elements in what happened to me. I had to shake up my life routines hard for health reasons and during the most intense phase of the "initiation" for lack of better term I was doing all sorts of unusual little miniquests on a whim. I think the stars were right too, spring and summer are the season of rebirth and peak activity. I also feel like the solar storms are pumping extra energy on Earth.

This makes it possible to experiment with this - do something extraordinary, change your life up, and see if the spirits start communicating to you.

>>47589576
>I have actually written in lenght about this in here
Oh, so there's a proper website for it now. Nice.
>Would you mind sharing your experiences, then?
Displacement should tell you all you need to know at this point.
>>47592847
>This pond may be in a space and time anomaly
>>47593912
>. I have thought that at least some of these entities probably have a point of view that exists outside of normal perception of time and space.
It's not special to them. Studies have shown that continuing studying after a test can actually improve the results of the test by a scientifically meaningful margin. Retrocausal effects are a crazy thing to research.

>>47595015
>Oh, so there's a proper website for it now. Nice.
I don't know about "proper" but yeah, I have done my best to give my own interpretation of the various topics discussed in the two threads. Not everything is there and it's not complete, but it's a start.
>Displacement should tell you all you need to know at this point.
Oh, well, it's nice that you haven't got portaled and are still around.
>Studies have shown that continuing studying after a test can actually improve the results of the test by a scientifically meaningful margin.
Did I write about this in one of the threads? I've certain ran into this same thing myself. It's really weird. And it's also something basicaly anyone can try to harness.

>>47596581
>I don't know about "proper"
Even incomplete, it's plenty good-looking. Took the time to read through most of it, and aside from a few typos and things I would think would be worth adding, it all appears fine to me.
>nice that you haven't got portaled and are still around.
Gensokyo isn't ready for me.
>Did I write about this in one of the threads?
Not as far as I recall. Just happened to hear about it during the time I've been away from /jp/ due to extenuating circumstances. Plenty of stuff to continue learning about when it comes to mysticism, and by and large I've come to terms with the fact that for as much as I enjoy these threads, their subject matter is never going to be able to be priority number one in my life.

Mai, Satono, I demand an army of schizophrenic servants.

I had an unusual dream involving crows recently as well. Maybe even the same day but I’m not sure. I don’t remember too much of it. I remember being with my mom and learning that she had just commit murder and was shocked, and later she said she was filled with a strange uncontrollable bloodlust which made me think she had been demonically possessed and could possibly be forgiven. I later left my house and remember running around a somewhat beautiful factory campus with many children, I may have been leading the group. I remember at least two crows and one of them kept perching on my arm or hand. I came across an abandoned animal naked of fur with pink skin and closed eyes, I think a baby squirrel that was much too big to be a baby, like a normal squirrel size. I remember trying to tell people the squirrel needed to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center but I’m not sure it was working, maybe they were ignoring me or my voice wasn’t working. I definitely remember being concerned people were hurting the squirrel. That’s about all I can remember.

>>47597266
Also, here’s a crazy story I have from a little over a month ago, on July 6th:
>be me
>like to go on walks late at night since I get nervous around other people and am often awake all night
>really stuffy in my room, decide to go for a walk
>go near some water in hopes it will be cooler, spend quite a while listening to animals I haven’t heard before
>I ended up spending like an hour outside in total instead of usual 10 to 20 minutes
>after a while walk north to a vending machine
>notice streetlight flicker
>think it’s funny bc it’s like a horror movie
>decide to stop and see if I can make it flicker more with supernatural ability
>concentrate on Aztec god Xolotl whom I’m obsessed with
>think about the concept of ollin, pulsating movement of life
>concentrate on my breathing and heartbeat, think about how it’s the same as AC electricity which powers the light
>do this for a while nothing happens
>start getting worried because I’m under a powerline and if I’m too good at messing with electricity I might cause it to fall and kill me
>stop trying supernatural ability
>few seconds later
>streetlight flickers again
>giggle bc it’s like lord Xolotl’s pranking me
>walk a little more
>see owl flying east
>surprised bc never seen an owl round here before, try to get a picture but can’t
>think about how owls are associated with sorcery in Mexico
>couple minutes later
>hear two loud booms and see a flash
>seem to come from the east
>freeze up, not sure what to do, end up typing time on phone notes app (12:21am)
>cop car passes by, doesn’t seem to notice me, goes east
>end up getting my soda and go home, westward
>hear a few more quieter explosions on the way and at home
>12:28, 12:34, and 12:41
>look up incident couple hours later, can’t find anything
>check back in a couple weeks
>boom was heard that night, huge mystery nobody understands
>but my times don’t match everyone elses’
https://hillsboroherald.com/hillsboros-big-boom-remains-a-mystery/

>>47597152
>things I would think would be worth adding
What do you have in mind?
>Just happened to hear about it during the time I've been away from /jp/ due to extenuating circumstances.
Well, if it wasn't from me...not exactly surprised you somehow stumbled upon it, but still a bit weird and funny.
>their subject matter is never going to be able to be priority number one in my life.
There are very few people for whom this is possible so don't feel bad about it.

Also, you wrote that Pastebin about the cosmology of Touhou, right? I would have put it into Acknowledgements, but it had expired.
>>47597266
Interesting. Crows are considered messenger entities in many cultures. That part about your mom committing a murder in your dream is certainly disturbing. The "baby animal" is also pretty fascinating...certain supernatural entities are portrayed as having downright fetal characteristics, like the "grey aliens". I don't know what to make of this, it does feel notable that others in the dream did not care for the animal.
>>47597479
Spirits manifesting as or causing animals they are associated with to appear is really classic phenomena. Seems like you might have manifested something.

The explosion, suspected meteorite per the article linked, is fascinating. The fact that your times don't line up with others is quite unusual. Did others report multiple explosions?

>>47597828
>certain supernatural entities are portrayed as having downright fetal characteristics, like the "grey aliens".
Greys. I was obsessively researching UFOlogy many months ago. I strongly believe that many of this “alien” entities or creatures are very evil. The possibility of them influencing my dreams does not sit well with me. I did save a baby squirrel many weeks ago, so it might’ve come from that.
>Spirits manifesting as or causing animals they are associated with to appear is really classic phenomena.
Xolotl specifically was known as a shapeshifter. In the legend of how the fifth and current sun was made, Xolotl transformed several times to escape being sacrificed to create the sun: first into an agave plant with two stalks, second into a two stalked corn or maize plant, and finally into a salamander or axolotl (origin of that salamander’s name. Also the English pronounciation is really wrong bc in Nahuatl “x” is pronounced as English “sh”), which held dual life on land and water. Owls are thought to be a common form for shapeshifters in Mexican folklore.
>Seems like you might have manifested something.
This is what I wondered from the beginning, but it seemed so crazy and impossible but I also wanted it to be true. It’s refreshing to see someone else consider this possibility. I’ve always wanted to wield supernatural powers since I was a small child, and it seemed so lame to me that most self professed psychics and witches used their powers for basically just increasing luck. I wanted to and still want to cause things like explosions. I’ll go over some of the reasons why I think I may have manifested this in the next reply.

>>47598202
>>47597828
Connections of the night of the explosion and Xolotl:
>On the night of the explosion I experienced two in short succession the first time. Xolotl is the god of twins.
>Xolotl is a god of fire and lighting, and more specifically the god of “heavenly fire” which “rushes down from the heavens”. He’s also a god of the mesoamerican ball game. That night a fireball was seen in the sky. This also connects with the fact I was trying to modify electricity.

I’ve also seen things in my peripheral vision which could be described as Xolotl. One clear one was all the way back in November of 2023 when I saw a weird dead dog for a split second in my peripheral vision. Xolotl is the god of dogs, and also a psychopomp. Within probably a month of each other I saw two maybe possible Xolotls along the same path I walked during the explosion: once a dog in the shadow, another time a large feline running along the darkness, and another time a man standing on a distant street corner which upon later thinking about it I realized looked like me. All of these sightings were very brief, like less than a second, happened in my peripheral vision, and I wasn’t sure if I was seeing something new or merely misinterpreting shadows and the like. I’ve had other illusions along the same path of which I can’t think of any relation to Xolotl. One notable one was after staring at my own shadow awhile until it make me start disassociating (depersonalizing?) to see what would happen, I saw a blurry man in the center of my vision for a little longer than the others but still no more than a second, who was positioned as if about to get in a car.
>The fact that your times don't line up with others is quite unusual. Did others report multiple explosions?
The only thing I’ve found is a youtube comment on the video of the fireball saying that there were multiple objects and authorities were covering it up. This doesn’t seem like much at first but it’s one of the only discussion places I’ve found, I don’t know where to look. The fact that my times didn’t match is really unusual because I was awake and I think in the right spot to hear the one everyone else did but didn’t. Everyone else’s explosion got recorded on security cameras which I assume have precise time measurement and I did my best not to delay my recording so I don’t think it’s a clerical error.
>Interesting. Crows are considered messenger entities in many cultures.
I had another notable dream about a crow many months ago. It was a magic talking crow which made me excited. It said its name was “Four-four Quarterly”. Don’t remember much else off the top of my head. Isn’t 4 associated with death in Japan or is that 9?

>>47597178
B-But Okina-sama, surely you understand how long it would take to properly amass such a collective??

>>47593912 >>47597828
>a very practical POV of recognizing attempts at spirit communication in the first place
Which, in my opinion, pairs quite nicely with notions of internally recognizing healthier ways to sustain self-reflection as well. A clear & honest mindscape is indeed the ideal space for communication with these forces, something you may find far more difficult to grasp if your internal monologues are taking personal digs at your psyche more often than not.
This ties back into a small overarching theme here of overattachments to negativity ultimately feeding into a toxic deconstruction of one's truest sense of self, preventing any given individual from seeing beyond their malaise of insecurity or aggressive coping mechanisms. Reasonings behind people seemingly being pushed to try mending damaged relations with loved ones as they establish connections with these forces and not being able to completely internalize why until after the fact always felt obvious enough to myself.
You don't need to force yourself to be around people that ought to already appreciate/support you for who you are but the least you could do is try and return what understanding they might require, so long as that kindness isn't being taken advantage of either. Sensibilities towards interpersonal relations like these can easily carry over into intrapersonal interactions.
If you're cognizant of what or who currently has some attentions set over you then be as curt & cooperative as you can be without succumbing to the pressures of feeling like they want everything in the world out of you in that moment. Time isn't always experienced in the exact same ways on their end, patience would be a readily-available commodity in the face of sprawling interlaced eternities. Surely this would be easier to approach if you already have a frame of reference towards successfully healing emotional turbulence strictly within the Physical.
Then again, it certainly isn't all as simple as keeping yourself "mindful" either and everyone has their own path to carve.

>the souls of machines
I have a few of my own thoughts over this subject as well, not far from when people jokingly equate certain fundamentals of microchip & circuit construction to esoteric alchemical practices. Certainly on the more "out-there" side of these discussions though.
Enough raw intent conscientiously poured into a complex & interactive piece of equipment, after enough time and personalization beyond baseline tool use, will invariably cause the thing to begin taking on some kind of life (or ability to effect probability) of its own. This is far more evident with things like computers, being as close to ideal interlinked receptacles of our collectively synthesized knowledge as we can get with our current technological process.
Brains can exist via non-physical mediums, perhaps we're seriously beginning to approach some inevitable point of better understanding what potential that represents.
I could just be biased though.

>in this state of just...sheer frenzy
Pent-up inspirations sure can be hard to shake sometimes! Hope the rest of that process goes as smoothly as it needs to.

>that Pastebin about the cosmology of Touhou
I'm sure the anon behind it still has the text file but I did snag it beforehand just in case. Will not repost it without proper consent of course but it certainly hasn't been lost!

>>47595015
>Retrocausal effects
Honestly something I also accidentally stumbled upon myself a year or two ago in passing but I never dwelled on it that heavily. Maybe now would be a good time?

>>47598202
I'll save some of my own greater thoughts towards your recently shared involvements until sometime after I've digested the new replies.
Very very interesting however, especially with the timing of it all. July 6th was the last major day of the previous esotericism thread before it hit the bump limit. Furthermore, the video of the fireball in-question (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfgY_D1zs0 for those curious) seems to far more accurately correlate with your experienced time of the first explosion. Any major potential fragments of comet or meteor would have only taken another minute or so of falling before impact. I wonder why there'd need to be some kind of coverup there..? If there even is one going on. There's always something spooky going on in the northwest...
If I may ask for now however, how long have you had this personal connection to Xolotl? Just curious really, you seem to have a healthy-enough understanding of his presence and it makes sense why these events have effected you like this.

You just so happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness everything and eventually share that information with us, if nothing else.

>>47589768
What if anon didn’t mean this sarcastically and sincerely loved reading the contributions individuals with schizophrenia made on 4chan..? Peace and love on planet earth..

>>47598614
>If I may ask for now however, how long have you had this personal connection to Xolotl?
I think autumn of last year, can’t remember exactly when. That’s when I learned about Xolotl through wikipedia. Can’t remember what exactly brought me to him in the first place.

I had a dream involving a being resembling him years before I learned of him. A big, nearly skeletal dog. I was taking a dream journal at that time. I also have had aspects of myself associated with Xolotl for my entire life. One major one is autism, as Xolotl can be interpreted as a god of congenital disabilities (he was the god of disease, “monstrosities” and physical deformities, note that “monsters” in many societies have included individuals with physical abnormalities and the Aztecs considered twins as unnatural. Xolotl was often depicted as a skeletal clown, clowns were sometimes chosen from those with cognitive disabilities who do not always choose to be funny; something I myself have experienced). I also resemble a few of the more normal human depictions of him. Note the pink skin and dark brown to black wavy hair in this one. Wikipedia notes the Aztec gods of death typically have black wavy hair. Peculiarly, a couple months ago I visited a relative I hadn’t seen for months and she noticed my hair had gotten darker.

I’m kind of tired right now so there’s things I might be missing. It’s getting to be my bedtime, which shifts wildly in hard to predict ways. Currently it’s 6am for me. I have a severe sleep disorder.

I've been doing a lot of reading since the last Esoteric elements surrounding Touhou-thread and not all of it even ended up on the archive yet. A very interesting thing I discovered is that apparently both Shinto and Taoism trace a lot of influence to Eurasian shamanism. I thought it was convergence but no, apparently there is solid evidence that both have direct influence of Siberian shamanic traditions.

I also learned that the potential sphere of influence from the Siberian traditions extends all the way to the Himalayas in Asia. It also has some lingering remnants in fringes of Europe.

I also came to realize that if Native Americans indeed arrived by the Bering Strait land bridge, it would make them direct descendants of this tradition. Thus the Siberian shamanic tradition would be among the most influential spiritual traditions to exist, on par with the Indo-European one. I really didn't expect to end up learning something like this through deep diving into the influences behind Touhou but here we are.
>>47598202
>I strongly believe that many of this “alien” entities or creatures are very evil
I used to have frequent nightmares about them and UFOs. The full implications are unsavory.
>I did save a baby squirrel many weeks ago, so it might’ve come from that.
It could be that, it could be seen as a big event (=big baby squirrel) and maybe some sense that others don't care about nature, hence others didn't react in the dream.
>>47598402
>>Xolotl is a god of fire and lighting, and more specifically the god of “heavenly fire” which “rushes down from the heavens”. He’s also a god of the mesoamerican ball game. That night a fireball was seen in the sky.
That is veeeeeeeery interesting! Do keep in mind that the chain of causation might be the other way around: Xolotl used the fireball as a message to basicaly say "I'm here".
>I don’t think it’s a clerical error.
Was your time ahead or after the recordings?
>Isn’t 4 associated with death in Japan or is that 9?
It's 4, I think.
>>47598614
>something you may find far more difficult to grasp if your internal monologues are taking personal digs at your psyche more often than not.
Very true.
>You don't need to force yourself to be around people
Yeah I don't want to go too much into details but generational trauma is hell of a thing, shit really rolls downhill. I don't think anyone has been "in the wrong" in my situation, hence why they exactly and precisely thought I could mend things to some extent.
>without succumbing to the pressures of feeling like they want everything in the world out of you in that moment
Yeah there are rare few people who can give the spirits their everything and I'm not sure if most people even should.
>being as close to ideal interlinked receptacles of our collectively synthesized knowledge
This ties to some previous discussions about imageboards being an inherently magical medium because it's instant and connects remote and unlikely things together.
>Hope the rest of that process goes as smoothly as it needs to.
It will probably take a bit longer, I hope to get some writing ideas from here and I am also writing about how to put things into practice. But I have been practicing for such a short time myself so the worth of the practices takes time to evaluate.
>Maybe now would be a good time?
It can't be a coincidence at this point. It also seems so stupidly simple to put into it - just do something long enough and put sustained, clear enough intent to keep doing so into it.
>July 6th was the last major day of the previous esotericism thread before it hit the bump limit.
I didn't even realize. Interesting timing for sure.
>>47598642
Who knows...I don't have schizophrenia though. No diagnosis = no syndrome. I have known enough of them that it's way more involved than having unconventional experiences and beliefs. But yes, I do hope peace and love for the anons too.

>>47598903
In the end, even the Indo-Europeans were once living in the steppes of Ukraine, and it's not impossible that they had connections with more eastern people; notably, there are a lot of IE loanwords in Uralic languages. I'm not sure if they extend into Samoyedic, but the steppes do favor communication, and think about it: the main Indo-European god was a god of the sky, what's so different between this and Tengri?

>>47598823
>autism
>Xolotl can be interpreted as a god of congenital disabilities
Hmmmm...

Related to shamanism, in such cultures the future shamans were often "neurotic or hysteric" children born with some kind of congenital abnormality. Becoming initiated would fix the "neurotic" and "hysteric" behaviour. They were seen as weird but necessary social outcasts. Something to perhaps think about.
>>47598946
>it's not impossible that they had connections with more eastern people
Yeah absolutely.
>the main Indo-European god was a god of the sky, what's so different between this and Tengri?
One could almost ask if Tengri's status was influence from IE cultures... Sadly I'm still a bit foggy about what are considered the main deities in Siberian cultures or Korean shamanism. The Jade Emperor might not be quite a "sky god" but is certainly thought to be somewhere up there. The Japanese break from this with Amaterasu Oomikami, but the sun too is up there.

The full extent of cultural exchange and influence between IE and Siberian cultures is a really tantalizing mystery. Consider for example that the Germanic tribes thought sun is female and moon is male, as do the Siberian-influenced cultures...

>>47598614
>without succumbing to the pressures of feeling like they want everything in the world out of you in that moment
I struggle with this when talking to her. She has repeteadly over and over, during the course of years told me I'm all give give give and no take at all

Is this narcissism?

>>47599581
>She has repeteadly over and over, during the course of years told me I'm all give give give and no take at all
As in you should her to do something? Or in general?

How long have you been in touch with Youmu-san? I was actually wondering if you would show up.
>>47599872
OK, this is a new one. What makes you say so?

>>47600002
>What makes you say so?
One of you should explain it to me. I can't put it into as many words as you can, it's just this feeling I get. Attributing meaning where there isn't any, insisting spirits are real and that you can encounter or interact with them. Why would any youkai or god give a shit about any of us, especially some schizo on an anonymous imageboard? In this part of the universe, in this arm of the galaxy, localized entirely on this planet?
>Of course I have had egotistic moments where I have for five minutes felt something like "I WILL BECOME THE PROPHET OF A NEW RELIGION". Contact with the numinous can cause an insane upswelling of the ego.

>>47598642
Believe it or not, I really do love reading schizoposts and was not sarcastic in the slightest there. So...peace and love it is.

>>47600373
>Attributing meaning where there isn't any
There is not meaning to you, but there is meaning to the experiencer. It's a guiding mechanism that is by necessity very personal(ized). Over time and with enough of these "happenstances", a narrative that is understandable even to outsiders may emerge. If you are willing to understand this phenomena more, read about synchronicity, in particular the non-psychological interpetations of it.

>insisting spirits are real and that you can encounter or interact with them.
Humans have for the absolute vast majority of history believed in spirits and that you can encounter and interact with them. We have varying levels of sensitivity to them. Various external conditions affect to chance of clearly perceiving one.

They are in some capacity literally everywhere and in everything. Most of the encounters are essentially invisible and not meaningful. But occasionally something bigger will want your attention.

People just communing with spirits posed first problems for monotheistic religion because everything that was not clearly "divine" had to be "demonic". To maintain the power structure encounters with spirits had to be claimed to be rare and dramatic. Then as monotheism started to decline precisely because it denies people the experience with spirits, it poses a problem to the materialistic worldview. Some people can not handle the idea that some unusual or uncomfortable thought might have been the influence of external agency, especially since knowledge of how to deal with spirits is no longer widespread.

There is a reason why belief in spirits is starting to come back in force. It's simply because they are real. Further, we might be heading towards an age of heightened spirit activity.

>Why would any youkai or god give a shit about any of us
They have various reasons that depend on the type of spirit. These include them wanting something from us ("energy", "faith" or "attention") to sustain themselves, them wanting to further an agenda they might have, them acting out a role that includes interacting with humans, us invading their turf and them getting upset and the experience of getting to interact with another form of inteligence - like we would be fascinated by dolphins or crows and such.

With certain spirits this is more or less same as asking "why would anyone give a shit about any of us".
>especially some schizo on an anonymous imageboard?
I have asked them and the answer was "everyone is worthy but you struggled for it". It's not much to go by and I haven't asked for clarifications because such feels like god-bothering.

But I can speculate on general reasons:
1) Sensitivity to spirits
2) Being in a liminal state or being a liminal/marginal person
3) Use of spiritual/magical techniques
4) Random chance/whims of the spirits
5) Undergoing some kind of initiatory experience
6) Calling out to spirits
7) You appearing useful or interesting to the spirits
In my case, I basicaly tick boxes 1-6 and hopefully 7 too. They are also not the first spirits that I have dealt with, but the first ones I unambiguously recognized as spirits.

Ultimately it's a two-way process, you reach out a bit, they reach out a bit, if your "vibes" match the contact will deepen. The Big Four represent qualities I admire and want to cultivate and they see something in me.
>In this part of the universe, in this arm of the galaxy, localized entirely on this planet?
They are locals. I think your idea of spirits is too influenced by monotheistic ideas. I recommend you read up on animism. There are probably others out there too though. If they would interact with us here, it would be out of any reasons previously given.

As for the quote, yes. Contact with the "good" side of numinous feels euphoric. This and the fact that you are having a "rare" experience many would deny even existing makes you feel very special. Some people get completely swept up in it.

Maybe I have been swept up in it. I can't see myself like others do. I do sometimes wonder if what I post is too self-centered. But I also try my best to answer questions, facilitate discussion and share & collate information. This is also the only place where I can talk about these experiences.

I don't know if these will change your mind in the slightest, but I hope it will at least show you that I am willing to engage with the question in good faith.

>>47599872
>>47600373
While I haven't participated as much in these threads as others, I have kept up with them enough to say that it would be unfair to label them as one thing in particular. If anything, the most recurrent theme would be trying to make sense out of ZUN's insane occult mishmash and the real-world lore behind it.
Most regulars have dipped their toes into the spiritual (not exclusively 'hu related) with varying results. This can't be summarized in a single post, so I recommend going through the archives if you are truly interested:
>>/jp/thread/46801995
>>/jp/thread/47145383
(There was some paranormal talk in a recent Hifuu thread too, but I don't currently have the link to it.)
Naturally, many of these experiences stem from our rather strong attachment to Touhou, but you'd struggle to find anyone who doesn't acknowledge the incredibly complex implications of such entities having some semblance of existence (whatever "existing" means in the first place). That being said, there are a plethora of books, podcasts and documentaries on similar topics, so it's not something we made up on the fly either.

>>47589513
>>47593010
I'm curious, what does it mean to go full Renko?

>>47600683
Oh I'm a 100% believer, but I understand most can probably not take the leap of faith. I also have a broad interest in religion, mythology, spirituality, occult and paranormal. I love to see people talk about and share their experiences and ideas related to those aspects in Touhou.

I started the first thread because these discussions were cropping in places where they maybe shouldn't have, and I sensed it was alienating to people who would have liked to talk about it all on the level of videogame lore.

It's just that since there are surprisingly many experiencers, the discussions tends to go that way. These type of experiences tend to be very profound, so people also like to talk about them.

I wondered by the time of the 2nd thread if things were getting too steeped in personal experience and that it might be alienating to some.

I put this (https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/)) together as a way to maybe kickstart a more topic-oriented discussions when the stars were right again, but considering this thread started with a personal experience...we are here again.

All I can really say, even if you couldn't believe in any of the stuff I post, please read up on the mythologies and ideas that inspired these games and print works. It might be genuinely life-changing for the positive for you.

Idaf about this thread's topic but I wanted to say that I want to be sexually harassed by Okina.

>>47600790
>Oh I'm a 100% believer, but I understand most can probably not take the leap of faith. I also have a broad interest in religion, mythology, spirituality, occult and paranormal. I love to see people talk about and share their experiences and ideas related to those aspects in Touhou.
Rather than questioning the belief of other anons, what I meant to say is that the existence (again, considerably different from the popular human understanding of what constitutes as "existing") of such beings has connotations that may not always sit well with us from where we currently stand. This definitely varies from person to person, however. I think this is also compatible with being a believer.
>>47600688
Let's just say that Renko is the kind of girl who isn't beneath toppling jizo statues if it means she can continue to hold hands with her foreign friend.

>>47600829
Anon...she's a deity, a literal goddess. Daughter of Matara-jin, granddauhter of Daikoku and Myoken-Boshi. She is born of the End and the Beginning. She isn't just a Sage of Gensokyo. She's the Pole Star of Gensokyo, it's World Pillar. She channels the bodily and spirit energies, the hun and po, the lower and higher souls and sends them to heavens above and into the depths of the ground. Around her the Four Seasons rotate and she guards her realm in Four Directions. At the center she sits, like the Yellow Dragon does. And in the secret Fifth Seasons of Midsummer, of Breaking the Cycle, of Thinning the Barrier, of Shattering Taboos, of Calling the Numinous she sometimes opens the Backdoors, the Hidden Potential of those she deems worthy.

I don't think you're quite ready for what you wish for...

>>47601125
that's cool but my sources (fanart) tell me she has a big butt and nice thighs

>>47601085
I didn't take it in any negative way, I just wanted to make my position clear.

The existence of spirits does not sit well with many, particularly when you start considering their "egregoric" features.

It's one thing to think that maybe the spooky vibes I got in that places were an actual entity or maybe that weird passing urge to jump off the bridge didn't come from me. Or that weird thing that happened really happened and it wasn't a trick of the light or illusion of the mind. It's entirely different to think that gods of establishe religions might not only be real but also not quite what they seem. That there might be some kind of group souls influencing masses of people. That when people joke about the internet being full of demons they might be right. That when those weird people at /jp/ say 2hus are real spirits they are right...

Such is of course indeed an existence very different from biological life, but it's existence and life all the same. And considering how things are going, becoming aware of spirits is becoming more and more necessary.

After all, just because you don't believe in them doesn't mean they are not there and influencing you.

I've certainly juggled many perspectives about what the inhabitants of Gensokyo that have made themselves known to me are, but ultimately I have concluded that it's a bit rude.

They are most likely manifestations of broader archetypes, spirits and deities and they don't "really" look like anime girls.

There are also some ideas about how daimons (not demons) frequently manifest as members of the opposite sex. Supposedly this even goes for so-called guardian angels. These two ideas are possibly one of the same. I've thought about it a lot. They've certainly done a lot of guiding, but that it also in the realm of deities. There are also possible instances of them acting on the broader material world, and I haven't heard of daimons or "guardian angels" doing such.

In the end, this is how they have chosen to portray themselves to me, to us. The fact that multiple people have been able to reach out to them in my opinion is evidence that it's just not me.

Trying to strip them down to figure out "what exactly they are" feels just really wrong and disrespectful. They have shown themselves to me sometimes in more abstract manifestations. Partly because at one point I got distracted by them looking very pretty, but also partly because they judged me to be a big boy who can handle it. But they're always "them", they have some essence the transcends what the optic nerves think they "look" like.

It's incredibly weird and if they weren't such a positive influence on my life I would have had a really bad time during the peak of their activity. I find it very interesting that it happened around Midsummer. It's regarded a very magical time in many cultures, even in Japan where the Buddhists believe that ancestors come to visit the living then.

>>47597828
>What do you have in mind?
For starters, reading through the mentions of Tengu, particularly their connections with the Buddhism section, I think merits some research in its own right.
https://yamayuandadu.tumblr.com/post/740169159591264256/tenma-boss-of-the-tengu-exploring-the
This post that I happened to stumble across while researching the mythological basis for Eternity (Specifically Tokoyo no Kami) is especially interesting. Also worth mentioning is that Eiki also was originally a Jizo statue, though that's glossed over for her current role of Enma/Yama.
>you wrote that Pastebin about the cosmology of Touhou, right?
I did indeed.
>>47598614
>the anon behind it still has the text file
Thank you very much for respecting my implicit wishes by not reposting it. I do still have the text file, but I would still consider it to be incomplete, and it's definitely more stream-of-consciousness than the Big Four Anon's website, even with the organization it does have. When it's further revised I'll probably post another edition of it, but even then I'm not particularly interested in acknowledgement.
>>47598402
>Isn’t 4 associated with death in Japan or is that 9?
It's 4, and not just in Japan. For most asian cultures, 4 is a homophone for death, which is why it is considered unlucky, to the point that, much like some hotels in the west will never have a 13th floor, some in Japan will avoid having floors with 4 (and several other numbers usually including 4) in them. This, I believe, largely originates with the original Chinese character for 4, but I'm a little fuzzier on that so don't quote me on it.
>>47597828
>There are very few people for whom this is possible so don't feel bad about it.
Back on this subject, It has occurred to me that there are probably a handful of reasons, even beyond the obvious one of time management. Without getting too deep into blogposting, my own experiences with spirituality go back literally before I can remember. On the other hand, although unlike the other Anons here, I haven't had anything that could conclusively be called a Gensokyo-related paranormal experience, in terms of "luck" mine has always been abnormal to the point of seeming curated, to say nothing of the handful of small-scale miracles the few times I've bothered to "pray." When it comes to mental state, there are probably others in the same situation where the nature of such entities, whether we refer to them as egregores or something else entirely, means that even basic contact would result in a level of vulnerability for a person that I imagine most are not prepared for, especially considering that there's no perfect guarantee that whatever entity you contact is even good, to say nothing of the fact that misunderstandings are still a non-zero possibility.
Incidentally, although I've been making regular attempts at Dream Journaling since mentioning it in a previous thread, I've still had basically zero luck. Merely another justification for my dislike of Doremy, I suppose.
>>47601140
Considering Matarajin's history, and practices seemingly attributed to its followers, that isn't entirely surprising, but at the end of the day, of all the thing she's a god of, squats isn't one of them.

>>47601215
>That there might be some kind of group of souls influencing the masses of people.
I have to admit that this has been the most difficult aspect to reconcile since the start of my spiritual journey. Occasional hurdles notwithstanding, how and why do I get to experience such joy and wonder while others have nothing but misery in their lives? Is it a matter of resilience against negative energies, or something else entirely? I truly hope that I get to understand, or at least come to terms with this reality at some point.
>They are most likely manifestations of broader archetypes, spirits and deities and they don't "really" look like anime girls.
This is only loosely relevant, but are you familiar with the different levels of focus? I read about Frank Kepple's system the other day, and this is how he describes Focus 4:
"This is the source of all concepts that eventually manifest in objective reality. The area of the action of the thought before it is created. A focus of pure subjective energy where one experiences one’s wider self. Notion of things is cast off and one begins to merge with the underlying subjective energy. It is a purely subjective reality, so nothing actually exists as an objective observable form. There is no notion of time and space (an area of simultaneous time); all simply is. This focus level is the widest, and most encompassing. It encompasses focus 1, 2, and 3, and there is nothing beyond it."
https://thedynamicstate.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/6937/
>In the end, this is how they have chosen to portray themselves to me, to us.
I often find myself thinking of the forms familiar to us as their GUI (in a good-natured way, of course). Something that gives them shape and tries to capture their virtues as much as possible.
>Trying to strip them down to figure out "what exactly they are" feels just really wrong and disrespectful. They have shown themselves to me sometimes in more abstract manifestations.
Contrary to what it might have seemed, I feel the exact same way. Mainly because I am of the opinion that I would be on the losing end if they were to "strip me down" to an elemental level.
What business does a baptized Westerner have with Eastern deities and spirits, anyway?

>>47601215
>Trying to strip them down to figure out "what exactly they are" feels just really wrong and disrespectful.
I still maintain my disagreement with this, mostly because it's an inherently pessimistic view of the action, like when people argue "immortality is a curse," they start from the conclusion, not really approaching the discussion in good faith. I myself won't deny my bias here as I'm strongly opposed to any sort of willful ignorance, especially regarding other people, and obviously that won't change even if the people in question aren't physical. Misunderstandings just lead to too many problems, so I don't think trying to understand the nature of such entities should ever be described as 'stripping them down,' any more than the study of the human body is stripping humanity down. The desire to understand is borne of an appreciation for things, and a craving to better understand the beauty of them and what exactly comprises that beauty. Admittedly, I probably won't be swaying any of the more mystically minded Anons here, but I will stand by this throughout whatever threads I may happen to be in.

>>47586518
the last time i tried to save a bird it fucking gave up on life and died in my hands

>>47601524
>For starters, reading through the mentions of Tengu, particularly their connections with the Buddhism section, I think merits some research in its own right.
Wow, that site you linked is fantastic! I really admire people who have such laser focus on a particular topic. Thank you. If you have any further suggestions keep them coming. I plan on expanding the section on Moon, overall cosmology and portrayals of IRL Shinto kami in Touhou at the very least.
>I'm not particularly interested in acknowledgement.
Unfortunately not acknowledging the contributions of others violates my ethics!!!
>even basic contact would result in a level of vulnerability for a person that I imagine most are not prepared for
I think this comes from a POV that spirit contacts are always rare and dramatic. This is one of those things that are very hard to explain from anything but kind of top-down POV, but I'll try.

Spirits are literally everywhere and in everything. You already interact with them whether you know it or not. You are already interacting with "egregores". Even when you become broadly aware of spirits, it's not necessarily gonna be like being stuck in a phantasmagoria where you see a kami lurking behind every tree. It wasn't like that for me even at the peak and the peak was a transient experience.

Becoming aware of and really integrating this was a difficult experience, but if you end up there, you have to remember and understand that most spirit encounters are as mundane and inconsequential as they are for you right now.

But yes, it leaves you vulnerable, at least for a while and you are going to get all kinds of curious onlookers making a visit. These can be prepared for. And if one takes the plunge, at some point you just have to trust at least some of the spirits, just like you have to trust people enough to assume you won't get murdered by the cashier at the shop. As for misunderstandings, it's a possibility, but you can always apologize if you do something upsetting.

>I've been making regular attempts at Dream Journaling since mentioning it in a previous thread, I've still had basically zero luck
From my experience it has to be extremely consistent and even then 90% of your dreams will be very mundane. And even when they aren't mundane it might be hard to understand what's up. I have had very few Touhou related dreams, most of them have been weird parasomnic states, but I have had other kind of signifigant dreams.
>>47601535
>I have to admit that this has been the most difficult aspect to reconcile since the start of my spiritual journey.
I came from a background where a secular understanding of how people are influenced by outside forces was a given, so it didn't shock me so much.
>why do I get to experience such joy and wonder
It depends a lot on perspective. Severing yourself from harmful "spiritual ecosystems" also contributes a lot to this. You can live in the midst of misery if you are not *part of* the misery.
>This is only loosely relevant, but are you familiar with the different levels of focus?
No, that was something completely new to me. Thank you for sharing this. I should read more about that, I don't quite yet connect it with what I was thinking about yet.
>I often find myself thinking of the forms familiar to us as their GUI (in a good-natured way, of course)
Basicaly the same here. Some see it as manipulative. I just see it as putting effort into your presentation.
>would be on the losing end if they were to "strip me down" to an elemental level
Such could be extremely traumatic, yes.
>What business does a baptized Westerner have with Eastern deities and spirits, anyway?
Depending on what exactly the Christian god is...who knows. Maybe more than you think.
For the record, I'm unbaptized and there is much more activity related to Buddhism and Taoism in my immediate surroundings than I thought, so that's something.
>>47601588
>I still maintain my disagreement with this
I understand. I had some very colorful metaphors in mind, but for me, it would be like dissecting your own teacher to learn about humans.

There's also a fact that the most abstract representations of themselves they have shown made me understand why in Bible the angels say "do not be afraid". They're not horrifying, but it's so outside of normal human perception that it triggers some kind of "I'm dying, better have a panic attack" reflex in the body.

They did this like twice to drive a point home - once because I wondered what they are "really" like and second time to make sure I understood it was them. They stopped after that because they understood I suffered.

They also can manifest in non-human, but less abstract, very symbolic ways. These aren't scary on an animal level but having a mental conversation with a mountain with a halo of light radiating out of it is still really weird.
>>47602032
Oh, no that sucks. :(

>>47604019
>If you have any further suggestions keep them coming.
Absolutely will do.
>not acknowledging the contributions of others violates my ethics!!!
Screw the ethics, you have money!
>I think this comes from a POV that spirit contacts are always rare and dramatic.
That's not really it, actually, it would be much more comfortable if things WERE that way. The primary issue is that the nature of such entities inevitably means contact is an intrusion upon one's own 'mental space,' and THAT is extremely unpleasant to think about for myself, and I imagine many others who consider their own thoughts to be a sanctuary.
>just like you have to trust people enough to assume you won't get murdered by the cashier at the shop.
This comes down to the fact that knowledge of bad actors in such an "egregore" community is reason enough for someone who's spiritually deaf, blind and dumb to walk around with the equivalent of a gun in their hand, which of course lends itself to its own issues.
>it has to be extremely consistent and even then 90% of your dreams will be very mundane.
Believe me, it has been consistent, the issue isn't that the dreams aren't mundane, but that I can't fuckin' remember any of 'em. Hence the remark regarding a certain Baku.
>Depending on what exactly the Christian god is...who knows.
Considering it originally came from what was essentially a polytheistic religious environment, it's not unreasonable to suggest that it isn't too fundamentally different.
>it would be like dissecting your own teacher to learn about humans.
Curious. I thought it would be more like asking your teacher to pose nude to learn about anatomy, which, yes, at face value sounds a little strange, but obviously isn't the same as skinning them alive.

>>47604072
>an intrusion upon one's own 'mental space,' >extremely unpleasant to think about
>consider their own thoughts to be a sanctuary
I understand. There's two points about this.

First off ultimately the vast majority of such intrusions can be shrugged off. I won't say it's necessarily easy. Some entities can be very forceful and persistent. I think they are an exception, something you have to call, something you have to go looking for. Maybe if you live right next to a notorious paranormal hotspot the enitites will be much more difficult to deal with.

The key here too is ultimately the ability to let go of things. If something you don't want to deal with brushes against your mindstream, don't get too attached to it. If it's something really alluring or scary it can be very hard, but it's possible. You don't have to follow any ideas they give that you don't want to.

There are of course more forceful ways too. I am slightly suspicious towards many Western banishment rituals after reading Egregores by Mark Stavish, but a lot of stuff that gets new ageyly called "energy cleanses" works.

Secondly, you are already under the influence of all kinds of things. Your ideas aren't generally speaking 100% your own, they come from long chains of influence. Whether it's spirits or more mundane influence doesn't matter that much in the end. Your mental space is already being invaded. This can drive some people into existential crisis. But ultimately you, the real (You) can choose what kind of influences, spiritual or mundane, you want to subject yourself to. This is a skill you can cultivate.
>>47604072
>which of course lends itself to its own issues
Yes, most notably that "like attracts like" applies really strongly to the spirit realm. There are also adversary reactions sometimes, yes, but often it really is kind of a feedback loop. The more spooked you are, the more you draw in entities that like it when you are spooked...

In the end, it's your choice, but just be mindful of this and that there is a lot you can do personaly to avoid getting too tangled with bad actors. You don't need a gun with you at all times if you know how to avoid the bad neighbourhoods, so to say.

And I have to say, there were times when I was really scared when things started happening. The kami can be extremely intense. But I didn't give into the fear and ultimately had the most positive, meaningful, growth-facilitating experience of my life.
>I can't fuckin' remember any of 'em
I see. How long have you been at it? Month or two? There are certain medications and "medications" and habits that interfere with dreaming but I'm not gonna assume anything. Just be aware of such. And of course fear and anxiety of possibly experiencing something might also be a blockage.
>Considering it originally came from what was essentially a polytheistic religious environment, it's not unreasonable to suggest that it isn't too fundamentally different.
Yeah I obviously don't believe in the Christian capital-G God, but there are a lot of more esoteric interpretations of "God" that line up with my ideas more.

What it is, I don't know. It's been interpreted variously as some kind of impersonal logos, the divine masculine principle or just the deity of a Semitic tribe that gew out of it's origin point.

If it's some kind of latent consciousness of the universe, well, then every other deity and spirit is part of it. If it's the divine masculine principle, then Christianity just doesn't worship the divine feminine principle (the Catholics kinda smugled this in with the importance of Mary). If it's just a single but very petty deity, then there is a whole world of other options. You could see it as kind of Yahweh is an aspect of the divine masculine which stems from the logos of the universe type of thing too.
>I thought it would be more like asking your teacher to pose nude to learn about anatomy
Anon...the Keine doujins...put them down anon...

hello again
since the last thread, I actually joined a tendai temple (online), and participated in the obon celebration with chanting. my teacher did an esoteric ritual to feed pretas.
I was surprised that tendai practicioners also practice shinto, with their own sect "Sannō ichijitsu Shintō 山王一實神道 (One Truth of Sannō Shintō)"
"Sannō was the Kami who resided on Mt Hiei. His name means ‘Mountain King’ and, according to legend, this Kami helped Saichō understand the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra. It is taught in Tendai that Sannō is an emanation (gongen 権現) of Śakyamuni Buddha"
buddhists (since kukai at least) who practice shinto believe that kami are emanations (gongen 権現) of buddhas, bodhisattvas or myo-o in a familiar form (reminds you of something?)
in other happenstances:
- a girl that I know told me that when she went to a buddhist temple, she felt a high spiritual energy in the space, and it reminded me of a thing I read once (lost it unfortunately) that sensing a strong energy in a place means that a deva is there.
- a cleaning lady saw the shou I put under my pillow and told me she really likes the picture and senses a good energy from it
- a weak manifestation of my predictive dream ability; I dreamt about eating corn, the next day my mom takes me to the market, and they sold corn. they never ever sell corn. silly I know
- everytime I think about kannon bodhisattva (also known as guan yin/avalokiteshvara), I get teary eyed for no reason. she is extremely powerful and compassionate and I'm convinced she is real. I started praying to her for example to succeed in my exams and I succeeded. though I would say studying hard helped more... I still feel extremely at ease that she hears me.
- I stopped worshipping lord bishamonten since someone told without initiation it's a bad idea and would confuse the deva. to get esoteric initiation you need to become a monastic, and I have started to think about it eventually (especially since lord fudo-myoo has been in my psyche lately)
- I need to start worshipping tara to thank okina for manifesting herself
thanks for reading my blog

Oh my, I didn't noticed than there was a /x/ - /jp/ thread. I just woke up form a long nap and just get in. (I rarely post in 4chan.) Anyway, since 1 month I often make strange dreams that felt pretty real; going in places than I have never been before like western European castles, eastern and western temples, gothic churches, large hills, forests, mountains, caves. You get the point.

At first I thought than it's was just my "never enough of adventure" spirit that was playing me. (I love going outdoors and go to strange places.) Even if some of them were really scary because I felt tracked and hunted, it's was also a good source of excitement. And then 3 days ago (19 August), I fall asleep at my grandma's house while looking at the full moon. Usual stuff, but this time something was a little different... I spawned in the middle of a tall mountain in the dark. There was no moon in the sky, there was a really cold wind that gave me chills and worst of all, the constellations were different, expect for some. (ursa minor, ursa major and the polar star was still here.) I was on a mountain road and there were 2 options; go up or down.

My instinct told me to follow the polar star so I've been going up. There wasn't much light so I had to be careful with my steps, else it could end badly. After some walking I find a chalet with light inside like the ones you can find in the Alpes. (Tall mountains in France, Swiss, Italy.) Seeing a architecture than I recognise actually, I head in, seeing a shelter. Knock the door. (I'm a gentleman.) The door open by itself, I was bewilded naturally because it's was a wooden door with no mechanism on it. And then to my surprise I see Yukari Yakumo with her purple dress on inside the salon, sitting on a antique chair and drinking some tea. There is a lit fireplace and the decoration look like after-war Europe.

I'm like, what the hell is going on? Aren't this woman the result of the imagination of a drunken asian neet? Are my dreams becoming the more and more screwed? Or is the boundaries of the dreams and reality have been broken? The hell I know. All I know form her is the artistic work form Touhou Project, A licence that I enjoy. (Especially the music.) Well, she told me to take a seat next to the table, to my surprise she looked way more European than I expected. (I was kind of expecting a Asian girl because of the Japanese setting of Touhou Project.) I took my seat, it's was really comfy, next of the fireplace heating me up. (Feels really good man, especially the wood cracking noise when it burn.)

Then she start speaking in my maternal language. (French.) But, I'm too comfy to notice how weird it's is. Anyway, I just make myself some good lemon tea and I listen to her rantings. Then I got myself to speak and asked her opinion on the nature of time and space. (turbo 'tism, sorry.) Well, she started speaking about a sea and how riddles are modelling what you're seeing and feeling. I replied on that is I don't believe in that because time and space are not the same. Well, just two autists arguing on philosophy next to the fireplace. It's was quite the long time, exchanging giggles and arguments. (kind of the first time than I held a normal conversation with someone, even if it's was maybe a dream?)

Then time goes by and I fall asleep on the chair next to the fireplace, I woke up in my room. But I still have the taste of the tea in my mouth and the good feel of the fireplace. And then I get melancholic, thinking than I won't see her again. (The debate was really good.) But then I got a another dream with her involved. (Will speak more about the next one later.)

>>47608612
>I actually joined a tendai temple (online)
Wow, that's cool, I didn't know such was even possible...it's really neat that one of the oldest sects of Japanese Buddhism survives like this to this day.
>I was surprised that tendai practicioners also practice shinto
Considering the time in history during which they formed, I'm personally not all that surprised.
>emanations (gongen 権現) of buddhas, bodhisattvas or myo-o in a familiar form (reminds you of something?)
Yeah absolutely it does. I've been thinking a lot about how the various kami have attributes you would find in deities from other cultures.
>a strong energy in a place means that a deva is there
That's an interesting detail.
> a cleaning lady saw the shou I put under my pillow and told me she really likes the picture and senses a good energy from it
Awww!
>I dreamt about eating corn
I've read that a lot of people have super mundane and minor precognitive experiences, nothing to sneer at.
>I'm convinced she is real
Hundreds of millions of people have believed in Kannon-sama, I can imagine she is extremely powerful.
>I stopped worshipping lord bishamonten since someone told without initiation it's a bad idea and would confuse the deva
Oh that's really interesting. What are the Tendai practitioners allowed to do without an initaton?
>I need to start worshipping tara to thank okina for manifesting herself
So do you feel that Okina-sama is a manifestation of Tara..?
>thanks for reading my blog
No problem, this was very interesting news. Keep us updated. It's cool to have someone with the inside view to Tendai Buddhism.

Out of curiosity, how much have you told them about the reasons why you joined?

>>47608699
>constellations were different expect for some. >ursa minor, ursa major and the polar star was still here
>My instinct told me to follow the polar star so I've been going up
There is so much to unpack here but I suppose you wander a lot in the wild IRL too?
It's super interesting that those were intact, considering Okina-sama's role in Gensokyo and her relationship to the northern stars.
>Or is the boundaries of the dreams and reality have been broken?
It's starting to seem that something like that is happening.
>she looked way more European than I expected
Are you aware of the popular fan theory that she and Maribel Hearn are the same? Maribel is certainly European...
>she started speaking about a sea and how riddles are modelling what you're seeing and feeling
Very, very interesting. I don't know what to make of this.
>I still have the taste of the tea in my mouth
Do you often have these kind of sensory after-effects from dreams?

Anyway, welcome and very interesting stuff, I presume you are the guy who rolled Yukari in that other thread?

Speaking of your (presumed) homeland, I have been reading a book about sacred sites in Europe and there was a lot of stuff about France there, about the Cathars and the Grail myths in particular. It was mentioned there is a cluster of churches in southern France in the shape of the Big Dipper. I thought that was very interesting.

>>47608715
>Oh that's really interesting. What are the Tendai practitioners allowed to do without an initaton?
studying, chanting, meditation, pure land practice. basically everything besides esoteric rituals. as far as I understand:
most of the rituals are about connecting to the dharmakaya directly, the cosmic body of the buddha (or buddhas)
though I know this fact from researching shingon buddhism
>So do you feel that Okina-sama is a manifestation of Tara..?
I actually misinterpreted that chart with okina and eternity in this thread. I have no idea what he is an emanation from, and it makes it very hard to worship him since I have no mantra or sutra associated. I guess I'll bow and thank him and continue to pay attention. maybe even give offerings of rice
>Out of curiosity, how much have you told them about the reasons why you joined?
I told them I needed a sangha and a teacher. I am very new so I haven't attended a dharma talk besides a short one so I couldn't ask my teacher questions. in one month I'll tell him I want to take refuge and vows officially

>>47608811
>studying, chanting, meditation, pure land practice. basically everything besides esoteric rituals.
I see. What exactly is the pure land practice?
>most of the rituals are about connecting to the dharmakaya directly, the cosmic body of the buddha (or buddhas)
Yeah that sounds very serious business.
>I have no idea what he is an emanation from
I don't really know what they are. In some sense I think some of them are the "children" of various deities - >>47601125 was 50% shitpost 50% serious. The more I read about ideas in different traditions it also feels like they capture some extremely universal archetypes. Okina-sama fits the Northern World Pillar idea, Keiki-sama is very much in line with various Earth goddesses who were both motherly but also a bit scary, Kanako-sama has quite the Sky Father energies despite being female. Chimata-sama is something newer, her patchwork reflects the coming together of different elements in the markets and different market kami coming together to form her. She is also the kami of Comiket.

I pray to the Big Four with my own prayer based on the standard Shinto norito but in my on language (which you shouldn't do per official doctrine...) and it's a bit modified to reflect our common history. I give them daily offerings too.
>I told them I needed a sangha and a teacher.
OK, fair enough. Is the temple based in Japan or elsewhere..?

>>47608903
>I see. What exactly is the pure land practice?
praying to amithaba and reciting nembutsu. although, I haven't attended one yet
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nianfo
I find jodo shinshu to be the most interesting pure land school but tendai has a more "traditonal" practice. here is master zhiyi's, the founder of tientai, basic article about it:
https://ia600806.us.archive.org/1/items/wwwpointpurelandbuddhismpointcom/wwwpointpurelandbuddhismpointcom.pdf
>I don't really know what they are. In some sense I think some of them are the "children" of various deities - >>47601125 was 50% shitpost 50% serious. The more I read about ideas in different traditions it also feels like they capture some extremely universal archetypes.
it's certainly an interesting thought. I need to think about it more. the "wrathful aspect of amida" in the wiki page seems to resonate with me the most but I'll try to worship matarajin as his own thing.
>I pray to the Big Four with my own prayer based on the standard Shinto norito but in my on language (which you shouldn't do per official doctrine...) and it's a bit modified to reflect our common history. I give them daily offerings too.
care to share how to go about it? if you want to
>I told them I needed a sangha and a teacher.
>OK, fair enough. Is the temple based in Japan or elsewhere..?
it's based in the west but I'm not going to tell more because it may doxx me. the teacher has an authentic lineage going back to japan though

>>47606825
>First off ultimately the vast majority of such intrusions can be shrugged off.
>The key here too is ultimately the ability to let go of things.
I mean I would imagine most people handle intrusive thoughts that way regardless of if we assume they're 'spiritually external' in nature or not.
>after reading Egregores by Mark Stavish
The amount of reading material out there, especially combined with the amount of it that has no historical basis and is just made to get money really has just convinced me to stick to reading the old Hermetic Texts when I have the time, and probably get into the Tao Te Ching afterwards.
>Your mental space is already being invaded.
Gotta invest in some mental home defense, clearly.
>You don't need a gun with you at all times if you know how to avoid the bad neighbourhoods
Operative word being "if" here.
>How long have you been at it? Month or two?
Started in late May, so it should be about 3 months that I've been at it now? There was a stretch where I wasn't able to keep up the habit due to a trip where I didn't bring it with me, but largely the unfilled pages are more a result of not being able to remember the dreams rather than not being consistent in the attempt.
>there are a lot of more esoteric interpretations of "God" that line up with my ideas more.
Gnosticism has a particularly interesting outlook on it, especially in rectifying the gulf in teachings between the Old and New Testaments.
>Anon...the Keine doujins...put them down anon...
This is slander! I would never stick my dick in a fed!

>>47608612
>>47608811
>>47609077
>since the last thread, I actually joined a tendai temple
Try not to become a tengu.
Interesting stuff, though, particularly the pure land practice bits, guess I'm adding that to the list of things to read up on.

>>47608699
>>47608791
>I was bewilded naturally because it's was a wooden door with no mechanism on it.
By which do you mean there wasn't even a handle?
>she looked way more European than I expected.
>the popular fan theory that she and Maribel Hearn are the same?
Not even a fan theory. ZUN has gone as far out of his way as possible to tell us that they are, short of outright saying it.
>Then she start speaking in my maternal language. (French.)
Not even all that surprising that she'd know it, frankly.
>she started speaking about a sea and how riddles are modelling what you're seeing and feeling.
>Very, very interesting. I don't know what to make of this.
True to form, there's a decent chance that she was doing her usual shtick of deliberately sounding mysterious to avoid tipping off that she doesn't know herself, and hoping someone else would inform her in the process.
>because time and space are not the same.
Relativity (sort of) says otherwise, but that's for a /sci/ - /jp/ thread, not an /x/ - /jp/ thread.

All things considered, it makes sense given her unambiguously western origins that Yukari would have the most interest in Westerners. I'd prefer not to think of the implications that may have regarding my own displacement experience.

>>47608791
>There is so much to unpack here but I suppose you wander a lot in the wild IRL too?
>It's super interesting that those were intact, considering Okina-sama's role in Gensokyo and her relationship to the northern stars.
Yeah, I do in the wilds a lot and I have some expertise in astronomy with unironically help a lot. You need a beacon? Look after the big dipper or the polar star, at least you know than you go in north so you can dress up east, west, south pretty quicky. Also I guess than Okina is doing her job pretty well.
It's starting to seem that something like that is happening.
Well, It's going to be epic I guess.
>Are you aware of the popular fan theory that she and Maribel Hearn are the same? Maribel is certainly European...
I know than Maribel have Greek origins and i'm aware of this fan theory.
>Very, very interesting. I don't know what to make of this.
I'll explain in detail when I have some time.
Do you often have these kind of sensory after-effects from dreams?
Yeah.
>Anyway, welcome and very interesting stuff, I presume you are the guy who rolled Yukari in that other thread?
Same guy.
Speaking of your (presumed) homeland, I have been reading a book about sacred sites in Europe and there was a lot of stuff about France there, about the Cathars and the Grail myths in particular. It was mentioned there is a cluster of churches in southern France in the shape of the Big Dipper. I thought that was very interesting.
I've been visiting some of those, around Carcassone, they have a very outerworldly atmosphere around them. Also the Cathars ideology have a lot of similarities with the Lunarians' one. It's good to know.

>>47609077
>praying to amithaba and reciting nembutsu
Ahh, so that's what it is.
>the "wrathful aspect of amida" in the wiki page seems to resonate with me the most
>care to share how to go about it?
It's similar to the yohai process described here: https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/yohai
But before I start I give the offerings. I have a "kamidana", it's not authentic per Shinto ruling since only a kannushi can give the ofuda that has the kami in it...but I am dealing with kami that are not officially recognized as such, so screw it.

The prayer I use would be translated to English as something like:
I call upon you great spirits to come to this home altar to receive my offerings and to hear my prayers,
you whose mere names I should dread, but you who answered to me even when I did not know how to pray
O Yasaka Kanako-sama, Mountain of Faith, Mother of Rains and Storms, Inheritor of the great Suwa lineago, you who cultivates Heavenliness
O Okina Matara-sama, Hidden Star in Four Seasons, Sage of Gensokyo, Gatekeeper and Opener of Backdoors, you who raises Great Energies
O Haniyasushin Keiki-sama, Sculptor Goddess, Vanquisher of Demons, Great Builder, you who represent all growth and progress
O Tenkyuu Chimata-sama, God of the Unowned, Uniter and Divider, you who dwell in all marketplaces, you who returns things to their potential
I pray that I can share the blessings you give with others
I pray that I can follow the right path as you teach withouth straying
Give energy for the work I do
Protect me and those close to me
Help me give my everything
for the sake of humanity and this world

I say the harae (harae tamai, kiyome tamae) and the last "kashikomi kashikomi mo mosu" in Japanese. The first is a standard purification prayer ("I ask that you purify and cleanse me") and the last bit means "I most humbly and reverently ask of you"

But yeah...this would not pass official Shinto doctrine, so it is what it is.
>it's based in the west but I'm not going to tell more because it may doxx me.
OK, I understand!
>>47609542
>I mean I would imagine most people handle intrusive thoughts that way regardless of if we assume they're 'spiritually external' in nature or not.
Yeah essentially, but surprisingly many get swept up in them or try to struggle really hard against them.
>convinced me to stick to reading the old Hermetic Texts when I have the time
Not a bad idea per say but they might be a difficult to get a grasp on without knowing some context.
>Operative word being "if" here.
DESU modern cities are kinda "bad neighbourhood" for this, but most of the stuff in them is inconsequential. Stay away from known paranormal hotspots, natural areas with ominous names, weird cults, edgy occult materials and maybe don't go to a metal festival if you have a hotline to the spirit world open.
>so it should be about 3 months that I've been at it now?
You should probably consult dream journaling material outside of this thread. I started getting results after about a month.
>Gnosticism has a particularly interesting outlook on it
Yeah I used to be really into Gnosticism at one point. Never 100% believed in it since I didn't really believe in spirits or gods at that point but I treated it as a metaphor and disconnected from the evil world of the Demiurge by leaving social media. I was in despair over many things and doing that, severing my connection to a very visible representation of the nasty side of this world genuinely helped a lot. I suspect this might have been one factor in spirits becoming more interested in me.
>>47609632
>Look after the big dipper or the polar star
It's really embarrassing but I learned to look for these only after I started having my experiences.
>I've been visiting some of those, around Carcassone, they have a very outerworldly atmosphere around them.
Yeah the author of the book in question said the same. What kind of other sites of interest have you been visiting?
>Also the Cathars ideology have a lot of similarities with the Lunarians' one. It's good to know.
I was actually reminded a lot of Buddhism since they believed in rebirth. They seemed to have an overall more negative view of the world. The focus on purity certainly reminds a bit of the Lunarians too, and the Lunarians obsession with it comes from Shinto. The Cathars were a strange piece of East in the West, it seems.

>>47608699
This has been one hell of a strange summer, huh?
But yes... word has it that she is a wonderful conversationist.

>>47609542
>By which do you mean there wasn't even a handle?
Nope, just a wodden door. In fact it's was a kind of oak wood, very well varnished tho.
>Not even all that surprising that she'd know it, frankly.
That's why I haven't been freaked out.
>True to form, there's a decent chance that she was doing her usual shtick of deliberately sounding mysterious to avoid tipping off that she doesn't know herself, and hoping someone else would inform her in the process.
I guess I've been pretty useful to her then, I have a lot of philosophical explainations for this kind of stuff.
>Relativity (sort of) says otherwise, but that's for a /sci/ - /jp/ thread, not an /x/ - /jp/ thread.
I'm just not a big fan of the relativity, it just doesn't rub my 'tism in the right way. But I'll don't start on that, else I would rant like a old geezer that doesn't get his tea at the perfect temperature.

>It's really embarrassing but I learned to look for these only after I started having my experiences.
I learned that while being pretty young because I do hike a lot. Also, I like astronomy.
>Yeah the author of the book in question said the same. What kind of other sites of interest have you been visiting?
Around 35 km on the south of Carcasonne, in the foot of of the pic of Bugarach, (1,2 km high.) there is a town called... Bugarach (you didn't see that one coming aren't you?) With around 300 townfolks. Well the town on itself isn't that much of interest, but the moutain is. This moutain called the "upside down mountain" because the rock at the top are younger than the ones on the bottom, is a pretty big attraction among the New Age folks.

Around the moutain it's to be said to have UFO activity, spiritual gathering, hidden treasures, spiritual energy, aliens inside the mountain, space ships to save our asses in the 21/12/12 (21, Dec, 2012.) And even dimensional gates at lead directly into Hell itself! Of course this mountain picked my interest, so I pack up my stuff and go on, Let's go hiking and climbing lads! But infortunaly there is night so I park up the car and get some beauty sleep. Next morning I go for the mountain and take the longest hiking path (Voie de la Fenêtre. Hard, I'll advice you to train if one day you would go here.)

Gotta cut the blog post short, (don't wanna get banned.) But overall, there is some huge spiritual energy around that mountain and if you're kind of awakened, you could have nice dreams and maybe seeing spirits.

>I was actually reminded a lot of Buddhism since they believed in rebirth. They seemed to have an overall more negative view of the world. The focus on purity certainly reminds a bit of the Lunarians too, and the Lunarians obsession with it comes from Shinto. The Cathars were a strange piece of East in the West, it seems.
Definitively not form East, Cathars were Christian over all and they didn't have a negative view of the world, more like a really manichaean one. They do see as "this good, this bad." like. But they still share a lot with the Buddism.

>>47611811
Yeah, Yukari love speaking about all and nothing.

I'm back for discussion after a couple days. I actually had an usual dream right after I went to bed after posting, though I didn't record it for a while or post because it seemed daunting and I kept getting distracted by various things. I'm (a?) NEET yet I still find ways to fail at my few tasks. I remember someone else in this thread said that society had few places for those halfway in the spirit world and expressed fear over their ability to stay employed and even take care of themself is they delved too deep; perhaps dysfunction in the material world is the price one pays for function in the spirit world. Anyway, I shall get on with the strange dream. It was split into two parts, of which I cannot remember which came first.

PART A:
I remember learning about or remembering a movie and living in it at the same time. This kind of thing happens a lot in my dreams: experiencing being *in* a piece of media, sometimes after experiencing part of it normally.

This movie was called something like "Children of god". In the dream I struggled to remember the title. In the dream I remembered it was my mother's favorite movie though it doesn't exist IRL. It was about a couple who already had like two children, at least one of them something like teenage age, finally getting married after years of not doing so. The mother had recently gotten pregnant to a third or fourth child and sometimes had already given birth to the baby (time in this dream was kinda weird, probably in part because I was remembering and imagining things in the dream). This mother figure is the figure from this dream I remember best: I remember looking at her and she had moderately long brown hair that came past her shoulders but short of her elbows, and brown eyes, and she was slightly tan. Her husband had a similar skin tone to her and also brown hair, though his was quite short. The mother figure seemed sort of comfortable to me. I remember she was considered very wise, I think about spiritual topics, though I cannot remember any of her wisdom.

The movie had a very particular aesthetic that for some reason reminds me of the 90's or early 2000's. Not like the fashion among teenagers, but of "normal" "boring movies" of that time period like dramas and rom-coms. There's something familiar about it that reminds me of memories that are so far off I can't remember if they're dreams.

I remember being in a town built on a coast. The sea was unnaturally blue, like that of a cartoon rather than a real ocean and I remember the town was built right on the coast, like you had a little cliff or ledge that went right into the sea, I remember a lot of white. It was a sunny day I think some Italian towns might be like this. I see this motif of coastal cliffs with houses a lot in my dreams, though this place was different because the cliffs are normally way larger, the water a more realistic color, normally there's just one house, and normally the weather is overcast or cloudy.

I remember an unusual bit of street that was this block shape road lifted like 20 feet higher than anyone else and looked like someone messed around with a level editor in a videogame. I remember meeting a man who wore sunglasses. He was stressed out about something and going through some kind of mental struggle. He had with him plushies or plastic statues of the three original starter Pokemon and ended up throwing one, which I think shifted mid-air, and became a hybrid of Squirtle and Bulbasaur. I think he wanted to share them with me or something, it's hard to remember.

I remember pacing around and remembering more about the movie. I remember or learned on Wikipedia that apparently it was originally adapted from an anime and/or manga, which surprised me. The manga was apparently way crazier, and I remember a scene of a male, the father who bore little resemblance to his live action depiction and was drawn in a dragon ball art style, screaming in a washed out red background. It apparently had a lot more to say about the spiritual matters that were related to the mother's wisdom. I can't remember much more of part A right now.

>>47608699
>riddles are modelling what you're seeing and feeling
I've been thinking about this since I had seen it last night.
It is possible to break down this whole sentence into its base components and I even had much longer post talking about various possibilities. But in the end, I came to conclusion that this is a riddle in itself. Whatever you believe is the correct interpretation of this sentence (answer to the riddle), will influence how you approach the subject from rational angle (model it), therefore changing some facet of how you percieve it (seeing and feeling). It doesn't even need to go into metaphysics; once coming to some conclusion, people tend to stick to it and act based on it. Doubting something that is 'thought over and done' is harder then doubting something you hadn't mulled over yet.

>>47612914
PART B:
This part I don't remember so much of. I remember exploring some kind of "maze" though it wasn't a scary maze and was themed kinda like an educational video game in a way that's hard to describe. I think there weren't many polygons.That I remember at one point being in a center area that was sectioned off into 4 areas that had gates and paths to them. I think there were short hedge mazes. One of the gates led to some kind of mansion, I think it had a lot of green. I know that I wandered the maze for a while but I can't remember much of it. I think I was collecting things, some kind of keys. I remember tearing open a little plastic package that had some kind of candy in it, though it wasn't packaged like candy in that it had an opaque white package with small plain black text all over without any colors or logos you'd normally expect. The candy was weird. I think it was something like the length of my hand, maybe longer, mostly hollow, and had a slightly crescent cross section. I think it was white with black speckles like cookies and cream and had a bit of yellow goop inside. I don't remember the flavor well, maybe peach. I think the key was inside the candy.

At some point I briefly saw Flandre Scarlet in this dream. She was "drawn" (she still moved and interacted with the environment like a human or physical being) in a western art style. She wasn't proportional like most anime styles and her colors were darker or less saturated, I remember more curls and eyes with a flat or flattish top. I think I wondered how she would react to seeing me and in the dream thought I was on her turf. I think I was excited to see her.

I remember later in the center area my aunt came with many children and I understood I was at a family gathering. I remember a small Christmas tree. I remember children were collecting candy but I felt guilty that I had already collected too much and failed to communicate my concern with my aunt. I remember collecting one of those special candies and was torn on whether I should collect it and my aunt told me to keep it but I didn't want to though also felt I needed to. I can't remember much more of this dream.

When I woke up I overheard a conversation outside my window, which I had left open while I slept due to summer heat. I remember a woman confidently and calmly telling someone else they had to go to the ER. Nobody seemed panicked. I'm not totally sure why, but I thought someone had gone into labor.

>>47611811
I wonder if things will get even stranger towards the other peak of supernatural energies of the year.
>>47612055
>Bugarach
>UFO activity, spiritual gathering, hidden treasures, spiritual energy, aliens inside the mountain, space ships
That certain sounds like the usual laundry list of phenomena and ideas associated with paranormal hotspots yeah. Very cool to learn of this.
>there is some huge spiritual energy around that mountain and if you're kind of awakened, you could have nice dreams and maybe seeing spirits
I have never been to such a hotspot myself, I'm sure my country has some but I don't quite know what they are. I have been trying to research the subject but people are a bit quiet about these things here. But anyway, these places tend to develop their reputation for a reason.

I have read that Montserrat is another mountain in Europe associated with a lot of paranormal activity. It also looks really unusual.
>Definitively not form East
Oh I meant it as a figure of speech!
Though Buddhist influence landed to ancient West surprisingly early. Buddhist missionaries were active in the Hellenic world in 500 BCE. Who knows what kind of influence from the could have survived..?
>>47612914
>perhaps dysfunction in the material world is the price one pays for function in the spirit world
I don't know if it's a linear relationship but I have read of such cases.
>>47613446
>At some point I briefly saw Flandre Scarlet in this dream.
Ohhh that's interesting. You're the second anon in these threads to dream of her.
>I'm not totally sure why, but I thought someone had gone into labor.
That's certainly an interesting detail too, who knows, maybe that really was the case.
>>47613415
>Whatever you believe is the correct interpretation of this sentence (answer to the riddle), will influence how you approach the subject from rational angle (model it), therefore changing some facet of how you percieve it (seeing and feeling).
That's actually really cool insight to have. This kind of valuable understanding of the nature of reality and our perception is a really important, perhaps the most important, part of this process. You are having very much legitimate spiritual experience.

>>47613867
>You are having very much legitimate spiritual experience.
Just to be clear, I am not >>47608699. I gave this a thought mostly because it seemed similar to things that are discussed in philosophy and to lesser extent in psychology, something I have experience with.
I want also to note that such 'meta-explanation' have the very same effects it warns about, so take it with a grain of salt.

>>47614216
Oh. Well (You) are now going to have a legitimate spiritual experience.

>>47612914
Welcome back, funny enough I've been stuck in a small loop of my own these past two days of being continuously dragged away by something before I could post anything substantial here. I was planning on apologizing for the delay and saying "if I have to go on one more ramble about incidental bs distractions I'll eat my own cap" but I suppose the timing once again worked itself out in the end.
Seeing real-time posting synch-up in strange ways with my own goings on is always fun but that's besides the point.
>>47597266
>an unusual dream involving crows
Like what's been said, Corvids and other similar birds have very frequently been depicted as messengers & guides throughout the centuries. My mind always goes to Yatagarasu but I do have TH11 bias, do you roughly know how long you've been dreaming about crows this much as well or has this really all just been happening since last fall?
>my mom
>she had just commit murder
>said she was filled with a strange uncontrollable bloodlust
>demonically possessed
I'm not sure how dense the area you live within is exactly but I'd hate to think you'd have any sort of negative infestation playing up shocking events in your dreams for kicks.
Other anons aren't kidding when they talk about heavily urbanized cities often harboring all kinds of parasitical entities, but as long as you aren't growing panicked I suppose it is what it is.
>maybe they were ignoring me or my voice wasn’t working
>I definitely remember being concerned people were hurting the squirrel.
If we're taking any even vaguely psycho-analytical approach to this then I at least see a potential worry over others not being as empathetic or understanding as they should be. Such a creature would be especially vulnerable but it would definitely be saying something if they were actively ignoring the situation while still remaining somewhat aware.
People can be cruel, it's certainly nice that you at least seem to care.
>>47597479
>decide to stop and see if I can make it flicker more with supernatural ability
Been there! But my own results are pretty inconsistent of course.
Most of the time it seems like they're the ones with the real control over it.
>>47598202
>many of this “alien” entities or creatures are very evil
>The possibility of them influencing my dreams does not sit well with me.
Perfectly understandable, although this can partially tie into something extended I'd like to briefly try commenting on in a later post considering concerns also displayed within >>47604072 along the lines of mental sanctity so I'll hold off on much more for now.
Greys might be slightly outside of my current scope however...
>it seemed so crazy and impossible but I also wanted it to be true
>I wanted to and still want to cause things like explosions.
Really not far from how manifestation typically turns out! Once again reminded of TH11 though lol, I can see why Flan would pop up in that recent dream of yours.
>>47598402
>saw two maybe possible Xolotls along the same path I walked during the explosion
>wasn’t sure if I was seeing something new or merely misinterpreting shadows
>other illusions along the same path
I'm half-tempted myself to start researching exactly whatever seems to be lurking within the greater Portland area now but it's clear you have your area for personally-synched hotspots. Ever run into too many other people along these paths or is it usually just you because of your anxieties anyways?
>>47598823
>had a dream involving a being resembling him years before I learned of him
I'm starting to get a little surprised over how many of us were, in one way or another, primed for where we are now by these entities. You think you'd get used to it after a while but >>47587201!
I know what it feels like to realize when someone's had their eye on you for quite some time. It looks like you're taking things well however.
I'd also hate to fully catastrophize everything along the lines of >>47603219 but it's not as if I wouldn't understand the reasonings there either.
>It’s getting to be my bedtime, which shifts wildly in hard to predict ways.
Same once again, Ha Ha...the extended nights can be nice though.

If I wasn't approaching post capacity I'd try commenting on Parts A & B as well but I'll also simply save that for later.

>>47600688
Young, passionate women with an infatuation towards the improbable won't always shy away from unsavory acts to further their means.
She really does mean well but you can't ever be too at ease if she's in a fervor.
>>47601140
How well-cited are these sources? Are they peer reviewed? How prepared are you to demonstrate your findings on these matters?
These are the real important questions here Anon.
>>47602032
Hope it wasn't a species you're emotionally invested in! Genuinely a shame to hear though damn...
>>47611811 >>47612140
If one is able to keep up with her rambles then there certainly could be worse company to be found throughout these strange times.

>>47589907
>"the pond is a gate"
How right you are.

I'm astonished I forgot to mention this. I had an enlightenment experience... from daoism?!!
I had been reading on emptiness for a while, and I feel that I got a pretty good understanding of it. until something proved me wrong.
I was playing the seiga visual novel an anon shared (thank you!!!) (also interesting to note, this is the second time touhou guides me to realizations) and while reading the annotated dao de jing, I came across a page, forgot which, that deals with names and how limiting they are
and suddenly, like a flash of lightning, I looked outside and saw myself in everything, I physically felt I was apart of a whole cosmos
I instantly understood that this is the enlightement buddhas and buddhists are talking about
I also, in that rush of energy, wrote this:
"I just realized
everyone is immortal
I just have to look outside
whether you call the sun sun or babonga it will still be there
same with people
there is no creation and there is no destruction
we just have a very narrow view of what is a "person" because we are too attached to the concept of a self
what we are is unnamed and eternal
we are present in every droplet of water, every leaf, every speck of dust, every bit of garbage, every star
you can call it tao or emptiness, but it is a thing, and it is what allows beings to exist
when we named something for example "human", we attribute a time limit to it
a human is from birth to death
a table is from creation to destruction
but when we think without names suddenly everything lives forever
especially since time is kinda an illusion
there is no oberservable creation and destruction in the universe, only transformation
gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha”
I came down from it though. I think this is what physically understanding something is, beyond and superior to mental understanding
interestingly, this post has been very hard to actually, post
my pc is rangebanned, data wouldn't work on my phone, then I discovered data is rangebanned when it wasn't yesterday, I'm trying with data on another phone or to have someone send it for me

>>47614680
>being continuously dragged away by something before I could post anything substantial here
This happened to me so many times. I participated a bit in the first threads of this kind, but it has been hard to follow them. I am always missing them, leaving to read everything at once and then the thread archives and I lose the motivation to read it.
Like, it's not completely due to outside influences: the posts here are long and complex, and so you can't just read it quickly while doing other things; you have to take your time to read and think about it. But at the same time, it's definitely strange how I was able to keep up with so many threads yet this one evaded me. I am glad I am able to follow the thread this time, though I don't really have much of worth to add here. Maybe one day I'll make a post with my vision on why I think some people here disregard Western organized mainstream religion too much as a way to reach sincere understandings, but it definitely won't be today.

Lots of good stuff to go over this time, and the links have been slowly getting picked through on my down time.

Speaking of down time, I've decided to take things slower and really soak it all up when I go wandering to experience whatever this all is. I found a place nearby where I work that has a little Japanese garden with a Torii and everything that I can go to and have lunch, and it's close enough I can get an hour in after I leave for the day before they close to just sit and contemplate it all.
I went today and left a few snacks on a rock near the gate and had a leaf waving at me as I left. Told it "you're welcome" and kept going. I now plan on just packing a lunch every day and chilling out there with the rogue Kami, Youkai, Spirits, etc., that decides to wander in near the little stream next to it. It's pretty kino, ngl.

>>47614680
>the greater Portland area
Doesn't that place have reputation for drawing in all kinds of weird people?
>I'm starting to get a little surprised over how many of us were, in one way or another, primed for where we are now by these entities.
It's way more than I expected myself. Very curious.
>I'd also hate to fully catastrophize everything
I joked about it but I don't really believe it. Getting involved with the numinous tends to give "apocalyptic" and "end of the world" vibes, but I think these are most projections of your own "apocalypse" (literally unveiling) and "end of world" (either awareness of the limits of biological life or the termination of a life phase).
Something IS up though and it's most unusual!
>>47615067
Go on, tell us more.
>>47615324
>I had an enlightenment experience... from daoism?!!
Your experience sounds really powerful. However, considering how much Daoism influenced Chinese and therefore Japanese Buddhism, perhaps it is not as surprising as you think?

I certainly got a lot out of Deep Dive Into Emptiness and Why Buddhism Is True which one anon once upon a time shared. They both very strongly make the point of how much of our perception is just names we slap on things.
>>47615391
>but it has been hard to follow them
These threads really are for anons who are built different. I've certainly set the precedent, I always feel like I'm writing a very moderate lenght post and then it's very long...but if you have an idea you want to represent, you shouldn't feel like you have to get caught up in all of the discussion before you post it.
>>47616209
>I've decided to take things slower and really soak it all up when I go wandering to experience whatever this all is
Nice to see you again and sometimes slowing down is very necessary. It also opens up a lot of new perspectives.
>found a place nearby where I work that has a little Japanese garden with a Torii and everything
That's so cool! If it has a Torii it means it's a sacred space! We have a Japanese garden in this city too, but not a real Torii. Something evocative of it though. There is also another park that's just a...park, but it has something that's like an attempt at making a Torii in style of the traditions of this land. I've had powerful experiences in both parks, they've either accidentaly or intentionaly made sacred spaces by spacing them off.

I wish you best of luck with your observations in the park.

>>47616436
Ah, sorry >>47615067 was me. I forgot the name. I meant that the literal pond is a literal gate in Nagano. I was being a little too on the nose in some respects and too vague in others with that one. But yes, the "pond"(lake) in the mountains I went to and had some experiences is known in local legend as a gateway to the "other side". It just so happens to be smack dab in the middle of where Gensokyo should be.....not jumping in, though.
....maybe. we'll see. The locals probably already think I was a weird Gaijin wandering around out there like my own version of a cryptid. Anyways.

>>47616209
Glad to see everyone is hopefully doing well and keeping the info going.
The area is neat to me. I've known of it since I was a kid but it never seemed to "click" until a few days ago when I was going back over what all we had shared in the previous ones. Also....the pastebin post by one of you in that one Yukari thing is still open in my tabs. That was also partly the reason for me thinking that I wasn't.......really experiencing anything else lately like others and I wanted my piece of the pie, so to speak.

It doesn't help that I've been......well, anywhere else I wouldn't post this, but suffice to say my vision may be going bad and I'm due for a checkup, but I've been seeing....."tears".
Out of my peripheral vision when I get on certain topics or have certain dreams. Randomly and not often, but.....yeah.

I figured I could both ground myself if I'm starting to lose whatever I have left by going to that park, while also giving them a better way to approach without....

Mmmm...I saw all kinds of stuff so it's not that far out all things considered but.
Red ribbons.

>>47616635
I stand corrected, the pastebin is now gone. It was there a few hours ago.
If the author removed it, I wasn't gonna post anything. But if it expired, that's odd timing.

>>47616635
>I meant that the literal pond is a literal gate in Nagano
Ohhh I see. It's related to reflection of the moon, is it?
>I went to and had some experiences
Did you ever write about these ones in the previous threads?
>not jumping in, though.
They say there is a huge snake in there anyway.
>The locals probably already think I was a weird Gaijin wandering around
I wonder if they get many people on some kind of 2hu pilgrimmage.
>really experiencing anything else lately like others and I wanted my piece of the pie, so to speak.
Since you have had such dramatic and powerful experiences I can understand you crave a repeat of them. The existence and activity of these threads might generate some new happenings though, both on this board and outside of it. I'm very curious to see what will happen.
>my vision may be going bad and I'm due for a checkup
That sounds bad, if it's something physical I hope it's fixable. And I of course hope your eyes aren't getting gapped. This isn't Event Horizon, I hope.

>>47617015
>reflection
I have a theory that's related, but no way of giving a guarantee. I know a young girl on a white horse went into the thing hundreds/thousands of years ago and "ended up in the spirit world" from local legend.
>my experiences
I did some stuff in the threads, yes, but didn't want to flood it. I saw either the real people or a distorted egregore of both a maid and tanuki at separate points while there in certain "charged" areas. One looked me dead in my face and got a fright like I wasn't expected, and the other was from the back, walking away and around a corner after I originally came past a statue that wasn't there after seeing her recede in the distance with a splotches of green on her head. Both in same clothing, both in a liminal moment, both looking...."off"(?) and both moving at right angles.
Maid was in a mansion (go figure), and tanuki was near an ATM next to a shrine in Tokyo in a back alley.
>big snake
Really? Which one? Shirakoma? (Haven't been to Suwa yet, but will in the future thanks to your image with help, her and the others willing)
>gaijin
The old guys at the onsen kept talking about "bakemono" while I ate at the other table, so they either called me one or they knew about the stuff I ran into while there.
>curious
Me too, though allowing me to have better control at the approach instead of what's currently going on would help us all out, me thinks. I would rather share some tea out in the open than see rips in reality with red at each end out of the corner of my eye. They're tiny, but c'mon man. (There's a garbage can behind me in my office where I'm at that just shifted inside. Something fell or went further down, but really with the timing? 3spook5me Yookahree)
>bad eyes
I just need glasses and haven't had them for a few years. Not that bad, just due for a trip to the mechanic-get the oil changed and such.
>Event Horizon?
Not familiar-the game, an act, or a reference? Just out of the corners of them every now and then. Started about...come to think of it, around right before the moon. Huh.

Greetings gentlemen of /x/ - /jp/. (Also /sci/, /out/, /lit/?) This story is the sequel of this post : >>47608699 (Me). I'm pretty awake for now, (not for long.) So let's get started!

This story start 1 day after my first encounter with Yukari, (20 August.) I haven't dreamed of anything since my last and first encouter with her, this gave me pretty good sleep so I really felt at new, my body blooming with the power of yough! Hell yeah baby! But, in a another hand, my spirit felt kind of limp... Like, I'm missing something, my thrist for adventure is probably getting pretty high or maybe I just unconsciously wanted to see her again. (I never enjoyed a conversation that much with someone else, maybe I unconsciously learn how to socialize?) Anyway, I needed a new hiking destination, but first, I'll come home, so I packaged my stuff and equipement, say goodbye to grandma and got out form my grandma's house. (I love her.) I start the car, pass some good retrowave music and move on.

I travel in the country roads because they are nice tracks and the villages of France are beautiful alongside the landscape, there is also a lot of wildlife and driving with the open windows under the shadows of tree is nice, oh there is also some good food for cheap. But time is goes by and night fall in and the power napper than I am want to take some rest. I'll reach home tomorrow. I park the car in a forest parking, (nobody is here.) I adjust the seats of the car to make it like a bed. Move the stuff into the next seats. (Can't beat the Twingo 1 for utility!) Get inside my blanket and... Goodnight!

Or is it? I wake up in a dark and humid forest under a full red moon this time. (Lunar eclipse?) There is a strong chlling wind blowing into my back rattling against the branchs and trees without leaves. There is also a strong dense fog that is red due to the color of the moon (probably.) Expect for the winds and the trees, there is a overwhelming and unsettling silence. No wildlife either, No, nothing. I look up at the sky to do my polar star trick and bollocks! There is no constellations I recognize! No ursa minor and major, no pegasus, cygnus, andromeda, orion. Nothing! Bloody hell! Then I try to look for Venus in the sky with no luck on that. There was also no milky way, only a red full moon.

Anyways, I should get a move on, because maybe this forest look dead but there could be some entities chasing me. (I may be paranoid.) I moved in the direction of the wind. (Trying my luck.)I was on alert at every sound but also thrilled because I am in a place than I know absolutely nothing in a surreal scenery when bad stuff could happen. And then I got this thought on my head; If I get injured in those dreams? I also get injured in reality? Well, I quickly scoffed this idea apart because I didn't needed more stress on me. I'm a single man in a dead forest with a dense fog that look like damned blood that doesn't let you see at 4 meters with a chilling wind on my back and damned rattling sounds that hide some predator or eldrich atrocity that would be happy to make a meal out of me. But first priority is keeping your cool.

I'm still going deeper in this bloody forest of the dead, watching my every step and attentive to every sound and continuously trying to get my spirit straight and focused, not giving to stress or excitement. At this point I think than the trees are watching me and those damned piles of wood are the entities potentially chasing me. Bloody hell, I am giving in paranonia and that's not good for me. And then something appeared in front of me, a bloody gothic church western portal with two green torches next to it. I felt like the wind guided me here or perhaps lured. I don't know at this point, but well. Let's go! I push and open the gates of the church and enter inside.

Once inside the nave there is bloody red light everywhere due to the stained glass, it's feels like the place have been corrupted by a powerful demon or something, but there is something even worse than this bloody light, damned skulls on the floor of this church! Yet my curiosity push me to go further into this church. And then I reach the sanctuary with damned red light and purple one that light the statues of angels or something and then I see Yukari, sitting on the altar with the moonlight shining on her back. I relax upon seeing her and ask her; Where the damned hell I am? She reply than it's just a dead world. Nothing more lives here. And then I look around and see a lot of skulls and bones but they don't reek of decomposition so they're been dead since a long time or maybe there isn't any bacterium to do the job.

(Part 2 incoming, reached character limit.)

Greetings gentlemen of /x/ - /jp/. (Also /sci/, /out/, /lit/?) This story is the sequel of this post :>>47608699 (You)(Me). I'm pretty awake for now, (not for long.) So let's get started!

This story start 1 day after my first encounter with Yukari, (20 August.) I haven't dreamed of anything since my last and first encounter with her, this gave me pretty good sleep so I really felt at new, my body blooming with the power of cough! Hell yeah baby! But, in a another hand, my spirit felt kind of limp... Like, I'm missing something, my thirst for adventure is probably getting pretty high or maybe I just unconsciously wanted to see her again. (I never enjoyed a conversation that much with someone else, maybe I unconsciously learn how to socialize?) Anyway, I needed a new hiking destination, but first, I'll come home, so I packaged my stuff and equipment, say goodbye to grandma and got out form my grandma's house. (I love her.) I start the car, pass some good retrowave music and move on.

I travel in the country roads because they are nice tracks and the villages of France are beautiful alongside the landscape, there is also a lot of wildlife and driving with the open windows under the shadows of tree is nice, oh there is also some good food for cheap. But time is goes by and night fall in and the power napper than I am want to take some rest. I'll reach home tomorrow. I park the car in a forest parking, (nobody is here.) I adjust the seats of the car to make it like a bed. Move the stuff into the next seats. (Can't beat the Twingo 1 for utility!) Get inside my blanket and... Goodnight!

Or is it? I wake up in a dark and humid forest under a full red moon this time. (Lunar eclipse?) There is a strong chilling wind blowing into my back rattling against the branches and trees without leaves. There is also a strong dense fog that is red due to the color of the moon (probably.) Expect for the winds and the trees, there is a overwhelming and unsettling silence. No wildlife either, No, nothing. I look up at the sky to do my polar star trick and bollocks! There is no constellations I recognize! No Ursa minor and major, no Pegasus, Cygnus, Andromeda, Orion. Nothing! Bloody hell! Then I try to look for Venus in the sky with no luck on that. There was also no milky way, only a red full moon.

Anyway, I should get a move on, because maybe this forest look dead but there could be some entities chasing me. (I may be paranoid.) I moved in the direction of the wind. (Trying my luck.)I was on alert at every sound but also thrilled because I am in a place than I know absolutely nothing in a surreal scenery when bad stuff could happen. And then I got this thought on my head; If I get injured in those dreams? I also get injured in reality? Well, I quickly scoffed this idea apart because I didn't needed more stress on me. I'm a single man in a dead forest with a dense fog that look like damned blood that doesn't let you see at 4 meters with a chilling wind on my back and damned rattling sounds that hide some predator or eldritch atrocity that would be happy to make a meal out of me. But first priority is keeping your cool.

I'm still going deeper in this bloody forest of the dead, watching my every step and attentive to every sound and continuously trying to get my spirit straight and focused, not giving to stress or excitement. At this point I think than the trees are watching me and those damned piles of wood are the entities potentially chasing me. Bloody hell, I am giving in paranoia and that's not good for me. And then something appeared in front of me, a bloody gothic church western portal with two green torches next to it. I felt like the wind guided me here or perhaps lured. I don't know at this point, but well. Let's go! I push and open the gates of the church and enter inside.

Once inside the nave there is bloody red light everywhere due to the stained glass, it's feels like the place have been corrupted by a powerful demon or something, but there is something even worse than this bloody light, damned skulls on the floor of this church! Yet my curiosity push me to go further into this church. And then I reach the sanctuary with damned red light and purple one that light the statues of angels or something and then I see Yukari, sitting on the altar with the moonlight shining on her back. I relax upon seeing her and ask her; Where the damned hell I am? She reply than it's just a dead world. Nothing more lives here. And then I look around and see a lot of skulls and bones but they don't reek of decomposition so they're been dead since a long time or maybe there isn't any bacterium to do the job.

(Part 2, Incoming, reached character limit.)

LARPers once again. A shame.

>>47617336 (Part 2)

And I look upside the head of Yukari and see a sign than I recognize! The eye of providence! I ask; What is this damned sign is doing here? She tell me than it's was a really powerful occult sect and force and their thirst for power consumed themselves. Well, she told me than it's was deader than dead world and I am on the ruin of a ancient occult sect. I grab a piano bench not so far and then I place next to her and I sit on it while looking the ruin of this cult and thinking on what could have ended it and also what is this world? I said to her; Is this one of the possible fate of one of our worlds? She replied than everything is possible and then pulled out a bottle of red wine out of nowhere. I just said; If everything is possible then it's totally possible than our worlds doesn't end in a damned grim dead world like this one. Then she pulled two glasses out of nothing and agreed with me.

I told her to give me some of that wine and then I asked about her ability to do funny stuff with boundaries. Like were are right here and now, on a goddamned world of death on a probably different timeline or something like that... Or maybe she just broken the borders of dreams and reality again. She told me than her ability is to like split zero into infinity and vice versa, I told her than she was screwing with me because zero and infinity are the same thing and also infinity is a function and therefore a function without a value is useless. She chuckled and then we spoke a long time about the rises and fall down of civilisations, cults, etc. And then I spoke with her about the sea. I spoke about the riddles on how they vibrate they make the stuff we see and feel but then I spoke about bubbles on the surface of the sea that doesn't vibrate but still holding a information inside and on how we could make time travel by going backwards on the sea. She told me than it's doesn't work like that. Then it's a river with a strong current but not a sea, also with your ability you can do time travel right? I replayed to her.

She replied than she could but it's would change nothing and I said; Oh no, I'm just a little curious and like adventure a bit. Then we bantered on metaphysics and the questions of life for a really long while. I even forgot the surreal atmosphere when speaking with her. But time continued to pass on and then I started to fall asleep inside this church form a another world and well... Again, I woke up the next day (21 August) in my car with the taste of this wine on my mouth. I readjusted everything and made myself in motion towards my house while still thinking about Yukari and her mysterious whereabouts...

Once I got home, I dropped my stuff and few more minutes left I started my computer to go on the internet. And then I wanted to go on 4chan to see if there is any good threads on the boards I browse (I rarely go on 4chan). Then I wanted go on /jp/ to see if there is any touhou news? And then I see the Yandere thread, I decide to get a eye on it, and see the post to select you're Touhou wife by rolling. Well, I give it a shot and laugh to myself; its would be funny and ironic if I roll Yukari. And then I roll first try Yukari. Bloody hell! And that's how I ended telling those stories. Now I'll go sleeping because it's late.

>>47600002
Yes to both. She says that she could offer me the world, but I don't let myself be helped. She's tired of how I put myself in danger.

Ever since I was a kid, or that is, as I recall it, seeing her in my dreams, in my room, before I even knew about touhou, but she says that it's been longer than that (¿?)

Oh this thread is back, hell yeah

CAPTCHA: 4KAG

>>47618740
>4KAG
For Kali Yuga?????

>>47618740
I want to have sex with Nue so much it's unreal.

>>47619150
For Kaguya, cause the topic is forever infinite. I don't know.

Back again to answer some things in the responses I got. I actually heard more explosions when I first intended to write this, at like 3:39AM. I heard two explosions that had a sound that sort of split them into two parts. They were fairly echo-y. I know of a possible supernatural cause: earlier today I was really worried about a friend so I prayed to Xolotl asking him to keep her safe.

I did this with a method similar to what I did on the night of the meteor: I focused on my breathing and my pulse, felt my heartbeat in my chest and its pulsing in my fingers and hands and limbs, thought about how it was similar to the AC electricity powering the buildings around me, visualized other types of oscillating movement, felt my pulse very gently shake my bed and thought about its similarity to earthquakes which are the earth creating new land through magma, and repeated a short prayer in my head countless times. I did this for several minutes, maybe a little less than 8. What got me worried was that I've been checking in on her every morning I'm up at the same time as her because she's been going through a lot, and today she wasn't up this morning as I expected nor around 2:00 when I woke up and I started thinking of all the worst possible reasons for this.

When I heard the explosion, I sat and listened for more for a couple minutes before writing down the time. After remembering how I read in the news that people reported the explosion on July 6th to the police I wondered if I should call 911 to do the same, but ended up not doing so. I've noticed since the July 6th explosion event I've been hearing booms pretty frequently at night and sometimes at day. They come in many different sounds and volume levels. I usually forget about them or write down the time. I'm not sure if they're happening more frequently or I'm just listening for them more. About a week ago I heard a pop during a thunderstorm.

I'm not sure if this boom was supernatural. While I know a possible supernatural cause I heard it like 12 hours after that cause.

Now to get to my original purpose writing this.
>>47614680
>do you roughly know how long you've been dreaming about crows this much as well or has this really all just been happening since last fall?
This dream and the one months ago about Four Four Quarterly are the only ones coming to mind recently. I don't think I dream about crows that much. Perhaps I should get back in the habit of keeping a dream journal.
>Ever run into too many other people along these paths or is it usually just you because of your anxieties anyways?
I rarely run into other people on this path at the times I prefer to walk it. There's a fair amount of people during the day, occasional people during early night (like 10pm) and very few during my favorite late night times (midnight to 4am).
>but it's clear you have your area for personally-synched hotspots.
Yeah it's weird how this one path seems to be a hotspot. I can't think of anything special about it that is normally assumed to be supernatural. Nobody died on it as far as I know. It's pretty small. The only thing I can think of is that I'm somehow causing it. You reminded me of something weird I've found on it.

I've found several dead birds on it within like 100 feet of each other. The first time it was a pretty big bird and I actually posted about it on /x/ and made a report to MUFON, but nobody cared. https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/37619370/#37619370 (note: this link contains pictures of crushed dead birds). It was crushed but lying on the sidewalk. I later found a registry of birdstrikes and found it could not have been killed by a plane. I found an intact dead blujay in July and a crushed songbird, I think in June. Closer to my house outside of that ~100 feet I found a mostly intact dead snake. None of these animals seemed to stink. I reported the blujay to fish and wildlife and mentioned I had previously found dead birds within like 100 feet but I don't think they ever sent anyone out.
>>47603219
This reminded me of how I always wished someone could whisk me away a different world since I was a child, especially as a child. If it was because of a disaster though it would feel unfair for me to prosper while others suffer greatly.

>>47622890
Also, I had another interesting dream (though this one had no apparent link to Touhou Project) so I'll post it here. I don't think it will be as long.

I remember going in some kind of moderately large room that had walls which were like a play or low budget movie set of a forest. It had lots of plain mattresses, many of which stood on their side, and others on high beds or bunk beds. There was a seemingly stereotypical native american man in a war bonnet and black jacket who told me something like "these mattresses let you experience stories". I remember climbing onto a mattress and laying down and pulling blankets over myself. I think I might've done that with someone but I have very little clue of who. I remember a story, with weirdness of how much I was remembering versus learning and experiencing, I think about an extremely violent and angry boy who couldn't have been more than like 6 years of age. I think he was taking revenge. In the bed I was experiencing the side of his victim. I remember thrashing about in that bed, not because I was choosing to but because the bed made me, and at one point being thrown forward and forced to drink some yellow chemical with a name starting with C from a jug of at least a gallon's capacity. Despite what one would expect, I remember very little pain. I think the boy wanted to skin someone alive, possibly "me", being the one who took on the role of his victim. I'm not sure what else I remember.

>>47617336
>>47617530
Yo, those stories are fucking epic Yukarianon. The first story was comfy as fuck tho. But the second is unsettling, especially the forest. Could you tell me more about your conversations with Yukari by the way? Until then, keep dreaming anon.

I've been thinking and struggling a bit with the sexagenery cycle and how it relates to Gensokyo vs here.
If 2005 was the 60th year for the cycle, then using the 3/4/5 thing, that should....put us technically at the cusp of spring turning to summer for the yearly cycle, right?

And going by the calendar date of how Aya keeps track of time using the old systems, if 2012 was the year of Moon, Winter, and Water, counting up from that would put 2024 as Moon, Winter, Wood. Assuming I did that part right.

But regardless, what would that correlate to as far as our connection signal to that side with the spirits, etc?

Moon would be more akin to Youkai, and Winter is dying off of the old and all that, but wood is related to growth in the five elements.....so is this an "out with the old, in with the new" type of period that's right before the transition period of spring to summer?

I'll admit, I'm probably off somewhere but would appreciate anyone else's input for this.

>>47617226
>I have a theory that's related, but no way of giving a guarantee.
Go on...
>Maid was in a mansion
What place was that anyway, I remember you did tell about this but didn't go too deep into details.
>Which one? Shirakoma?
I don't actually remember if the Oriental Holy Land wiki named it, just said local legends say there is a big snake in pond.
>Not familiar-the game, an act, or a reference?
The movie! "Where we are going, we don't need eyes".
>>47617336
I really wanna go to France now lol.
>>47617530
You most certainly have vivid dreams and it's fascinating how both you and Renkoanon had your dream visitors talk about the nature of reality. I don't really know enough of math or physic to make heads or tails about the "infinity is a function" thing. You probably think of these kind of things somewhat to begin with, since you were the one to talk about the sea...
>>47617512
Lively And Religious People?
But yeah, I get it. Not everyone is going to like the more fanciful posts. But ultimately everyone is welcome to make their own contribution.
>>47617622
>Yes to both. She says that she could offer me the world, but I don't let myself be helped
Maybe you should listen to her, then?
>Ever since I was a kid, or that is, as I recall it, seeing her in my dreams, in my room, before I even knew about touhou, but she says that it's been longer than that
That's EXTREMELY interesting. How'd she look like to you before you became exposed to Touhou? Did she have a name? If you wish to share, were you born after or before Perfect Cherry Blossom came out?
>>47618740
Hello. Did anything interesting happen between this and the previous thread?
>>47620846
Such powerful devotion...the tantric impulse was triggered by an beastly, gruesome and flat depiction...Nue-sama must be such a powerful too for merging sexually with the Unknown...
>>47622890
It sounds like you might have developed a quite reliant technique for reaching out to Xolotl...but do consider that he probably desires an offering for services rendered. No human hearts please!!!!
>This reminded me of how I always wished someone could whisk me away a different world since I was a child, especially as a child.
The different world might be whisking itself in.

I also got to say I really apreciate your concern for the local wildlife.

>>47624330
This is certainly a fascinating one. I took note of the cycle when putting together the archive, but I don't know neither the Touhou lore nor the Taoist thought enough in depth to speculate further about it. Going by your calculation, when would the transition happen?

I have certainly felt there is some kind of time element related to passing of seasons and possibly astrological phenomena going on. That there is some kind of a break in a cycle and it's making the barrier between our world and the spirit world thinner. It's also giving opportunities to "break the cycle" in our own lives.

I have this pet theory that the various equinoxes and solstices constitute that hidden "fifth season". I have also found something about midsummer being considered a kind of "fifth season" in Taoism.

But I didn't consider there might be a new phase of the sexagenary cycle starting.

>>47624342
The theory isn't very well thought out, but uses the mirror being sacred, reflections, etc., and using the same concept from silent sinner in blue where they used the moon reflection to get there (also the hifuu thing where Merryberry did the same).
And the location for the wild maid spotting was in one of the mansions the sdm is very loosely based on in Tokyo when I went on a tour to a part I "wasn't supposed to be" (they couldn't understand me well and I technically didn't "pay" for the upstairs part but was given free range due to language barrier. Was told "go, enjoy, no touch. Ok?"

>>47624384
As for this, I'm going off of the Bunbunmaru dates from the wiki and how she uses the older calendars.

How right you are about Midsummer. Check out the western version of it with St John and all that, and then look into Bonfires compared to Obon. It's neat.

>>47626413
>the mirror being sacred, reflections, etc., and using the same concept from silent sinner in blue where they used the moon reflection to get there
鏡花水月, then, comes to mind. Flower in the mirror, moon in the water is a decent translation. It's one of Japanese's many Four Kanji idioms which ZUN loves to use for character titles, and is particularly interesting when you consider its meaning can be summarized as "an unattainable ideal." When it comes to the cases where that would be relevant in Touhou's own lore, I'd say both Gensokyo and the Lunar Capital come to mind, fittingly enough, as the former essentially tries to recreate a warped version of "the good old days" for nonhumans, and the latter is unable to completely cleanse itself of Kegare to achieve eternity, likely simply because they are still living there.

>>47598903
>Was your time ahead or after the recordings?
My time (12:21am) was over 10 maybe closer to 20 or 30 minutes before the explosion everyone else heard, and I think 5 or less after the fireball that got caught on that security camera. I actually have a timestamped photo of when I tried and failed to take a picture of that owl (picrel), which was stamped at 12:20am.

>>47598903 >>47604019 >>47608903 >>47616436 >>47624342
>I'm not sure if most people even should.
Most people don't necessarily need to with how many of us there are. We've been able to come as far as we have collectively because of us all acting in such different ways, even without collective "enlightenment". If further dedications simply aren't for you, with whatever form that may take, it would be plain to see.
>practicing for such a short time
>the worth of the practices takes time to evaluate
I've only really been specifically specializing my own practices for around 3 years now with exponential progress regardless, just to add some perspective.
After long enough, there ought to come a time where that worth also becomes self-evident. That really got the ball rolling for me back then but perhaps I'm still in the optimism stage of things.
Those overlaps of influence throughout the Eurasian Steppe pointed out in other posts are also fascinating to consider, as much as my own lack of cultural understanding is limiting my perspective however. Through-lines in discussions such as these do tend to run far deeper than initially perceived. Maybe there can eventually be some bigger syncretized flowchart for all that along the same lines as >>47601125

>For the record, I'm unbaptized
Same actually, I personally believe it's helped me grow closer with what I've needed to but I'm not sure how surprising that would be to some and don't really have negative feelings towards those who are for the same reasons.

>ideas in different traditions
>they capture some extremely universal archetypes.
Of course, a lot of our discussions have pointed out how some of these forces present go well beyond simple archetypical influence throughout history but I'm suddenly reminded how similar associations were gradually but inexorably intertwined with fields such as Tarot reading.
A few nights ago I did a very important deep-dive on the true nature & history of the cards themselves, how they were essentially artificially linked with flawed Late 18th Century pseudo-religious understandings towards different histories of divination practices & the then-blossoming ideas behind "cartomancy" as it was being used through various Tarocchi decks and the like.
Then the Hermeticism Rabbit Hole opened up like a gaping chasm beneath me and a few more hours of reading quickly went by. The modern stereotypical Western idea of the "travelling fortune teller", for example, really only seriously started holding weight within the last 130 years or so, which itself is directly linked to the revival of semi-mainstream occult thinking by the Late 19th Century and reinforced through popular media. Could be basic information for others though.
I can't help but observe some of these potential echoes between the subjects of Retrocausality, the long-term greater marketing scheme these cards were continuously given (for better and for worse) and the fact they're still being used as valid implements for divination today (myself included there).
Archetypes work well as tools for self-reflection and empowerment but the notion of greater forces behind them is what will often bring us to places such as these threads.
In a broader sense, we've seen & furthered our own understandings through the lens of Touhou and its interlinked backgrounds. Not that I'm trying to imply our associations are based on misinformation, I would advocate for otherwise, but we are operating through similar mechanisms here is all.

Btw KeikiAnon, I did a reading for you as well during the supermoon if you are interested in hearing anything there.

>reputation for drawing in all kinds of weird people?
That's the Northwestern U.S. in general for ya! The roots of this are commonly reflected today in pop-culture or all those roadside tourist attractions that litter the Pacific coast but it did all stem from things like local legend, native & otherwise, or Goldrush-era superstitions.
Both sides of the coin are still carrying relevant influence, which is why I think it's especially funny it's an immediate area of concern for the OP this time around.
>I always feel like I'm writing a very moderate length post and then it's very long...
At this point I've just accepted I have a lot to say myself while still doing my best to keep things relevant, but I am making a greater effort with how I space-out these larger posts too.
>Not everyone is going to like the more fanciful posts.
And that's okay. I'll have a few other general replies I'd like to gradually make over this next while tonight, my own explanations over the cycles & such, and then maybe one or two other anon-centric effortposts like this depending (hi Eclipse!).

Had a dream experience of my own earlier today I'd eventually like to share as well, especially because it was once again Chen related! The timing of it among all this other dreaming seemed important enough to sit down for some proper posting.

>>47628811
(Sorry, felt it was appropriate)

>>47626413
Right, the use of reflections is certainly interesting.
Mirrors play a very prominent role in Shinto (and Siberian shamanism...) and of course there are ideas related to mirrors having supernatural properties in many other cultures. The Buddhists also use mirror-related metaphors, I can't quite remember what was the gist of it because it has been a while since I read about it all.
>one of the mansions the sdm is very loosely based on in Tokyo
Oh yeah, that's right, I remember there being discussion about such in that one Koakuma thread. What's the name of the place?

Speaking of the SDM, I thought this was really interesting and I was gonna post it in the thread before it got archived: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeUeoyuPVNU

There's some speculation that Jack the Ripper was a woman and the victims were ritual sacrifices...ominous.
>Check out the western version of it with St John and all that, and then look into Bonfires compared to Obon
Yeah I actually happen to very familiar with such and I was not surprised in the slightest that the activity - so far- peaked about 2 weeks on the both sides of Midsummer.

>>47627333
Angel number trips...
Extremely interesting stuff. I've stumbled upon the four kanji idioms, the Chinese have similar thing, but I have never made the connection betwen them and Touhou. Probably because I don't know Japanese well enough, nor the idioms. But it's indeed of note that there is a reflection related idiom that means unattainable ideal. One could arge that on a meta level, for some here Gensokyo itself is the unattainable ideal, not just for the youkai and the "good old days".

What other Touhou-relevant for kanji idioms are there?
>>47627971
Strange for sure. So in a sense it was premonition??
>>47628811
>After long enough, there ought to come a time where that worth also becomes self-evident.
Yeah the thing that I have been doing longest has been the occasional tarot reading and I felt they got uncannily relevant within the span of couple of years. If I had kept doing it very intensively I would have gotten further faster.
>Those overlaps of influence throughout the Eurasian Steppe pointed out in other posts are also fascinating to consider
That was a connection that I absolutely did not expect to disocver and I feel like it just keeps on unfolding...in many such societies, the world was traditionally seen as a flat plane with a dome on top and a kind of "world tree" or "world pillar" (probably not literal) in the middle that connected Earth and the North Star...recall the way Gensokyo has been depicted as being essentially domed.
>Same actually, I personally believe it's helped me grow closer with what I've needed to
Yeah no doubt it has had the same thing for me. But when I dabbled with magic derived from monotheistic systems I got weird and unpleasant results and I believe they didn't really work as expected because of that.
>the true nature & history of the cards themselves
Tarot is really fascinating because it's one of those things where you read the history and you're then "yeah of course these are total BS", but they really are a supremely weird case of "literally wrong, poetically right". They might have not been passed on from Ancient Egypt, but the very old Mameluk Cards...well, the Mameluks did rule Egypt at one point, though not quite "ancient" times...and over time, as the Golden Dawn got their hands on them and did the finalizing touches, they got imbued with such powerful archetypes and influences, some of the ideas seriously dating back to Ancient Egypt that their mythical origins kind of made themselves true.

I have also heard some takes that the divination system itself doesn't really matter, it's more about the reader and so on, but I do think the fact that the tarot have such rich symbolism and powerful archetypes behind them that they are very special case.

Speaking of divination, I have gathered and dried the yarrow stalks needed for traditional use of I Ching. Studying that will be on the agenda of the rest of the year. I also have a huge pile of yarrow leaves and flowers I need to come up a use for.

I would love to hear the reading. I feel like the last one I did has more or less reached the end of it's "narrative arc" for the lack of a better term anyway.
>I am making a greater effort with how I space-out these larger posts too.
I apreciate it.
>my own explanations over the cycles & such
I'm very interested in this. Maybe I'm just biased, but I genuinely feel like there is *something* there. At the very least I'm becoming sensitized the passing of the seasons and their influence. I'm fascinated with how Hidden Star in Four Seasons is like Perfect Cherry Blossom 2, how PCB has served as a kind of "rite of passing" (...initiation?) for many Touhou players, how HSiFS deals with seasons and how they are disrupted, backdoors, Okina-sama...

Around midnight tonight I thought I heard Mickey Mouse going "huh-huh!" at a decent volume from out of my window some distance. I thought maybe I was mistaking some other sound for Mickey Mouse but maybe that's denial. I considered the possibility that I was hearing someone's TV but I didn't hear any other TV noises and I wouldn't expect Mickey's "huh-huh!" to be that much louder than everything else in a show so that seems unlikely.
>>47629814
>So in a sense it was premonition??
I guess it could be, though it would be very close to the explosion. The owl could have been attracted towards the location of the explosion for some reason. I definitely suspect there's some sort of link between them. One possibility is that the owl was sent by Xolotl, or even was some kind of incarnation of him. I think that for the legendary naguals of Mesoamerica, the shapeshifting sorcerers* (*the word refers to different concepts at times), owls are thought to be a common form for them. I think I remember a mention that sometimes naguals are thought able to shapeshift into fireballs, but I'm not 100% sure that would make sense with the timeline. I'll write it here:

Unknown time between 12:07AM and 12:20AM: I try channeling Xolotl on the streetlight. After a while I stop and start walking.
12:19AM
>fireball spotted in sky on security camera
12:20AM
>I spot the owl
12:21AM
>I hear my two main explosions and see their flash. I shortly record the time.
Unknown amount of time later: Cop car drives by
12:28AM
>I hear a single, quieter explosion.
12:32AM
>The explosion everyone else experienced happens. They feel it shake the ground, see its flash, and hear it. I did not experience this one, even though after checking google earth just now I should've been close enough to experience it.
12:34AM
>I hear a single, even quieter explosion
12:41AM
>I hear a single explosion that might be slightly louder

Also your mention of mirrors in supernatural stuff reminded me that I actually have an unusual experience with them. If I keep staring at a mirror without blinking for long enough without blinking, probably less that a minute, I notice my face starts distorting and turns darker, sometimes cloudy or hairy, and often times the number of eyes I have changes, sometimes to more sometimes to less. Picrelated is a rough illustration I made many months ago of what I see. I've noticed this mirror phenomenon for years.

Also, I wonder sometimes if I should've done things differently that night, or other nights for that matter. Mainly I wonder if I should've approached the source of the explosion. At the time I was kinda in shock and not sure what to do and decided against it because I wasn't sure if I had heard gunshots, but now that I know for certain I encountered something supernatural I wonder what would've happened if I approached the source of the explosion. I wonder what I would've seen. I wonder if I should've gone outside tonight when I heard that Mickey Mouse noise.
>>47624342
>but do consider that he probably desires an offering for services rendered.
Xolotl was usually offered art, which I've made for him before. There's a lot of little statues of him. He was never offered human hearts, nor was his brother Quetzalcoatl.
>No human hearts please!!!!
reading this makes me giggle a little. I'm imagining a small child holding a sacrificial knife trying to recreate a scene with their friends and being scolded and told no and acting really sad and disappointed. It's ridiculous and comical.

>>47631216
>I guess it could be, though it would be very close to the explosion.
Sometimes such can happen very closely. I once witnessed my mom having a premonition that came true like a minute later. She hit the brakes in the car and said "I thought I saw a fox crossing the road". Very soon after that a fox indeed crosses the road. The fact that she had slowed down allowed it to cross unharmed. It was very strange experience to witness at the time.
>One possibility is that the owl was sent by Xolotl, or even was some kind of incarnation of him.
It's hard to say, I think the most low effort way to go around it would be to direct the animal to appear in the area.
>I've noticed this mirror phenomenon for years
That's certainly weird stuff.
>>47631444
>Mainly I wonder if I should've approached the source of the explosion
It's hard to say, I haven't had anything so dramaticaly external happen. I did once go to a park because Ran-san appeared in my dream and told me a "kami" needs my help at a local park. I went there and my sister called me and needed some help.

I think my sister was the "kami" and the point was for me to see her too as part of the larger divine reality. So it could be something seemingly mundane that might or might not click with you.

A week or two later foxes were spotted at the park. Not entirely out of the norm, but rare. A week or two from there I spot a fox from merely 100 meters or so from where I live. This is a rather urban are so that's rare. I think it was a couple of days later when an entity whose identity I couldn't discern me told me that "you will walk this path, you will walk it slow and steady, but you will walk it to the end" and the most active season of spirt manifestations started to wind down.
>Xolotl was usually offered art, which I've made for him before.
Oh that's nice. I've drawn a lot of art of the entities I have worked with but I don't really want to share it.

Hey everyone, since some things got missed the last time some of you were asking questions, I'd like to give a response to what I can.

For the cycle and the seasons/years/etc., I don't have a definite set of knowledge about it all for a specific time frame. What I can tell is that I have a rough outline of this ambiguous area in time being one of transition from, for lack of better terminology and not to sound too full of myself, the germinations of Spring that lead into the Birth and growth of...."something". Perhaps it's tied into the transitory state of being and everything we've managed lying somewhere on the cusp of potential change. It's difficult to put into words, so forgive me for that. I can say that related to Taoism, the element of wood is related to strong winds or something, but can't place where I read that. Maybe one of you posted it or linked it. But "winds of change"? Anyways.

As for the mansion in particular and the wild encounter, if I were to yell "Beatrice" at the top of my lungs, would that give any of you a clue?

Plus, I have come across a few websites that i believe would help out quite a few people here in whatever journey they are on, or just for curiosity's sake:

Shrines in Hakuba
https://w.atwiki.jp/th_seiti/pages/53.html

Touhou Bibouroku
http://ohgosho.ehoh.net/

Same site, but links to a pilgrimage the person went to related to Touhou
http://ohgosho.ehoh.net/OLib01.htm

Locations and backstories of artwork used by Zun for the games and cover art
https://nrr08.com/background.html#th07_04

A novel that he is a fan of and drew inspiration from
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4047778087

The artwork for the Prismriver sisters (Who are named after a Biblical verse. Who'da thunk)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%9A%E3%83%AB

And the SDM demo art is also the same inspiration for Dracula's castle (and Minas Tirith from LoTR)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel

Neat coincidence? There's an annular eclipse that will happen on Oct 2nd, and will pass over Santa Cruz (Cruz, Hakuba, etc. Think it's neat but maybe more? Not sure)

And to leave it for now, last night I was laying on my bed and reading all this and had a very distinct voice of a young-sounding woman very clearly ask "Excuse me?", to which I responded to with "Yes, what can I help you with?" before I even realized what happened-was like an auto pilot response on my part. Sat there and listened for a minute, told whatever it was out loud that I couldn't hear it in my current state but to try some kind of sign or message in my dreams if it didn't wish any harm but so far haven't gotten anything and can't remember any dreams at the moment besides some jumbled mess. So there's that, I suppose.

Oh, and to the one that made the archive of the sealed gods site, so far very impressed. if at all possible, I would enjoy having a talk with you over a drink about this stuff if the stars were aligned for that in another life (But for safety and privacy, obviously not). Can say, it's rare to see such thoroughly laid out info with such ease of navigation. Plus, it kinda feels good to see you used some of the things I found(stole).

>>47633598
Would be interesting to know what the sheet music was in this image, just to know it. I can't make out the title very well.

>>47633598
>the element of wood is related to strong winds
It might have been the Wikipedia article on the onbashira ritual I linked. There was something about how "wood" is thought to cause violent winds. It's a bit odd but may it was thought that the rustling of leaves and swaying of branches caused winds..?
>I have come across a few websites that i believe would help out quite a few people here in whatever journey they are on
Thanks a lot! Between this and the Do Haniwa Dream of Ceramic Sheep blog there's a lot of new stuff to go through.
>There's an annular eclipse that will happen on Oct 2nd, and will pass over Santa Cruz
>Cruz, Hakuba, etc.
The Castlevania connection is the weirdest thing about this all so far. I know it's possible to chalk it up to someone being a Touhou fan at the dev team but it's still odd.

I keep returning to the eclipse even though I didn't personaly witness it. It was such a powerful event. The one myth from Shinto mythology that is always brought out is the one where Amaterasu Oomikami goes into hiding. But when I started thinking about it more closely, I wondered why exactly. I understand that if the Sun disappeared it would be a terrible thing. But it's not a myth about the creation of the world or even Japan or it's people.

The best I have been able to understand why it is so central is that it's a kind of a manual for the worship of kami. It describes objects that are sacred in Shinto and it describes the ecstatic shamanic dance that is used to call out to the kami and how sacred sites are delineated with the shimenawa. Does the myth then perhaps implicitly say that an eclipse is the best time to reach out to the kami..? Is an eclipse a liminal state?

Beyond Shinto, solar eclipses, notions of "black sun" are everywhere and laden with so much meaning. It's found in Western alchemy. It's found in countless mythologies. It's too dense to make sense of and it's so important.
>had a very distinct voice of a young-sounding woman very clearly ask "Excuse me?"
It's really silly when you react to them without thinking. I haven't had many straight up auditory experiences, but I've had couple of instances where I drifted into thoughtless mental conversation with spirits. I think I've told a few instances before.
>Oh, and to the one that made the archive of the sealed gods site, so far very impressed.
Thanks a lot and thank you for all the information you have provided! And who knows, maybe the stars will align.

>>47633623
I tried making it more visible with photo editing techniques, but danmaku obscure some of the text. What I can make out is:
Tw??le? Melo??(dy?)
L??e Spring

>>47634403
Late Spring would definitely be the latter segment, but it's probably easiest to just decompile the files for the game to see what the background is.

>>47634403
>>47634416
Trying to watch the videos of the spellcards and its still too blurry. Oh well, for now.

On another note, I kept seeing the number 555 all day. Still no repeat of a disembodied voice, but the search continues.

>>47599581 >>47617622
Glad to see you're small return as well, I remember first reading one of your Youmu posts from last May and thinking you had a touching relationship with the half-phantom. I don't believe it's inherently negative or narcissistic to want to provide your all, you care about her deeply and that's only natural.
What you really should make sure of is that you aren't wasting yourself away for her in the process. Of course she'd remind you of that as often as she does, I don't think it'd be a stretch to argue something she'd love for you to "take" is better care of yourself when you are able.
>She's tired of how I put myself in danger.
You can walk that long road as you already have and you can do it together. Wouldn't it be nice to let her provide for you in the ways she'd want to as well? This is as even of a path as you two can share for the time being, I'd hope by now you wouldn't expect her to believe you should always be overcompensating, no?
Sincerely hope that all doesn't come off as terribly condescending. Take care with how you move forward with her, I don't believe she'd fail to understand anyhow even considering her typical characterizations.

>>47601535
>how and why do I get to experience such joy and wonder while others have nothing but misery in their lives?
We're all shaped in different fashions over the course of things, through sudden weathering and slow sedimentation alike. Perhaps those "hurdles" of yours could be far more detrimental given unideal-enough circumstances, or you've simply yet to hit your next raucous turning point. Not to imply you should always be concerned over such of course.
Highs never last but neither do the lows. Resilience is one thing but broader acceptance of this constant flux throughout the Positives & Negatives goes hand-in-hand with understanding your own greater place imo.
Influence, Intent, Belief, Application.
These are the foundational pillars upon which such personal understanding and more can be built.
>Focus 4
This actually sounds highly relevant to the concepts of an underlying "world of forms" to all things that were being touched-upon within the latter half of the last big thread. Looking at the descriptions of the other Levels of Focus, I'm also seeing some potential overlap with how others have discussed the cosmology of the 3 Layers and the transient connections between Kami, Youkai, and Humans. Focus 4 could very nicely encapsulate that ever-present well of potentiality from which the 3 groups emanate from and carry some amount of influence between.
If this thread didn't sneak up on me I may have even already had that chart I've been wanting to design over the matter somewhat done. I have it all in words, just not condensed visually outside of my mind's comprehension.
>I am of the opinion that I would be on the losing end if they were to "strip me down" to an elemental level.
How right you are!

>>47608612
Really hoping your futures in this temple involvement pays off handsomely for you, the fact you've been able to secure a place in a small yet knowledgeable community for such practices will no doubt take you far as its ought to.
>kannon bodhisattva
That was also a nice bit of research to divulge in and I felt very comforted reading about her, I appreciate you bringing her to attention! Her own syncretistic origins are interesting to consider, provides a more well-rounded perspective on the topic if nothing else.

>>47615391
>the posts here are long and complex, and so you can't just read it quickly while doing other things
How right you are...
Luckily enough you're here now though, huh?
>a post with my vision
Whatever day may come for your thoughts to be shared, I would be among the potentially interested.

>>47618740
Shot in the dark, but any recent Hexagrams to share? Apologies if you're the wrong anon.
>>47620846
It's a damn shame her last thread fell off so quickly then ain't it??
Next time I wanna see some Freakin' Hustle with the Nueposting! Lets go people COME ON...

>>47633598
Oh Dear. Oh Dear Oh Dear...
I was going to wait on making a larger post over some of your points specifically but it seems as if I need to address this now! There's really no way I can't and hopefully I'll be able to explain why.
>very distinct voice of a young-sounding woman very clearly ask "Excuse me?"
Successful long-distance mental communication. I can't fucking believe it.
Last night I was in the middle of writing this (before more incidental bs) and had the sudden impulse to mentally call out to Eclipse.
I don't know why! Vaguely felt along the same lines as that one time travelling scene with Sophie towards the end of Howl's Moving Castle.
Figured it was a just silly thought! I shouldn't be thinking about people I can't see or hear!
No way that could amount to anything.
...
Last night all I dreamed was that there was a new 'kuma thread. "Koakuma 2: Even More Books."
Drinks one day do sound nice though

>>47598614 >>47628811 >>47636316
>current technological process
Meant to type "progress", classic blunder...
>depending
on whether or not more incidental irl stuff would occur, which it did. Lol.
>you're small return
Classic blunder! I just need to learn to type more slowly.

Time to go mentally unpack some of this for a bit.

>>47633623
I figured it out!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Elegiac_Melodies
I just out of blue remembered "elegy" is a word when looking at that!

Weirdly enough, I also first tried "Twelve Melodies" but didn't get the result I desired, too many other stuff named that. But "12 Melodies" is the name of the series that is part of. I have no previous exposure to this.
>This actually sounds highly relevant to the concepts of an underlying "world of forms" to all things that were being touched-upon within the latter half of the last big thread.
The world of forms idea comes from Platonism, where it's thought that the material world is just a reflection of eternal "forms" that exist prior ot the material world.
>I may have even already had that chart I've been wanting to design over the matter somewhat done
I'd very much love to see that when you get it done!
>Successful long-distance mental communication. I can't fucking believe it.
I have to ask...did you attempt something like that around 25th-27th of July..? choice of clothes aside, do you look more like Renko or Maribel, if you are comfortable answerin such a question...
I also wonder if things have gotten any better for you since that one thread where I made that very urgent post about solar storms?

>>47589041
>I have had egotistic moments where I have for five minutes
This entire thread is one big egotistic moment.

>>47637348
I can't entirely disagree with you, but I think that this is more a consequence of how humans perceive the world. I don't think the anons here are particularly egotistical, but they're having experiences and sensing stimulus in ways that the main perception axis of modern society tells them that it is impossible.
This is something that I think about, and I don't want to get too close to absolute relativism because that's not how I see it, but everyone lives in different universes. From birth, every experience you have shapes the way you will interact with the next experience. This thread is supposed to be about people that have experienced Touhou and are influenced in some way by it in their experience of daily life, interpreting it in a spiritual sense. When looking from outside, it's easy to mistake everything written her as sheer egoism, but you cannot say that they're not experiencing it. I don't know if people here have any experience with diversity and people with strong beliefs, but once you see someone with strong conviction on something you "know" is wrong, and you try to convince them otherwise, you will quickly realise that there might be no common ground on which to argue. If my entire experience in life leads me to see random noises, voices and feelings as nothing more than chemical reactions, then someone that feels vividly the interaction with spirits will never be able to convince them of the veracity of their experiences. Of course, those who believe strongly in the spiritual side will feel more and more inclined to think of random things as meaningful, to the point where they will feel outside stimulus that you might not perceive; in this thread, maybe some people are more ready than others to attribute spiritual meaning and personal agency to events where the information known to outsiders might make that questionable; but I still don't think that's enough to disregard them.
I don't really post a lot in these threads, but I don't think they're that bad. There are some good insights here even if you're a non believer, and some of what's said aligns with my experiences in life, although not all of it.
In short, don't disregard what people believe in.

>>47629294 >>47636901
>kept doing it very intensively
>would have gotten further faster
Very well could have been the case, though considering what others have discussed when it comes to having one foot in the spiritual and your own experiences with extended periods of liminality, sounds like you still needed to go through things at the pace you did for good reason.
>dabbled with magic derived from monotheistic systems
>weird and unpleasant results
Something to look out for with others then! Haven't felt drawn towards much of the same myself but I've always considered that a given, it'd be shame for the learning process to always include the "summoned something detrimental/You Shouldn't Have Done That" hurdle imo anyhow.
>the divination system itself doesn't really matter, it's more about the reader
I'd argue for the weight behind that as well but maybe that's just more projected egotism on my part.
>I have gathered and dried the yarrow stalks needed for traditional use of I Ching
Good on you! I've yet to do anything along the lines of proper bone-burning and such so it'd be really fascinating to see if a successful execution of those methods bears fruit. Definitely something on my future agenda as well.
>did you attempt something like that around 25th-27th of July..?
I did quite a few things around those dates honestly, including but not limited to drawing, posting, and potentially writing whatever pastebin Eclipse was talking about earlier. Any of those giving cause to ask?
Life has gotten quite better for me since then btw! I'm deeply thankful for those supportive thoughts in prayer & otherwise.
>spoiler
I'm actually a brunette, but I do have "European ancestry" so...

>I would love to hear the reading.
I'll do my best to discuss it now then since it's taken me a while to fully come to terms with its potential meanings over the past week, very interesting at least in that it "jumped out at me" for a few different reasons.
It was a simple Clarity Spread consisting of 4 cards, 1 defining card and 3 delineating cards covering a basic situation (in this case anything you needed to hear right now), but the main card for the overall circumstance (the first laid down/most important in such spreads) was actually naturally reversed at some point during my shuffling process (I do good portions of these readings essentially blinded so as little of my own personal intent carries over as possible).
The Nine of Cups is usually an unquestionably positive card when it comes to the state of anything currently being worked towards. The "card of wishes" as it may be referred to, especially since the cups are all about emotion. However, it's reversal implies that there could be some sort of blockage preventing either true progression of the situation itself or you from really feeling like you've reached such a state. This may be from something you aren't seeing, but considering this isn't the Two of Swords or any related cards I'd say it's not as if the "issue" is solely coming from within here. Perhaps it has more to do with those liminal states that often seem so attractive to these forces? You tell me.
Your supporting cards (Seven of Cups, The Hierophant/Pope, Daughter of Wands) help paint that clearer picture we'd need.
The first is a card of underhanded temptations & coping with the incongruities of a falsely-constructed narrative against reality. The second is, of course, immediately tied to furthering spiritual practices or listening far more attentively to any given "teacher" within your current sphere. The final card, being among the court-cards for each suite, could be our biggest stand-in for anyone specifically involved here. That would be up to (You) to determine with certainty. Regardless, in my experiences it'll often represent an independent or free-thinking passionate type going through some manner of great mental/spiritual transformation. So, what is there to make of this?
Have you been led astray by some independent agent or fed bad advice from a good place? Maybe less of the former and more of the latter if part of the "Acknowledgements" on that website are to hold any weight but I of course can't possibly know everyone you might. Could this be discussing your "colorful" past involvements in any capacity? If it's any consolation, I've been doing my best to be forthright with good intentions.
Although if my music is bad and I should feel bad then I'd hope more anons would've let me know by now.
Is this not where you ought to be at this point then? I don't believe so either, especially because I'd hate to be the one to start telling you this is all a lie when that couldn't be farther from things.
If anything, this could simply be an obvious warning over where any total "Quest for Excellence" would get you in the end compared to otherwise. We may be doing our best to work against this but it doesn't hurt to keep yourself thoughtful.

As usual, hope that's all something!

>>47637348
I can understand why someone would think like so, but...
>>47637621
>it's easy to mistake everything written her as sheer egoism
...more importantly, I believe this might be the only space for us to talk about any of these experiences. Of course sharing personal experiences is going to have a bit of an "egotistic" air about to it.

The subject at hand is somewhat different from most spiritual/paranormal topics because there is (thankfully) no dogma around it yet. I don't think anyone of us has a 100% clear idea of what is even happening and why. I may have spent a lot of time formulating my ideas on what is going on and why, but I can't consider them as some final truth.

So since we are still very much in the "research phase", there is going to be a lot of personal experiences and research done by particular individuals shared.

If there were some sort of set dogmas, there would be discussion about these dogmas. Go to /x/ and you will see it. It's nothing but demons this, archons that, jews this, masons that. It's aliens. It's subterranean reptilians. It's spirits! No, it's the government! There is of course all the shit flinging associate with such non-discussions.

I can totally understand if someone thinks we're all full of shit though. I'm not sure if there can be much to be done change that perspective.

All I can do is to point how the phenomena is similar to well-established ideas regarding spirit contact and it's most likely happening to people who tend to be at the receiving end of such activity.
>>47639212
>sounds like you still needed to go through things at the pace you did for good reason
Yeah my first attemps at this were so bad I had to walk away from it all for a good while.
>Something to look out for with others then!
100% and I really dislike how some stuff is so popularized and spread around with little thought.
>Any of those giving cause to ask?
On the 25th of July I had a very vivid dream where I was in a mall, apparently in Japan. There was a strange glass building adjanced to it, connected to the mall by a tunnel. I went there and there was a small shrine in there.

As I'm about to ring the bell to give my reverence I feel a tap on my shoulder. A brunette woman with brown eyes who however looks to be of European descent smiles warmly, swipes her index finger down my cheek and winks. I jolt awake from the dream after that.

I rarely physically feel stuff in my dreams but I felt the tap and the swipe. She felt like a separate being, not just one of the dream NPCs. It was a quite strange experience.
>Life has gotten quite better for me since then btw!
That's very good to hear.
>Clarity Spread
I gotta think a bit about this myself. About the reversed Nine of Cups, there are certainly certain things going on in life that could consitute as "unfullfilled wishes" and that there are "blockages" preventing further progress. But this would require some narrowing down I think.

Seven of Cups standing for underhanded temptations and flase narratives is a bit troubling for sure. The Hierophant is very interesting because I enrolled to a Tai Chi course which is starting very soon. I have kind of narrowed the scope of my current research whch should make for some more "attentive listening". As the I Ching project implies, I am hoping to put in more actual practice. There's other stuff too. The Daughter of Wands is also quite interesting, certainly this very thread contains some candidates for such a person. Say, you wouldn't know what to do with a pile of yarrow flowers?
>led astray
>bad advice from a good place
One could go crazy with paranoia thinking about such things.
>"Acknowledgements"
>"colorful" past involvements
Ah, such cases are mostly in the past and not all the consequential. For example, I have obviously read Crowley, but I have no desire to contribute to his notoriety. I've also come to realize that for example some of the angel invocation stuff that is common might not work as hoped or might have negative effects if you are not baptized or Christian, so spreading around such universally wouldn't be good. There's also been insightful materials which however are potentially dangerous if you don't know what you're doing or aren't serious enough and I don't want to spread such either.
>I'd hate to be the one to start telling you this is all a lie when that couldn't be farther from things
As much as some of my wilder experiences are starting to feel like a strange bygone dream, I don't doubt it's real. I also feel very strongly that doing this, bringing you people together, collating the experiences, maintaining the Archive is one of the most valuable things I can do right now. And I pray and make offerings daily. I am committed.
>If anything, this could simply be an obvious warning over where any total "Quest for Excellence" would get you in the end compared to otherwise.
I think you're gonna have to elaborate a bit on this.

>>47589041
>I don't know much about Shugendo, it has not been an area of focus for me.
>>47593010
>Quite a few of my own studies in Shinto have led me towards Shugendo as a related & relevant field after enough time but one can only further research in so many places at once.
The above led me to go ahead on my own. Local university library's 'japanese myth & religion' section turned out to be rather slim, but hopefully there will be something leading further. Currently on the second title; the first had a single paragraph regarding Shugendo, without much detail.
>>47628811
>immediate area of concern for the OP this time around.
I may be slow or tired, but could you elaborate? You mean both nowadays perception of Tengu and folklore roots are relevant, or...?
>>47637348
Well, defending myself on anonymous image board is exercise in futility; and I can't for certain say this assertion is incorrect for my case. Yet still, I would be surprised if at least some of the Anons here weren't motivated by simple curiosity.

>>47639817
>Local university library's 'japanese myth & religion' section turned out to be rather slim
>the first had a single paragraph regarding Shugendo, without much detail
Many such cases! Imagine how much easier the study would be if it had been, oh, Tibetan Buddhist entities making themself known to us.

I actually went and re-checked the Wikipedia (I know...) article for Shugendo for sources and of course good old Mark Schumacher has an extensive section about it on his site: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shugendou.html

I hope that is of use to you.

>>47636316
Well....
That's quite a bit to go over, now isn't it?
I can say that the voice I heard seemed to come from my left and near the door. There was the mental impression of an "Uhm," followed by an auditory "Excuse me?" hands kind of awkwardly crossed in front and....dark hair and a light blue(?) shirt, maybe with buttons-the clear kind? Skin on the paler side, but can't tell from the impression if they had longer or shorter hair. Maybe around...mid shoulder, upper back? Straight hair, though. And technically mixed heritage, somehow. Can't feel anything else on your family background, assuming that was you. Though, from what could be heard of the accent, you're not from my part of the world-was much too clear.
So if that's indeed you...hello again.
(You're a fan of Howl's Moving Castle. We'll get along fantastically if anything ever came to that, unlikely as it may be.) With that said, "time traveling scene"?
....Are you telling me to find you in the future? Or is whatever gave you the impulse to call out to me telling me to? (Could the reason be due to me using the name of "Eclipse" and therefor making some kind of mental "link" between myself and the others here that frequent the discussion? That's a thought)
What exactly were you trying to say or ask, if you're willing to say that here? The offer is technically still open-"What can I help you with?"
And what time did you do the thing? Could we hypothetically narrow it down to a time delay between humans sending out the message and receiving it? Was it you, if you, or was it some kind of spirit/energy/Shikigami(?) that was carrying your(?) message? Now I gotta know.

Other than that, "Did you know that when you read something, the author is technically reading it with you?" or something like to that effect...

(Koa Thread 2: Electric Bookaloo?)
Sure, I'd be up for drinks with the rest of you here. Can't promise our tastes would align, however.



>>47636901
Oh!
.....oh.
That real-world piece is energetically tied to the Prismriver sisters about their lament for Layla.... Shit, man. That's rough.
(High-energy objects, people, or places are a cornerstone of the makings for Poltergeist activity to manifest. maybe that's the key to the rest of all this? Those of us that collect real world equivalents of the stuff in Gensokyo have noted an increase in "something".)
>Storm post
They aren't the only one you helped with that post, just saying.

>>47639960
Helped me a few years back. Good source of info.

>>47641319
And as I listen to the song and scroll the comments, I find this:

>>47641319
>That real-world piece is energetically tied to the Prismriver sisters about their lament for Layla.... Shit, man. That's rough.
No doubt that is why he chose it. Kind of a deep cut though.
>Those of us that collect real world equivalents of the stuff in Gensokyo have noted an increase in "something".
I don't think you even necessarily need to collect concrete something. I think the mere existence of this thread contributes to it. One would imagine that a certain more stabilized form of these discussions would also contribute to it too...but there are a lot of external factors too.

I'm 100% there is something to both overall liminality (both in life situations, events and places) and some kind of astrological cycle. There could be more too, the desire to treat the inhabitants as real and giving them respect is quite obvious...

Speaking of the astrological cycle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenary_cycle
Two things of interest that I noted are:
- Sexagenary months at least used to be based on the orientation of the Big Dipper
- The sexagenary cycle of years involves the orbital cycle of Jupiter

The latter is not universally obvious, unlike the Big Dipper adorning picture related's tabard. It's gonna require some explanation. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in the first thread, including this detail, but on the day of the solar eclipse I had very intense visions of the four kami. A very prominent, memorable one was Okina-sama with Jupiter, the Galilean moons and a comet.

There was indeed a comet near Jupiter at that time, something I learned when reading about the eclipse. Since I was aware of that, I thought maybe it was a way for her to communicate her power. But reading about the cycle...maybe there was more to it than just that. Maybe the solar eclipse intersected with some particular moment in the cycle??? I'm not really oriented towards astrology, but this is something I need to work out.

It also needs to be said that at the time I had only surface-level familiarity with Okina-sama and I hadn't even played HSiFS back then. I thought it curious how she muscled herself into my life, but ever since I started to understand what the function of the Sages is and what her broader role could be, it's been really obvious.Of course the border control would eventually show up.
>They aren't the only one you helped with that post, just saying.
I did pray for both of you, after all, so maybe that helped. I'm glad to hear the post helped, whatever the cause.

>>47639817
Certainly. I really just mean anything physically local, specifically to the Northwest area in your case, in terms of legends or mythos juxtaposed with the unusual phenomena you're experiencing. I wasn't even thinking of your potential Tengu involvements at that time. Maybe I should've used a different analogy beyond the two-sided coin, sorry about the confusion. I tend to speak broadly at times which is a habit I'd like to somewhat curb.
Funny enough, hours ago at 11:13pm I heard two distinct bangs that very well could have simply been nearby traffic or potential gunfire even. That sort of thing is just common around my area. Their origins don't exactly matter but I made a mental note to mirror the literal ones you had done, figured you'd think it's neat.
>>47622890
>something weird I've found
An omen maybe? Most folk might think so, although that isn't always inherently negative. If it was something in any nearby water source or the soil then it would've been nice to have seen some manner of return on that report.
Best not to dwell on it too terribly for now perhaps, unless there ends up being some sudden uptick in unexplained fauna fatalities.
>If it was because of a disaster though it would feel unfair for me to prosper while others suffer greatly.
This as well. It wouldn't do most people any good to consider themselves among a seriously-imperative "Chosen Few" destined for idealized salvation above the flaming heretics. The comforts may be there but you're severing your emotional relatability to others in a terribly narcissistic way as a result.
But you already seem refreshingly humble.
>>47622990
I suppose that's one way to "experience" a story but good grief...it's a relief you're fairly unscathed after such a dream.
>>47631216
>mirrors
The few mirrors I have are strictly ceremonial or "spiritually practical" in some sense. They can carry power but they can just as easily double as gateways for the unexplainable. This certainly sounds like a personal phenomena of yours, not strictly in any "mentally broken" or otherwise clinical sense but it's interesting that's something you've noticed for so long.
>>47631444
>I wonder sometimes if I should've done things differently
I believe you acted just as was intended, from one accidental witness to another.
>art
Recognized a few of your drawings from the OC thread as well! The one with Ellen was pretty funny.
As for >>47612914 & >>47613446,
>I see this motif of coastal cliffs with houses a lot in my dreams
>this place was different (...), normally there's just one house
Perhaps things have changed to reflect how you're now sharing this mental space with us in a way? Not literally mind you, but such conceptions certainly don't exist within your mind alone now that you've described them.
>I felt guilty that I had already collected too much and failed to communicate my concern with my aunt.
If it isn't too personal of an ask, do you often feel like you need to hold yourself back somewhat in situations where you may have something others don't? It's good you're trying to be altruistic here but I would understand such concerns, although I shouldn't apply anything of my own too personally to your unique experience either.
Easy dream to visualize if nothing else.

>>47639703
Starting with your owed clarifications now:
By "Quest for Excellence", I meant the diluted & self-centered notions a less conscientious informant may want to frame themselves around if anyone along those lines were your position. Essentially what I was warning against when I was talking about self-appointed "destined" individuals earlier or part of what else clogs up /x/ these days even (unless it's always been that way). That Seven of Cups can also work well as a "house of cards" analogy, with the reversed Nine acting as your warning sign of what's to be lost/unfulfilled (i.e. true, harmonious understanding) should you "give in" to such.
Your resolve clearly exceeds these temptations however.
>I can't consider them as some final truth.
Commitment is still imperative, just as long as you're still able to use your better judgement to discern those necessary influences.
>Say, you wouldn't know what to do with a pile of yarrow flowers?
Very very clever! Well I'm a creative type so my first instinct would be to save the leaves for decoration & grind up the flowers into some kinda pigment as long as the results aren't toxic. If they're fragrant enough maybe you can sprinkle them in desired areas to freshen things up.
More naturalistic offerings even, I don't know, the World Is Your(pile of yarrow flower)s!
>a very vivid dream
BLARGHH, do I even need to mention how I've spoken of my utter lack of control over my dream self before??
Or the labyrinthine mall-like environments it usually romps around in? Ridiculous...
Can't even say that's something I wouldn't do! That sounds really funny! (My sense of humor can be very warped)
Pardon the f-face...touching? I guess?? Man...

Also,
>>47641319
If I could kindly offer you some fresh tea while you continued to patiently wait out there I swear I would.
Speaking of pigments, how goes the attempts at painting by-the-by?
I've been really curious over any results ever since you said you'd try your hand at it!

>>47639703
/x/ has no dogmas, those are normal conventions.
It's egotistic in the extreme too and when it isn't, it's run by literally insane.

>>47642062
It's been going great!......is what I wish I could say. Truth be told, I've gotten a metric ton of various paints and have a couple of canvas and a really cool picture frame to put it in once done, but haven't actually started on anything yet. The muse is there, but I think she's on vacation for now.

I've been more busy with my work, and when I'm not doing that I'm ᴾˡᵃʸᶦⁿᵍ ᴹᶦⁿᵉᶜʳᵃᶠᵗ ᵒʳ ⱽᶦⁿᵗᵃᵍᵉ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ doing productive things like an adult.
It's gonna be a weekend thing, I think. The park is a part of the process due to it having one of those rose gardens in it somewhere. Just need to vege-meditate while there to get inspiration.

>>47642062
Also, tea would be great.

These discussions are always so dense, and leave me feeling out of my depth.

>>47642172
Its a great feeling, knowing that there are more worlds to conquer, having a wasteland that you know very well as a life, for me at least, seems like a tragedy.

I would still like to comment on the experiences of >>47608699 eventually (hope (You) haven't figured I've been pushing you aside) as well my own newer dreams still but first-ish things first:

>>47642131
I have Lemon Ginger, Lavender Chamomile, Elderberry...there's options.
>>47642122
>haven't actually started on anything yet
Hey at least you got everything you need for when you chance upon her again. We can't always be in "create" mode exactly, work and *ahem ahem* Productive Things are important. Both of those games are good choices anytime though.
>>47641319
>mental impression of an "Uhm,"
>hands kind of awkwardly crossed in front
Like I said, at the time I really didn't understand the complete scope of what I was doing or even why beyond impulse. 100% a "guppy in open waters" moment, practically by chance. This doesn't exactly happen often, figured I was just wrapped up in a brief passionate mania of some kind. Mentally felt like I was roughly bridging some unreasonably huge physical distance, appropriately so since I've never traveled that far myself, but the connection was unsteady and I don't believe I had the confidence to manage anything greater.
Maybe there was some outside help.
In the center of a void-like mass, space opened up to reveal the back of an older gentleman's head. Tanner than I but not overtly-so. He had shorter cut darker hair, thinned out at the back/bottom but with mild length up top, and was in a room with a lot of darkened wood. Brown shirt as well, maybe. Clothing wasn't exactly my main focus. Lights could have just been dimmed at the time too. Does your bed have older-fashioned shaped pillars at each corner by chance? Forgot the proper name for those...
Assuming that was you.
Nevertheless, "Excuse me" was my opener. When I actually somewhat felt that I had snagged your attention (saw you turn your head to the left) I started getting a little more emphatic.
Especially because I could feel the more rational ends of my mind beginning to pull me out of it as whatever thru-line I had just established immediately started collapsing anyways. Keep in mind I'm still mostly considering such visions at this point to be inconsequential by default.
Maybe I got too excited and started mentally projecting too much for my current scope, the distance it had to travel made the act comparable to a picking up weak radio signal scrambled with unseen interference or whatever our respective neurons had to work with. It was mostly a lot of me trying to simply hold on to that attention as I was slipping away, seeing if you could recognize me from that far and telling you whatever else I could. "It's me! Please! You have to understand!" Things of that nature, nothing unnecessarily personal.
>Are you telling me to find you in the future?
Well it's not as if I'm simply telling you to go find Merry, but to me this is all almost a bizarro-reversal of how it was with Sophie & Howl.
I was indeed the one suddenly finding myself projected elsewhere, yes, but I think it would be more accurate to argue I was the one seeking assistance from beyond rather than directing such to come.
I don't think I do know how to help you further still. Beyond anything here that is.
One day, some ideal time well beyond now when I consider myself far more put-together for such an encounter, some proper seeking ought to be in order if we can even still give it a try by then. Somehow.
>What can I help you with?
Just listening already feels like more than enough, at least for now...is that parasitical of me?
>what time
Couldn't have lasted any longer than a minute on my end, after >>47629294 was posted (wasn't the trigger) & definitely after 2:30am but no more than 20ish minutes after >>47629814. There's your timeline.
>Skin on the paler side
>dark hair
(Darker than Renko's)
>around...mid shoulder, upper back?
>accent (...) was much too clear.
That all checks out over here, although I'm currently aiming for my hair to be slightly longer. I'll hope you'll all excuse me if I refuse to divulge much more of my identity beyond that, for my sake and the thread's.
>technically mixed heritage, somehow
If only I knew more over my genetic history! All I can confirm atm is it's a small melting pot of Western/Central Euro roots with some Shoshone thrown in there on my mother's side (great grandfather was 1/2 Native). That fits the "technically" side of things but that 1/16 slice I have is pulling a lot on its own compared to everything else. I don't exactly see myself as very "mixed" in that sense.
>Straight hair, though.
>a light blue(?) shirt, maybe with buttons-the clear kind?
That, however, would be a style I have not rocked for many years. I've been neglecting straightening my hair regularly but I at least still have that shirt you're describing (flannel-like, white finish. Last night was purple sweater night tho).
>the pastebin
That was me, I'll explain in due time. Just wanna step back from posting, play some TH16...

>>47642172
To be fair this post would be 64 pages long if it were a book, and unlike a book where discussion is linear here it is a complex web of replies and comments.

It's interesting to use the print-to-pdf function to see how long internet posts would be as documents.

>>47587235
anyone here feel like for a good few hundred years, people have been intentionally and unintentionally polluting the abrihamic spirit world?
some of the people encouraging that kind of corruption may have an agenda but it's made it impossible to use that place without having the willpower and refined anger burn away all impurities and also the sight to see clearly with even a lot of the devout lacking the strenght

the eurasian spirit world seems like a much slower calmer place from what experience i've had with it
though you have to respect it
while the abrimaic one seems to be filled with bullshiters and liars absorbed in their own flame telling you they are an emmisary of god chaos a clown ayy or something else stupid

i've been trying to tune out my connection to the chaotic cosmic abrihamic spirit world, and foucus on the spirits of the land which seem much more laid back though they are much more easily angered by exess light chaos and noise
which honestly after evaluation seems like a much better level headed palce to be that never directly tells you anything to your face or makes shit up on the fly

if i were to describe the two it's like the abrihamic one is closer to yang smokless eternal fire
while the animist world called the eurasian one is closer to yin darkness water earth and is a bit harder to perceive

hindu seem to have used both
while shinto and a lot of other local animist cultures seem to have used and still use the eurasian yin one

another way you could prhase it that could be more accurate or could not be with some of the contantaions are the yang and yin spirit worlds
instead of the abrihamic and eurasian

one is assoicaited with the cosmos light and smokless flame
and the other seems assocaited with darkness water and the earth

most pepole seem to tap into one far more than the other
i like this thread beacause it's comfy and the pepole here seem to be tapping into the yin spirit world more

>>47623513
>Yo, those stories are fucking epic Yukarianon. The first story was comfy as fuck tho. But the second is unsettling, especially the forest.
Bloody hell, did someone really enjoyed reading my trips?

>Could you tell me more about your conversations with Yukari by the way?
Well, it's just turbo 'tism banter about the nature of the world and ourselves. Nothing notable worth developing further or maybe I don't remember some of the scientifical/philosophical gibberish I said to her.

>Until then, keep dreaming anon.
Thanks, I guess? Didn't got damned dreams for 3 days. Even if I didn't see a single soul for 1 day straight.

>>47624342
>I really wanna go to France now lol.
Oh France is truly beautiful despite a lot of people saying it's not. Just don't go in the populated areas, cities, tourists bait and you'll sure having a nice trip.
>You most certainly have vivid dreams and it's fascinating how both you and Renkoanon had your dream visitors talk about the nature of reality.
Well, Yukari like to speak about those things because she's more skilled at making conversation than me. I just listen and reply with the first thing that come up in my mind or with a idiotic thing and try to go with the flow, but Yukari sometimes like to speak about more personal topics and I don't really what to say, so I go for a snarky joke.
>I don't really know enough of maths or physics to make heads or tails about the "infinity is a function" thing.
Oh the nature of the infinite and the boundless is fascinating. But to keep it simple; Infinity have no real definite value like a function, so it's a function. (Exemple : 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + Infinity = Infinity, 2 + Infinity = Infinity, Infinity + Infinity = Infinity.) But 0 is a more fascinating twin than the lemniscate anyway. Maybe me and Yukari will engage in one of those conversations again?
>You probably think of these kind of things somewhat to begin with, since you were the one to talk about the sea...
I do and I like to think of it when I look at the stars on a clean hill or in altitude. Not so much because I overthink and get bloody headaches and need exercice to stop thinking. Also, indeed I was to one to engage her on the topic because I'm terrible at social interactions and I needed a confort zone.
>>47643092
I would still like to comment on the experiences of >>47608699 (You)
Well, you're comments are welcome.

>>47642048
>I meant the diluted & self-centered notions a less conscientious informant may want to frame themselves around if anyone along those lines were your position
Right, I understand now.
>Very very clever!
Sorry if I was being overly clever there. I had some impression you might have been involved with the flowers and herbs type of witchcraft in the past.
>Pardon the f-face...touching? I guess?? Man...
At this point I am somehow not even surprised. I wasn't offended or anything, just a very odd experience.
>>47642086
IDK maybe this is a language barrier thing but "completely unchangeable worldview" is a dogma to me and there are plenty of those in /x/.
>>47642172
I know, I feel a bit bad for people just coming in here. I have tried to keep my posts relatively brief this time around and I've obviously failed at it. I think it's partly the nature of the topic that contributes to it.

The Archive was made in an attempt at summarising some of the previous discussions, it's not very good at that either and a summary of a summary will be needed...
>>47643074
Hello Alexander the Great, nice to have a man of your caliber back in the books of the living.
>>47643502
Out of curiosity I went and checked how long the first thread would be if printed and it's 107 pages...
>>47646100
>>47647143
I have tried to avoid pushing to double posts but you rise such good points that I think I'll have to make an exception for this. Please wait warmly...

>>47646100
>polluting the abrihamic spirit world
I'd push this 'polluting' as you put it back way deeper into history. I think things start to go wrong allready at this point when Yahweh is promoted to be The One God.
>impossible to use that place
>lot of the devout lacking the strenght
>filled with bullshiters and liars absorbed in their own flame
So the way I see it is something like this: there might something like a capital-G "God", logos or monad but it would be the god of literally everything, the good and the bad. Imagine the worst thing possible. It's the "God" of that too.

In some sense I don't think it's really a personified entity at all. It's something like the Tao, or some kind of latent consciousness field of the universe.

Working with such a thing directly is probably impossible or extremely difficult. I think what happens when you try to tap into that is that, since perception is also projection, you receive the mother of all projections. You can not comprehend the universe, you see an extremely distorted slice of it. If the astral world operates at superluminal speed, any experience with too raw manifestation of it will be extremely chaotic and "fiery". So if the abrahamic "god" is like this, it's very difficult.

The other options aren't much easier either. What if the abrahamic "God" is some kind of representation of divine masculinity? This would be all good and well, but working with such would need to be balanced out with the divine feminine principle. The only abrahamic religion that even kinda does this balancing is Catholicism with Mary. Working with purely masculine energies is profoundly unbalancing and ultimately harmful.

The third option is very unsavory for the devout. There is no single abrahamic capital-G God. The various branches of monotheism have genuinely different deities. But because they are all just "the one god", we don't know what they are. This leaves the troubling possibility that all kinds of entities could be standing in for "God" in different denominations and sects. So things can get very chaotic and bullshit indeed with such.

That said, working with such things doesn't always end in disaster either. It's ultimately about what kind of values you orient yourself to.

There's of course the angels and saints. I think they are some kind of celestial entities. Some people have had very rough experiences with angelic beings, some have had very gentle. With saints, it's bizarre how many times I have heard things like St. Anthony reliably helping people find lost stuff. Considering how many of them were former humans, they are probably the easiest, gentlest, most relatable class of such entities.
>cosmic
The world of celestial entities might be literally infinite, and another reason why it is apparently so hard to work with.
>spirits of the land
>they are much more easily angered by exess light chaos and noise
This makes a lot of sense, but for example in Shinto noise can be used to call in the kami to receive offerings.
>while shinto and a lot of other local animist cultures seem to have used and still use the eurasian yin one
I would say it's rather that they don't entirely ignore the Earth spirits and work with both classes. The scope of celestial worship is more limited but it's there. It's difficult to imagine more arch-celestial entity than a Sun deity ie. Amaterasu Oomikami.
>>47647143
That is a good way to see it, but I think there is a kind of "hotness" and "coldness" or "passion" and "calmness" that exists outside of those classifications. So there are "hot" celestial and cthonic entities and "cold" celestial and "chtonic" entities. There's also the quality of if they can work with humans and probably a lot more.
>i like this thread beacause it's comfy and the pepole here seem to be tapping into the yin spirit world more
That would be my impression too. For me, out of the spirits I revere Okina-sama is the only unambiguously celestial one. She's definitively fiery, cosmic and very masculine. She's the one who has got most upset when I did things wrong in the learning phase and she is the only one to straight up scold me at times. But she is also a very good guide and all around powerful ally if you can get to her good side. Just be really respectful of her. And of the others too.

>>47643092
>tea types
I'm always up for the classic Lavender Chamomile, though with all things considered and the uses Elderberry has in the mystical side of things....I'll have to try that one.
>muse and inspiration
I'm mulling around the idea some kind of combination between the stye and clothing of "Miss Simplicity" by Joshua Reynolds, and the pose of "La Femme Chauve-souris" by Joseph Penot for Remilia, while the mansion is in the background with some kind of cameo from Sakuya, but there's a difference between up in my head and in the physical.
>physical description, everything else
I got the impression there was movement to the hair but discounted it as something like wind slightly blowing with an open window(?) Not sure.
Could've been outside help. Either way, I read your post here and my left ear has made a nonstop loud and constant ringing since yesterday's post.(Far stretching with ambiguous "meaning" behind ear ringing, but some say it's a sign, omen, good luck, and on and on...)

>"My" appearance from your view
"Older". Oh well, can't win them all I suppose. I'll take it as "distinguished" but can't even finish the thought without internally cringing at myself. Then again, yes I am "older". The room was dark and the shirt was dark burgundy, and there is plenty of old wood furniture in here. Technically, the bed is a "canopy" bed but I never finished putting it together so it's currently a "poster" bed.
But enough about myself, I don't want to monologue.
>distance of your travel or "travel"(?)
I'll say you had some serious reach, considering I'm probably a rough 1500-2000 miles distance from you, based off Shoshone land in the past. The turning left would've been in your physical direction, as well. Pretty neat with that part.
>void-like mass, etc.
Would honestly like to try and recreate that in some fashion. It's a mental space, isn't it? You kind of zone out and let your mind wander and then the mental landscape gets dark and then light pops out at the end with a rough vision? (You're not the first person to feel some kind of weird pull towards me or my general direction and get images of stuff like that, completely unknown to myself for rhyme or reason, but I can say it has happened before with certainty. Take that as you will)
>Just listening, is it parasitic?
Not in the slightest, to be quite honest. That goes for anyone on here that may reach out to me-I tend to be the one people come to for advice or problem/puzzle solving even in real life. So by all means, continue if you feel so inclined. (Just throwing it out there, but if it helps, I'm apparently the INTJ type last time I checked years ago. Maybe you(or something/someone else) is looking for that kind of thing?)
>Pastebin
Hey, when or if you're ready to divulge more. I'm patient. Same for everyone else on here-if you wanna share, I don't judge. But I won't pry.

>As for me personally with visions and dreams and such, I did get an image of somebody crawling around on a big, fluffy bed last night at some point. Think it was a white or light comforter with a darker color. Was female and black hair, so maybe I returned the notion? No clue.
Rest of dream involved Gensokyo with little snippets of interactions between me and the inhabitants but the alarm went off and it slipped away. I think it might've been lucid, as I could smell and feel things.


>>47648767
What many don't know about the origin of this from that part of the world, is that it was a desert war god that took on the aspects of the local other ones, with a large helping of some older bits thrown in that turned the Christian God into a multi-layered entity that could "do it all". Just like the other Gods we've discussed, "He" is a form taken by the source(whatever you call it) that the people in the area at that time needed to survive in a harsh land. Then he was able to spread to other avenues after "SURVIVE" was no longer a constant concern and he pulled the same move Inari did and branched out majorly.
(The oldest Bible is from Ethiopia)

I would personally approach your statement as looking at it from the four humors mixed with an alignment chart to help people get a better mental image, but to each their own.

(Since somebody started a website, why couldn't we all find a way to make our own and link them together for ease of use, or make a living master document to compile all of this into something? Just a thought)

>>47639817
I came in contact with someone who practiced shugendo and learned things like shugendo medicine at his temple, if you have any questions ask away
as he is a monastic he is probably busy but I'll try anyways

>>47648242
>Oh France is truly beautiful despite a lot of people saying it's not. Just don't go in the populated areas, cities, tourists bait and you'll sure having a nice trip.
That's the impression I have gotten from multiple sources.

Considering your interest in mathematics and the type of thinking you are committed to it's no surprise she reached out to you. Have you noticed any personality changes or strange events around you since you first dreamt of her?
>>47649360
>
I would personally approach your statement as looking at it from the four humors mixed with an alignment chart to help people get a better mental image, but to each their own.
There's probably quite a lot of ways to slice this pie so to say.
>Since somebody started a website, why couldn't we all find a way to make our own and link them together for ease of use, or make a living master document to compile all of this into something?
An old school web ring could be fun if people want to put the effort into it.
>>47649750
That's really cool! I personaly feel like I should read a bit more on the basic info about Shugendo that can be found on the net so I won't be asking something really basic and redundant. But since there have been anons curious about it it seems like a very cool opportunity to have.

>>47642048
>Northwest area in your case
>at 11:13pm I heard two distinct bangs
>I made a mental note to mirror the literal ones you had done
Oh well, no that's a different Anon, I (OP) am Old Worlder and dawn here happens before Greenwich's one.
>>47639960
Thank you, I will sit through it once I finish the current book.
>>47649750
I hope you won't mind waiting a bit before I can formulate some; hopefully before this thread gets archived.

>>47651490
>I (OP) am Old Worlder
Damn blonde Europeans and their big tits...memes aside, has anything unusual been happening lately? Have you still been taking care of the crows? Have you noticed any changes in your personality or desire to help local wildlife or plants more broadly? I'm also curious if you used the picture of Okina-sama in the OP intentionally?

>>47636316
>Shot in the dark, but any recent Hexagrams to share? Apologies if you're the wrong anon.

I am the correct anon! things been rushed in my life due college starting again, but i still have my little adventures and more pratical discoveries, a major one that i ignored (and was a very important lesson) was to practice spiritual hygiene before doing any type of "real" work

(as it's akin to eating food / showing up to someone's house while not having showered for weeks/inviting things you don't really want to involve.)

But i'm happy to see this thread again, and i was wondering when they'd show up, i'm also happy to try do so some i-ching readings for whoever is interested as well.

I am the correct anon! things been rushed in my life due to more mundane reasons, but i still have my little adventures and discoveries, a major one that i ignored (and was a very important lesson) was to practice spiritual hygiene before doing any type of

>>47652315
seems like i botched the copy paste, augh

>>47652315
You have got to tell us more about those hexagrams and practical discoveries and spiritual hygiene.
>But i'm happy to see this thread again, and i was wondering when they'd show up
I was holding off making one because I thought the stars were not right for communications related work literally Mercury retrogade untill the 29th.

It's nice to have you around again and nice to see that things are apparently still going well.
>i'm also happy to try do so some i-ching readings for whoever is interested as well
I'm very much interested!

>>47652487
I’ll be happy to be a more in-depth post later when I’m free, but if you’d like to speed things up, give me a “question” and I’ll do your reading as well.

>>47652694
To do*
Phone posting is suffering

>>47652694
Let's go with this: I need the Oracle's advice on how to balance my work and the rest of my life.
>>47652698
It feels so naked without the pictures.

>>47648767
>That is a good way to see it, but I think there is a kind of "hotness" and "coldness" or "passion" and "calmness" that exists outside of those classifications. So there are "hot" celestial and cthonic entities and "cold" celestial and "chtonic" entities. There's also the quality of if they can work with humans and probably a lot more

Yeah entities you find in each spirit world can have different masculine and feminine hot and cold qualities
I kinda used different techniques to get into each spirit world
I was familiar with the Yang one first and got there by a few years ago by accident when I first tried out psychedelics for the experience and traveled straight to crazy town
A bunch of different entities which often claimed they were emissaries of Hindu gods that I didn’t even know about and had to look up, but also a huge circus of other weirdos claiming all kinds of different shit
After being around enough of those weirdos with a range of different opinions I started to take nothing they say at face value
Some of the stuff they said and taught me was useful but some of it was just as harmful as it was beneficial and all their opinions seemed to differ
After experimenting with meditation techniques I learned and with a fuckload of effort I managed to learn how to get there clean and eventually got fed up with that place
As going there kinda burns you out

Way I got into the yin spirit world associated with earth and darkness was completely clean
But I find its much much easier to get there when deprived of light and surrounded by either silence or the sounds of nature, which the sounds of wind or water can really help me zone into some of those places which feel knisthetic often like I’m not seeing them but travelling through nature via sound
Unlike the cosmic spirit yang world I found entities there rarely directly spoke to me but were not sociable hypocrites and seemed to follow consistent rules, a lot of the time when they did communicate with me it was often through strong instinctual feelings
Some of them are more antisocial but there seem to be a few in my area that are chill if you respect their quiet and just being around them is nice

Also sorry for bumping the thread while it’s still up in the cataloge
I kinda get up at weird times but also go to sleep and get good sleep at extremely specific but not precise weird times to experience these things
Actually phoneposting atm

>>47648767
>Spoiler
That's everyone's favorite perverted grandpa.
>>47651701
>Damn blonde Europeans and their big tits
I didn't know blue counts as a type of blonde. Animal Hell does seem a lot like London though, so that makes sense.
>>47652315
>i-ching readings for whoever is interested
I'll bite.

I hope this will be readable; it's long past midnight here and I am tired after doing some ex stages.
>>47651701
>big tits
Thankfully I am not that fat.
>Have you still been taking care of the crows?
Yes, of course. This certainly have become a habit of mine, any possible spiritual experiences aside.
>Have you noticed any changes in your personality
No, but I doubt I would notice even if it happened; introspection always left me with questions about myself, not answers.
>or desire to help local wildlife or plants more broadly?
No.
>I'm also curious if you used the picture of Okina-sama in the OP intentionally?
Yes, I did. I read the first thread as it happened, was too busy during the second one, but I had remembered that she was used in OP twice, so I figured out that by using Okina in ZUN style I let Anons know the content of the thread, just like chinese hus became signs for... well, you know.
>has anything unusual been happening lately?
Crows have infested my dreams, they appear in most of them now. But it is usual gibberish or convoluted narratives that I can't fully remember after wakening up, so I wager they simply flocked into my subconcious not unlike any other regular dream stuff. Those two dreams that pushed me towards making this thread were much cleaner, standalone scenes that I normally don't have.
One exception would be night from 25th to 26th (Sunday-Monday). I leave the pieces of meat I feed crows with on plate left on my balcony. Usually I put one or two pieces close enough to evening that no crow picks them; those pieces stay through the night and are taken by any of the early birds, between 5am and 6am, in the following morning. But this Sunday evening I had a very late visitor picking those pieces up, so I decided to not add new meat and instead took the plate from the balcony. I also wanted to finally beat level 10 scene 8 from StB that evening. However, I felt terribly tired and close to 10pm I tried to took a nap on desk chair. Turned into full-fledged sleep. I woke up soon after 3am due to backpain induced by position. Still sleepy, I considered trying to play StB, but gave up. I forced myself to wash teeth, then I went onto bed to sleep more.
Now, the next thing I remember is sitting again in the desk chair, somewhat lower the usual, but not unnaturally. It is night, the very same kind that was when I went to sleep again. There is crow's silhouette on balcony's railing that moves closer; the crows I feed tend to approach on railing, then jump down onto balcony's floor near plate and there either eat the meat on balcony, or take a piece and fly away with it. Seeing crow, I sit still, to not scare it away. The crow is finally where most of them tend to jump down; it does jump down indeed, but instead of landing on balcony, it passes through the glass door without breaking it and hits me. I grab it, wanting to touch it, but it almost immedietly changes into something different in touch, like rag, or maybe ragdoll. I feel that due to sudden movement I became entangled in a blanket, while my vision goes all grey. I try to untangle myself, flailing around the room. I feel with my hands through blanket that I have fallen on footstool near the desk; I pull back and feel the table on my back. Through the whole time I don't feel any danger or fear, but instead that something important will get away if I don't do something. I stop struggling and instead try to say 'Hello?'; no voice comes out. I try again, to no avail. I focus for the third time, which wakes me up on my bed. I was under blanket, but it showed no signs of struggle. Likewise, the room had none of those. It was 4:20 am, the night was the same as before going to sleep and during the dream. I immedietly put a plate on the balcony with two pieces of meat on it, then I booted StB and few hours later I managed to capture the scene.
The dream was lucid like no other in a long time. The room had all details in terms of visuals. I almost never feel touch in dreams, but here it was and it was correct in regards to the environment in real life. The only detail that was wrong was the desk chair's height: it didn't look exaggerated, unlike the standard fare for dreams, but when I later checked it turned out that it was about 5cm to low, even when compared to the lowest setting.

So I'm posting this after 3am, but.

For whatever reason, I am having a dream of some kind when I get a tactile sensation of being gently touched on the right side of my chest like somebody is trying to get my attention. In my half-awake state, I reach out and distinctly feel a face and hair before something echoes in my mind by calling out my username here and not by my real name. When I open my eyes and think "wtf" and check my phone, It's 2:59am. The phone shows a notice that I have no internet and may be out of data, which is not the case because I have to reset it and it then works (plus I pay for unlimited and auto, so that's besides the point). After it comes back, every other page but this one will load. Had to manually copy/paste the address in a new tab to get it to work.
As soon as I do that, a text message from a family member finally comes through that my car alarm is going off. It isn't. But at some point through the night it must have. I can see it through my window and there's nothing going on out there, but... I'm not about to go out to see unless I hear otherwise.

But that's very weird as all hell to wake up to.
>>47652694
If you're still up for doing a reading for folk, I'd be open to you trying one for me to see what the heck this is about. Now I'm gonna go back to bed and wake up hopefully at a better time and then I'll check this again.

I got nothing this time around. Even the option for a captcha is missing from the page to post unless I reply to somebody directly.

>>47651447
>Considering your interest in mathematics and the type of thinking you are committed to it's no surprise she reached out to you.
I don't have much interest in mathematics or sciences in general, It's just that I can understand them very easily and extrapolate on them, while being open minded to the occultism and philosophy. My real interest is nature and wandering in the wilds, especially where I shouldn't. Sometimes, I can take interest in old legends or urban ones and go to presumed "haunted houses" or other sites like that.

>Have you noticed any personality changes or strange events around you since you first dreamt of her?
Only strange events are my dreams with her, else everything is fine. Birds singings, insects making noises, wind blowing, water flowing. But I'll couldn't tell if I had personality changes or anything related on my own personal psychology because I very rarely interact with other human beings. Expect for my thrist for adventure and some of my senses like hearing, smelling, instinct, they're getting greater and sharper.

>>47652838
>I first tried out psychedelics for the experience and traveled straight to crazy town
Many such cases. This isn't a judgement. I think they produce genuine experiences. But also very much uncontrolled experiences. People don't understand what they are messing around with these things...
>Some of the stuff they said and taught me was useful but some of it was just as harmful as it was beneficial and all their opinions seemed to differ
Yeah I wouldn't trust any spirit outright unless I had a very long term relationship with them and knew them to be trustworthy. I also don't expect them to know everything either. The fact that there are so many of them of course leaves with them different opinions and dispositions...
>a lot of the time when they did communicate with me it was often through strong instinctual feelings
I strongly feel this. This really is the way the kami primarily communicate to me. Like getting a really strong gut feeling that I should go to the library today and then there is a book that is very useful to me there. They can do more direct communications too, during the peak of the activity they did a lot of that.

That's very interesting stuff, thanks for sharing your experiences.
>>47653227
>That's everyone's favorite perverted grandpa.
I...can kind of see where the grandpa part of it comes from.
>I didn't know blue counts as a type of blonde.
The Ancient Greeks did not have a word for "blonde", they said "hair the color of clear spring water". I'm joking
>Animal Hell does seem a lot like London though, so that makes sense.
Every major city is more or less Animall Hell, basicaly.
>>47653651
>Yes, of course. This certainly have become a habit of mine, any possible spiritual experiences aside.
That's very nice.
>Yes, I did.
OK, at this point I wouldn't have been surprised if you hadn't even seen those threads before.
>just like chinese hus became signs for...
a twisted way to getting closer to the divine feminine!
>Crows have infested my dreams, they appear in most of them now.
That's very interesting stuff. The sensation of being entangled, your vision going grey and trying to speak but being unable to are very indicative of some kind of abnormal state of sleep. You could have very well had a dream visitor.

It's a good sign you didn't feel fear or danger. About something important slipping by, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Keep at it and if you missed something, you will have another opportunity.

Have you tried reaching out to Aya after your first attempt? Have you tried communicating with your local crows?
>>47655256
That's weird stuff. Did the presence feel more masculine or feminine? Do you have this type of weird shit happening to you normally, or do these things happen more when these threads are up?
>>47656555
You sound like a very youkai-like human as the Touhou terminology goes. Based on your description I'm not surprised in the slightest Yukari-san would reach out to you. I'm fairly sure you'd get results if you tried to reaching out for her. The increasing thirst for adventure and sharpening of the senses are noteworthy.

Hello esoteric anons, I have lurked in these threads the past summer but never had a reason to post, until now.

Many in this thread have said something about crows. So here is my (insignificant) experience. In my building I there is a spot where I smoke and stare into the darkness at night. The spot in question is a brutalist-style building with a fair bit of greenery. The space is liminal, both indoors and outdoors and both man-made and natural, so maybe that means something. My dumb ass dropped an unfinished cigarette off the ledge last night and left it there, assuming it would burn out. I didn't realize I dropped my lighter until this morning, so I went and checked the spot. I found the lighter, and the cigarette was burnt down to the filter. Next to them was a single crow feather. My stuff was still there in an area where I would think someone else would have taken it.

I wonder what happened, did our discussions alert the crow [spolier] tengu?[/spoiler] spirits? Are they watching us? Do they like to smoke?

>>47656555
>555 get.
I also like to wander into random places whenever I feel pulled to something like that.

>>47660968
It was feminine, of that much I can guarantee. As for happenings, it used to all the time when I was younger but has since quieted down until I either do something related to this topic or get myself into a trance by focusing on something and then have wild dreams, though that's a bit rarer and takes significant effort. And because I was up far too early thanks to last night, I ended up dozing off a bit while sitting at work and got a mental image of pitch black with the younger Scarlet sister walking from left to right (just doing that, nothing else of note. Couldn't see anything but her and blackness, though it was hyper detailed like the time I came across whatever the Sakuya was). Then I woke up and checked this. So, yeah. One thing to note is the lack of signal on the phone, I think. That one Anon that went to Jomine shrine said area had none, and I can say when I was around the "Misty Lake" on our side, I also had no signal. It's in the mountains, yeah, but still. Paranormal stuff hits and electronics go funky or dies for everyone. (So maybe warning, a "notice me" thing going on, or whatever else but I'm drawing a blank for last night. Common sense, right?)
Any ideas from the rest of you would be appreciated but I don't expect mutch due to the nature of it being personal happening.

>>47661024
Crows are drawn to fire or carries it in all kinds of stories, and even the Tengu have those legends of fanning the fires on mountains or in villages and all that, like what was referenced in the Touhou manga that Aya brushed off.

>A personal thing for me outside of discussion, but one I took note of: ever since I was a kid in middle school, I'd draw a weird little doodle on paper when I should've been paying attention-a weirdly angled and stylized "S" that was more a "Z", with a little dot over one of the points. I thought I made it up. Then I found a post on /x/ where somebody added an image of the Egyptian hieroglyph for "snake god" that seems to match perfectly if it was made with reeds and not lines.

>>47661554
This is the post from that other /x/ Anon that matches. I haven't put much research into it just yet, but first thought was "Kanako? How long has this been related, if it is?"

>>47661024
Hello and welcome.
>the space is liminal, both indoors and outdoors and both man-made and natural, so maybe that means something.
Yes.
>did our discussions alert the crow spirits?
Yes.
>tengu?
Most certainly possible, or at least some kind of distant relatives of theirs.
>Are they watching us?
Yes.
>Do they like to smoke?
Haha I don't know. Spirits like incense, and considering how tobacco has a sacred role in some Native American & South American cultures there 100% certainly are spirits that apreciate tobacco. Since you also smoked it, it means you in a way shared it with whoever looked after your stuff.
>>47661554
>It was feminine, of that much I can guarantee
Interesting.
>it used to all the time when I was younger but has since quieted down until I either do something related to this topic or get myself into a trance by focusing on something and then have wild dream
I certainly feel like this thread is contributing to the activity. It's particularly interesting how many new anons have found their way in here.
>Paranormal stuff hits and electronics go funky or dies for everyone.
Yeah there is something related to electromagnetism going on. When I was having those flashes of light going off randomly in my apartement they tended to be localized to the space above my wifi router. Weirdest damn case was when I once was with my back towards it and a flash happened and it was clearly coming from behind me.

I've seen the flashes very sporadicaly since. I saw them twice within a single day when I called out to Yukari-san to apologize for posting rude and lewd things about her in the past.

Last week I had a really weird experience with those flashes. I was in a bus to work and I see a flash of light. I dismiss it because it could be, you know, a reflection from traffic or something. A bit later at a stop the bus starts having electrical trouble and the driver has difficulty getting it going. There is a flash of light in that goes off very clearly in the midsection. I see couple of people turning to look towards the middle so I think they saw it too. Weird stuff for sure. Not sure if it's something from beyond the barrier, if it's locals or something like my own misdirected energies.
>>47661628
Hehe you may have been unknowingly manifested some kind of a snake deity for a long time at the very least.

>>47661554
I had forgotten my Native American folklore, thanks for reminding me. Crows and fire check out. Legit I was read Native folktales as a child
>t. have at least half Native genes

Some anons were talking about native American stuff being linked to what Shinto and Taoism originated from earlier, We may be on to something as >>47598903 pointed out. I might try to look into this more.

>>47661980
>tobacco has a sacred role
Shit, I guess I accidentally performed an old ritual. I should have had something of higher quality than Marlboro lights

>>47663271
>Some anons were talking about native American stuff being linked to what Shinto and Taoism originated from earlier
Yeah if you are interested in the Eurasian - Native American connection this is probably a good starting point:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_North_Eurasian

It's quite staggering to think about the impact of the Ancient North Eurasian people. They diverged into extremely wide-ranging groups, from Europeans to Native Americans to Siberians and North Chinese & Japanese. Considering the *extremely* ancient origins of shamanism, they likely passed on various cultural and religious beliefs & practices to their offshoot cultures. There might even have been later cultural exchanges, particularly with closely-clustered populations such as the Siberians-Chinese and Ainu-Japanese.

Over time these various peoples would have of course diverged greatly as they adapted to their new environments and the spirits within there. But some common thread probably still persists. Fascinating stuff and a very unexpected connection for sure.

>I should have had something of higher quality than Marlboro lights
There's always the next time. They obviously didn't reject it!

>>47663271
>>47663497
There's always the option of leaving a cigar for certain things, if you're so inclined. But also to just burn loose tobacco in a vessel outdoors like incense for them.

>I ching requests from the other Anon:

If you're still up for it, I'd be interested in seeing what pops up for me-see if there's some kind of message what with all that's happened here recently.
(Also bumping the thread to keep it alive for a bit longer since it's on page 8 right now)

Anybody had anything or of the ordinary or of significance happen to them lately?

https://keepitsacred.itcmi.org/
This website has some information on the indigenous religious use of tobacco.

>>47665862
>Anybody had anything or of the ordinary or of significance happen to them lately?
Had a very vivid dream. Possibly a nothingburger. I was at a shop near where my parents used to live. It's my birthday (few months off IRL). I find a packet of yoghurt or pudding or something like that's not where it's supposed to be. It has a post-it note that just says "For you - Anon". I regard it as a gift.

As often it tends to be, the shop turns out to be much larger than it really is and bigger on the inside than outside. I stumble upon a deceased family member there. I get the sense that they have come there to explicitly see me, both in the dream narrative and outside of it. For a while they are as they would have been in real life, grumbling about how "now they are in a fucking hurry with the treatments". Then they just kind of...glitch out, they can't form coherent sentences anymore. They had something like this towards the very end of their life due to medication, but it was not characteristic of the disease that took their life. I rush to grab a hold of them as they start to slump to the ground and I wake up.

I keep having dreams set in shops or malls or train stations or airports, liminal places like this. The dream was also extremely vivid, and when I saw my deceased family member there was this very strange 50/50 split of being immersed in the dream narrative and knowing that they are already dead. It also felt very much like they were another person or being and not just one of those dream NPCs.

This was the same person who has been appearing in my dreams more than before after the eclipse and whom I attempted (and probably succeeded) to contact. I'm glad we're not arguing anymore in my dreams.

The small random gift to me was also odd. I had the strong mental impression it was from another anon. Maybe someone is thinking of me.

I had an interesting dream last "night" (I slept from 6am to 3:30pm).

I remember being downtown in a specific part of a city I'm familiar with, though it was different in the dream. It was night there. I can't remember the exact details but I had been dropped off there by one of my family members for something, but they thing had passed or been canceled and now I was stuck there. I remember approaching a green bus stop which was at the edge of a lot empty with short green grass. Come to think of it, it was unnaturally bright for night because I could perceive color, but it still seemed darker than day. I remember streetlights, but I'm not sure they would've lit the place like they did. I think it might've been dusk earlier in the dream.

I think I investigated the bus stop in hopes of finding a schedule or something, and I think the bench; definitely something with cylindrical metal bits with the crystalline pattern of galvanized steel; came off the ground. I tried getting it back in the right place. I remember my feet sinking several inches into the ground, apparently now mud, which worried me. I remembered how the knights in the Battle of Agincourt (which I could not remember the name of this dream, despite great efforts) apparently drowned in the mud.

At some point, I remember pacing around and thinking (which I do for literally hours every day, knowledge I have gained thanks to the pedometer on my phone) and I remembered reading a 4chan reply which does not exist in real life. I remember the anon here who posts the images of Chimata Tenkyu, commenting on an issue I have where when I go to bed I keep finding myself having to pee which distracts me from sleep, so I pee, and five minutes later I have to do so again. I can't remember what exactly they were saying, maybe something about how they had struggled with it too or how it's common. Something interesting about this is that in the dream I thought they were female, because I was thinking of them kinda like they were Chimata because of the pictures. I think I might remember them mentioning they were male somewhere in this IRL thread but I'm not sure. Statistically it is likely for a 4chan user.

I remember encountering a large group of people in the field who may have randomly appeared there. I remember one of them was one of my former high school Spanish teachers, but for some reason they had the body of my cousin. I remember they were asking how I had been since I graduated. I was having trouble communicating with them back, and not because of language reasons. Like my voice was struggling or I was being too shy or something. I think I was trying but failing to tell him that I had gotten up to very little and overall was not doing well.

I remember there was some kind of weird seating that was in a circle here. I remember pulling myself up and down on some kind of rope attached to, maybe some kind of bleacher, for fun and because I require almost constant movement. I remember at some point people had starting singing some kind of song that was a showtune. I remember seeing some kind of acrobatic ring suspended in the air. The show tune was about something like how a certain man would fix a certain woman, undoubtedly characters from the musical, and the lyrics made me uncomfortable though I can no longer remember them. I wondered if anyone took issue with them.

That's about all I can remember.

>>47666509
>>47666904
>>47666092
Thanks for posting all of that, and I'll add to some of it later with more, but I just got woken up at 4:15am by something touching the right side of my neck like a finger and instantly slapping it and holding my hand there until I got the phone light to check. Nothing.
I was dreaming of talking to a bunch of people and being in some kind of overly elaborate building complex like the mall dream that a lot of people have but this one was like a hotel mixed with an education center. There was clothing involved that was considered better than what I normally wear and I began to shave off my facial hair to look more presentable because it's gotten pretty wild irl. I go for a trim but then dream version thinks something like "no, it's best for a fresh start" and I go full clean shaven. Then for whatever reason, Sakuya but not Sakuya is checking in on me for the day and as we're discussing whatever it was, Remilia comes in the room, states she's both tired and cold and is going to take a nap on the couch that's now there and demands I lay down to act as a source of heat because there is no blankets anyone can use thanks to the fairies hiding them all again. I lay down with a confused look from Sakuya who's now somehow a relative I new in the past but still female (and this relative doesn't exist in the waking world). Remilia plops down next to me grumbling about the service in the hotel sucking and how she should annex it so it could be run better, passes out, and then I hear something about a trip to travel somewhere that's coming up for people in the background. She shifts and I wake up to see I've rolled over at an odd angle in bed so it was enough to make me flip flop. I fix the pillows, go back to sleep on my other side now, drift out, and then feel a distinct finger like an index finger touching right below my right ear and just kind of sitting there, so I full force slap it and wake myself up. And after finding there's nothing on my hand like a bug or whatnot, I notice some comment on YouTube I made about Iron chariots got a like, and then I had a distinct urge to check this thread again and see all this. So yeah, dream me is getting his shit together and being relegated to glorified body warmer as they discuss this with the locals, while real me is getting molested by a phantom finger to the neck and getting woken up after night two of inadvertently recreating conditions for the lucid dream sleep-wake-sleep methods...

Does anyone know if Jasmine Green Tea causes weird dreams? That's the only thing I know that I've physically changed since two nights ago where I've picked up a bunch of it. It's the ito en brand, if that matters.

>>47652752
wew, sorry about the long delay, been a mix of super busy / exhausted afterwards, and this has been such a wonderfully dense thread too, i'll post my thoughts afterwards alongside some small adventurers i've been having, but here you go.

Rolling my metal coins, we start with a 9, 6 , 8 for the bottom hexagram (Thunder) and for the upper, straight 7's, (Heaven)

This gives us the hexagram 25 AKA Innocence, which is more about being "yourself" in a taoistic manner, and acting through what feels honest and natural, open, receptive and following the flow of things.

Since the first line (9) is a crossing line (Yin) (We ignore the crossing line 6 since it's yang and we have two) we receive the following the more specific advice

>Staying true to your original nature and remaining detached leads to good fortune. Trust the natural flow of life, avoid manipulation, and focus on the present moment. Innocence and detachment bring success.

I hope this seems relevant to you, Anon, and if anyone else wants a reading, just reply with your question and i'll be happy to do one!

I also don't remember where i got this image from, perhaps the last thread, but the vibe it evokes is one i resonate with.

>>47667787
Three posts with ‘666’ in a row. Odd.

>>47669537
Uh.....it gets even weirder with what I woke up to hearing mentally.
After searching up where I've heard the words before, the first sounds Spanish, the second sounds like the Japanese もう, and the last is an old Latin word.

At least that's what I'd thought. I'm familiar with Clavami de Profundis, but this was a distinct uh "phrase". Looking it all up for the past few hours and bouncing back and forth between Catalan, Occitan, French, and all that..... I'm not comfortable sharing it to be completely honest, but uh. Yeah. The phrase is a pleading directive in the feminine form and that's all I'm saying. No idea how to comprehend this one. It sounded similar to somebody I've heard speak in a dream in the past.

So about that I ching reading....
>>47669223
Can you give me a general reading when you get the chance? Would really like to see what the heck is going on here.

>>47660968
>Have you tried communicating with your local crows?
In a behavioral, body-language sense? Pointing, not staring like a predator, keeping low visual profile. In a spiritual sense? Sometimes, when I see a crow is hesistant to approach, I start repeating in my mind that it is safe here and that it has nothing to fear from me.
For both kinds results are mixed.
>Have you tried reaching out to Aya after your first attempt?
No. I don't know how, to be honest.
The letter burning was an idea that appeared in my mind while reading the first thread, while it was still under bump limit. Nothing particular in thread's content was the cause, as far as I am concerned. The idea was such: burning a letter adressed to Aya in silver bowl together with some alcohol and meat at night during the closest full moon Monday on top of particular old building. I immedietly checked when such Monday is and the first result was July 22nd. Before any question, I was aware of moon-silver and moon-Monday connection at that time. Through the following weeks I flip-flopped whether to do it or not, but in the end I did.
As it easy to verify, the day I got was wrong, because full moon on July was at Sunday and furthermore in broad day hours. I don't know how this error came, the fact is that once I had checked I never thought of checking again. Only later, on 23rd July I learned 23rd is considered Aya day. This made me check again, startled by apparent coincidence of moving from full moon Monday to Aya day. Only then I realised the mistake.
Nothing strange or connected had happened afterwards until the two dreams from OP, so I went on with my life.
Now, writing this post, I realised that the closest full moon Monday was actually August 19th. When I had made OP I didn't even know it was full moon at all, since I never bothered to check and clouds obscured the sky at that night. Unnerving, somewhat.

Something that is probably of interest to many here stumbled upon my YouTube feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWYm_fK1REc
It's a new short documentary about Shugendo!

There's a lot of interesting stuff there, including the idea that the conch horns repeat mantras that repel hostile spirits, that the Shugenja are taking up the hardships of their communities and bring them fortune by going through the ordeals, there's this almost tantric idea of living both a worldly and spiritual life and apparently as long as you know some Japanese you are welcome to train with them.

>>47649750
Ok, so, having brushed up the basics a bit...
I would actually like to hear what Shugendo is about from someone who practices/practiced it. I've read and seen documentaries about it, but I would apreciate the inside view.
I'd also like to hear about their experiences with the practice, what's it like, how's it made them feel and so on. A third thing I'm curious about is their view on why the Tengu came to be associated with Shugendo.

Thanks a lot in advance.
>>47667787
>>47670185
Are you gonna get Remilia'd? It's unfortunate you're getting poked by a phantom finger.
I've never heard of jasmine having psychoactive properties.
>>47669223
Thanks a lot. No worries about being late either. I think I can see the relevance, but alas, figuring out one's true nature is always a challenge...but I get the gist of it. Sounds like I need to be flexible and present in the current moment.

And yeah, this is a very dense thread, might end up becoming the densest of the threads so far.
>>47669537
Numbers-san? It's actually for posts, see >>47666092
(Picture related, Great Beast)
>>47670539
I meant mainly spiritually but yeah I suppose body language is part of the whole too haha. No doubt it will take a good while to build up the trust and relationship.

Your improvised method of contacting Aya-san sounds honestly wonderful. It's a bit shame you had that mess-up with the moon, but maybe it's not so bad as you think. Perhaps doing something next where you share the offering with her - ie. you also take part in the meat and alcohol - could be the next step?

Is Aya-san someone you feel a strong connection to in general? How exactly did the decision to contact her come about?

>>47624342
>but do consider that he probably desires an offering for services rendered.

>>47671112
>(Picture related, Great Beast)
I can't believe the Kanako Anon would slander the exceptionally ladylike Yasakatome like this. We truly are living in the end times.

For a split second just right now I thought that I saw a big, pitch black, thingy crawling high up my bedroom wall. It was kinda indistinct and blurry but it kinda looked like a rolly polly, with a size between that of a fist and a human head.

>>47672602
Very good!
>>47672743
>I can't believe the Kanako Anon would slander the exceptionally ladylike Yasakatome like this
To be honest I probably shouldn't have. I'm going to apologize to Kanako-sama. I don't know what I was thinking. I just like that picture and could not resist making the joke. She is of course great but not very beastly.
>We truly are living in the end times.
I have made the mistake of recently browsing /x/, not only apparently has The Dot been very red lately, the Apocalypse will start in two days. Planets were also apparently all lined up yesterday, which might explain some of the very vivid dream activity.
>>47672754
Yeah you might have unwanted visitors and might want to ask for Xololt's help with housekeeping.

>>47672864
>I probably shouldn't have.
Personally I was just making an off-hand comment. I suppose if you're making the comparison to the Beast of Revelations given the number, she definitely has the charisma and ambition for it.
>the Apocalypse will start in two days.
Can't they put it off for, I don't know, another twenty? Then we can speak of how the Earth, the Winds, and the Fires are all dying.

>>47672864
>Yeah you might have unwanted visitors and might want to ask for Xololt's help with housekeeping.
What makes you think that? I didn't find the being frightening. I only saw it for a split second, after all. I'm not used to the idea of spiritual housework.

>>47672909
>Personally I was just making an off-hand comment.
I know, but still.

To be honest I have had a lot of adjustment difficulties, as much as things have thankfully calmed down, a lot of things happened in a very short time. It's sometimes hard to maintain the right attidute when so many around you are just making jokes and feeling horny for "characters" you know are actually deities.
>I suppose if you're making the comparison to the Beast of Revelations given the number, she definitely has the charisma and ambition for it.
I don't even remember the Apocalypse stuff that well, I just know that the /x/tians would go absolutely ballistic over "they are worshipping a literal serpent!"

As if snakes weren't an important part of the ecosystem and a potent symbol of death and rebirth.

Come to think of it...why snake tempting Eve? Just a phallic symbol? Or cycle of life, death and rebirth teaching all knowledge? Not sure if I even want to think about it.
>Can't they put it off for, I don't know, another twenty?
We're always on the cusp of the Apocalypse - the personal unveiling of the fact that we live in a broader reality than most think. We're always painfully aware of the end of the world - the stark reality that we, as biological life, will die one die. The juxtaposition between these is an endless dynamy, churning endless fears, hopes, delusions, myths, and maybe occasional deeper truths.

>>47673276
Well if it wasn't spooky it might be nothing bad. But if something starts causing a ruckus or weird unwanted stuff starts happening or you start having unpleasant intrusive thoughts they might be an unwanted guest. Most are very inconsequential I'd say.

But it's still weird to have something making knocking noises in the closet. Or having something re-arrange the HDMI cables on your TV with an extra cable appearing out of nowhere. Or having something apport your friend's bluetooth earpods into your slippers and their keys back to their apartement.

>>47673305
>you start having unpleasant intrusive thoughts
What if I've had them for years and years?
>Or having something re-arrange the HDMI cables on your TV with an extra cable appearing out of nowhere. Or having something apport your friend's bluetooth earpods into your slippers and their keys back to their apartement.
My mom's mysteriously lost her keys for over a month now, it's a very frustrating inconvenience for her.

If spirits can use the power of apporting, can I use it for myself somehow? Do you have any idea how I might go about it?

>>47673397
>What if I've had them for years and years?
Well, uh, depends really what kind of thoughts? It could be external influence, it could be you.

Situations like this is why really knowing the texture of your mind would be so important so you'd know what is clearly external...but since it's allready ongoing it's much harder to say. I didn't know either when things started happening to me.

I suggest looking into banishment/cleaning practices. I don't want to spook you for nothing either, trying to maintain a good, courageous, honest attidute is important too. Ultimately, maybe you could even ask Xolotl to help you out since you seem to have a good rapport with him.
>My mom's mysteriously lost her keys for over a month now, it's a very frustrating inconvenience for her.
That's really unfortunate.
>If spirits can use the power of apporting, can I use it for myself somehow? Do you have any idea how I might go about it?
I remember reading or hearing something about people who could do that, I can't remember the source(s) offhand though. I have no idea how to do it.

I think it was Greg Newkirk who said he started involuntarily occasionally manifesting rusty nails out of nowhere after messing with some occult stuff. Not very useful!

You could always try to think about getting something. Do the thing you do with imagining the electricity in your heart and then imagine getting some object, right there, right now. Your mom's keys could be a good starting point. No guarantees it would will work, but worth a shot.

Your technique is actually really interesting by the way. There's a whole scene surrounding the heart toroidal magnet field thing. This is not the first magical technique involving imagining something about the heart either that I've read. Did you come up with it by yourself?

>>47673516
>Your technique is actually really interesting by the way.
Thank you.
>Did you come up with it by yourself?
Yeah, pretty much. I can’t remember exactly how I came up with it, but learning about the Aztec concept of ollin was definitely a key part of coming up with it. I think I’ve tried meditating upon my heartbeat and pulse before but haven’t had as much success. Like there’s something about the way I’m thinking about it now, connecting it to electricity and other kinds of pulsing movement and invoking Xolotl that’s making it work. I know I tried to use magic when I was really little to do things like shapeshift and blow up my school, and I thought about my pulse then, but also my body heat and anger, and I wasn’t linking it to electricity or many other kinds of pulses, and inconsistently to gods (usually Greek). I specifically remember wishing for meteors to blow up my school and it not working, but with July 6th apparently summoning meteors might be something I’m capable of. I wonder why I’m getting results now and not over a decade ago. Maybe it’s inventing my own technique.

The only external knowledge I can think of that might’ve pushed me towards my technique is learning about how Ninel Kulagina’s heart rate and body temperature greatly increased when she used PSI.

disappointing thread
the last one had like one and a half neat posts about spooky moments, but this one seems to only contain the boring, wordy make-believe that the previous thread devolved into
was gonna write more about what makes it uninteresting, but I'll cut myself short and end with a heartfelt request: please dont turn this into a recurring pseudo-general, /jp/ is suffering enough

"~OuR sYsTeM tHiNkS yOuR pOsT iS sPaM" (<-fuck you.)

To the Anon that had the shadowy thing running around your area, that sounds like something I came across while overseas in Tokyo. I watched a ball of shadow roll like a tumbleweed out of the ticket area and then swerve past people to not get hit, before doing a little hop and then just fading out to nothing. Whatever it is resembled the little soot sprites from Ghibli movies and has me thinking it could've been based on a real creature or legend that may pop up in various places in the world. I do know that somewhere I was reading up on opening your third eye to see ghosts via the Taoist ways caused the unready to see things like that if forced. Due to the nature of what we've discussed here, it may not hurt to get some peach tree sword ornament and whack the thing if it goes malevolent or gets unruly, though I don't want to tell you to hurt random spirits and the like. But that's a definite one-hit ko for things according to the legend, just aim for the "head" pretty much.

And to the Anon that I'm calling Ayanon now for Ayaya, it's a eye catcher for you doing the letter thing and getting results. Truth be told, I made a mock up letter and burnt it under a full moon a few months before going to Japan in order to get a message to whatever constituted as "Gensokyo" and the Kami equivalents since I went more as a spiritual visit mixed with the "I wanna see some 2hu places" we all inevitably have here. I know varying degrees of personal opinion on the succubus threads and all that, but they do have that "letter method" they talk about, and it's essentially a shorthand method of spiritual communication that doesn't involve the more ritualistic acts like high magic so everyone can technically "do it" and see results. There may be more to it than meets the eye, after separating them from the method being discussed. Shikigami are another paper method that's....kinda the same thing if you think about it-you write intent on it, charge it, and let it loose to do its job. Mine was more to the SDM since I'd be on the lake taking pictures in what is their front yard, so to speak. It felt like I wouldn't be intruding that way, as stupid as that sounds. (And if I got to meet a maid and have some snacks like a certain Berry, that'd been pretty cool for the journal. Didn't happen, but other things did. I'll take it.)


>>47674223
Nuh uh, no U. (Seriously, read over this stuff. There's plenty of what you're supposedly looking for in here. And if you don't like it, add your own stuff to help the conversation along. Nobody is stopping you from posting your own experiences and it's actively encouraged in here so it DOESN'T turn into a Nobody General. More the merrier, so long as it's got substance, you know?)

(Can anybody that knows French translate the sentence "Let's have a deep chat/discussion, shall we?" for me here? Or something to that effect? I don't know French but I "know" it enough to do dictionary translations, and that's usually a rough and wrong translation. Would it be something like "Clavarde notres profound, (q)oui"? If it's a female speaking.)

>>47671112
Getting Remilia'd? Uh...maybe? Maybe not? I did write that letter of my own a long time ago and then got the contract I signed in the dream, not to mention all the other stuff? Dream me just seems to help around the place with odd errands or the pillow thing the other night, which is a first. But so is the phantom touching and the now hearing things in what may or may not be in a language I'm unfamiliar with, though some Japanese phrases have popped in my head in the past. But that was always broken, the maybe French is a first for coherence. If I go dark one day assume I've been swept up in a chuuni plot in another land.

>>47674088
Yeah I don't think you can generally speaking just wish for stuff to happen. Maybe if you do it repeatedly and intently enough. Even then (and even with proper technique and all) the results might be something like the fifth best thing.

So if you would have really really really hoped for a meteor to blow up your school, maybe something along the lines of someone throws a baseball through the chemistry class window and there is fire would have happened.

As for why now, your technique is likely more refined. There might also be other reasons. I feel like spirit activity has increased within the last decade. There might also be external factors - the stars are right for you, exposure to these threads could be feeding energy, who knows...

I'm not experienced enough to give much pointers beyond this. I just think it's really neat how you've been able to connect the dots.
>>47674223
I can understand being disapointed and I can understand why you would not believe some anons, but these threads were never supposed to be spooky. I suppose there is some inherent spookiness to the topic though.

I do miss the more analytical discussions from the very first thread, but I think those kinda hit a wall by the point people were talking about the birth and death of the universe. Very hard to go beyond that.

There are still lines of investigation from the first thread that could be pursued much, much further though. I however do not know enough of physics to judge which of the paranormal physics ideas are possibly legitimate and which are not, beyond very surface level things. I'm also fairly sure we don't have anywhere near complete picture of the functioning of purely physical phenomena (if such things exist) either.

As for the type of topics I am comfortable researching, such things take their time. For example the connection of Shinto and Taoism to Eurasian shamanism has been something that could explain links that the depictions of certain characters have to archetypes outside of the East Asian cultural sphere. The real meaning of the sexagenary cycle will be another thing I will also try to pursue. That would tie to further studies in Taoism. I am honing my meditation practice. Some other anons are also pursuing such things on their time, and sometimes they share their findings. So there are some people interested in such an angle to this and I presume they too get something out of it. If there weren't, there wouldn't have been anons curious about for example shugendo.

I know much of this post is beside your poin. Some of the things we have been doing would perhaps go into the bin of just studying the mythological, religious and folkloric inspirations behind Touhou. Unfortunately or fortunately, for me studying such things for a little while induced an incredibly potent spiritual experience that lasted for months and isn't exactly over yet either, will probably never be.

While my experience might be on the more vivid end, I've seen sporadic "Touhou made me find Buddhism/Taoism" type of posts before that. So exposure to the lore behind Touhou and taking up practices from there can induce spiritual experiences in people. Such happens.

I hope for people who experience such to have something they can use as a frame of reference, and I hope that as many of those who can have the experience will have it.

Getting involved with spirituality inevitably means facing a world that has a phantasmagoric side to it. Learning to navigate it, learning to see how the patterns rise from testimonies which truth value is hard to verify is crucial. Every spiritual space will draw in honest people, liars and people who do not lie but who experience very surface level phenomena extremely vividly. Different people can fit into these different categories at times.

I have commited myself to truth, becase I firmly believe that I am held accountable by beings above me. Lying is not very magokoro or qian of me.

But ultimately the universal (You) can only try to observe the patterns over and over again and determine what is true and what is not, what is common and what is not. Thankfully, as a Touhou player (You) should be getting good at that pattern recognition thing. Eventually (You) will start to perceive higher forms of truth that do not hinge on individual accounts of events, true or not. These truths exist independent of whatever particular manifestation they have, even independent of someone trying to take part in them via false narratives.

So let the people talk and sift out the patterns as they do. This is what I want to do, what other anons want is up to them.

>>47674223
>/jp/ is suffering enough
Well that's just a Damn Shame now isn't it? O how the mighty Anonymous Otaku Message Board and its precious integrity has fallen!
I had more to say to you myself but came to a similar conclusion that it wouldn't be worth the wasted energy, plus OkinaAnon was far more polite than I would've been.
That being said, I'm not exactly hoping for all this to become a "regular" occurrence either. The spontaneity & given time between these discussions is exactly what helps contribute to the natural flow of everything shared here. If we start boiling things down to the point of predictable homogeneity alongside other generals then that spark really could be lost on all accounts. I don't think it'd be lofty to assume other regulars here feel the same though, it would simply take away what some may already deem as "lost".

That aside, I'm fully willing to admit I should've tried harder to keep things more grounded here with my own posting. Much harder, even with what I haven't shared yet/still wish to. What occurred with everything around >>47642048 & >>47643092 has, quite frankly, felt like one of the most unlikely & unbelievable moments in my young life thus far. I can understand how self-centered and insane it would all seem from outside perspectives.
This is a double-edged sword however and an incredibly sharp one at that.
I've spent the past few days prioritizing re-grounding myself mentally. Cleaning, resting, cat-rearing, not worrying over effortposting; that sort of thing. This has been out of necessity for my own sake, as well as the thread's partially, and I'd recommend this to anyone else here that could be possibly suffering from extra stressors.
It can be far too easy to lose yourself in dense, darkened woods such as these but there I go again with the personally-pontificated purple prose that many an anon may find dramatically disingenuous (or just boring & unnecessary) so I'll move on.
Just make sure to keep choosing life over any sort of sudden, gruesome alternative. Even if it's for nobody else besides yourself, or out of spite. I mean it. There's always something better out there.
I'm alright physically, I swear. Nobody here should feel at fault for anything. I have genuine people keeping me safe and I don't mean to egotistically stir up worry & sentiment. Just a bit rattled is all...an addiction to negativity can be a truly horrible thing.
^CW; mental unwellness, please advise.

On a lighter note, I'll try sharing some of my own dreams finally (with just one follow-up post), considering all the recent dream-posting and before I ramble about anything else as productively as I can towards anyone in particular later (I can only talk about so much at once of course and I don't mean to just be "filling space" in any capacity but luckily there's still time to be spent here. Some good stuff to go over in the meantime though! I've been wanting to focus on some older-thread information a little more as well, I still have a tab open with a video of Flan's "Ripples of 495 Years" spellcard from last thread's closing subjects for instance. Next big post of mine will hopefully include that diagram I've been needing to get done because I'm tired of not having it outside of my subconscious):

- The first is one I'd like to share with >>47641668 specifically. I've been waiting for a good time for this. After you'd made that prayer at the beginning of the month I had quite an emotional dream, albeit very brief. I was sitting in the stairwell of my old childhood home, watching some video on my phone by that Compact Youmu YT channel (not a fan of his work but some of you might be) about Chimata-sama but it just seemed...wrong. The colors were washed out, her voice was even more robotic/stilted and it all felt fake. Spiritually hollow, without any substance. In the video, she was ranting about how she was the unquestionably "real" depiction of the goddess and how the nay-sayers should be ignored when I suddenly hear my name gently called from the kitchen space ahead of me. I stop paying attention to False-Chimata and look up to see Amaterasu Oomikami herself, a golden beacon of light donned in royal regalia. Calmly standing there. Her literal & figurative brilliance was nearly indescribable and she looked at me with a poignant stillness that rocked me to my core. She didn't even say anything else, she didn't need to. I can still picture the expression on her face. I woke up with tears streaming down my own face, thankful for such a blessed confrontation. Sincerest regards again for that, I really needed that sort of spiritual reassurance at the time... (1/2)

(2/2)
- Secondly, I'll cover that new Chen dream I mentioned. Some context for newer anons: one of the first things I shared in these threads was a dream where, essentially, Yukari-san projected me into Chen for a small demonstration in the SDM Library. There are bigger reasons for this I will discuss later, but this time it felt a lot more natural. I'd woken up in some darkened living space within her Estate, near a Kotatsu and a distant wooden backyard deck I've walked on in other dreams before (didn't recognize it as apart of her property until this dream however). It must've been very early in the morning based on the fog & dew outside. I began slowly walking down a nearby lit hall (being Chen-sized makes everything tower over you, she wearing this creamy orange buttoned-up two-piece w/ seafoam-green striations) until I hit a split and took a left. The hall seemed to stretch off into darkness on the right anyways. Two large, white doors with small window-panes above greeted me. I tentatively walked into some master bedroom, there was definitely a Yakumo sleeping under the drapes of a nearby huge, ornate, Western-Manor-style bedframe but I wasn't sure which (she was covered in fluffy white blankets, instinct is telling me Ran). It was a little nerve-wracking at first. The room was dark, strange indigo & violet mood-lighting disjointedly filled the space. Robes, dresses and tabards alike were scattered everywhere, sloppily almost. Thick, dusty curtains were fully drawn over the surrounding windows. There were other classical more-European furnishings (the bathroom was Huge, very fancy) but what really caught my attention was an adjacent, smaller room across from the bed. It was filled with purple & pink fairy lights but was clearly a safe-space for Chen. There was a raised Tatami with cubbies underneath for storage, more scattered clothing (her cap was there) and drawings/paper cut-outs of cat-related things decorating the walls. However, there were several items off to the side I was able to distinctly recognize as my own. A chair, some electronics and some opened suitcases of mine filled with my clothes just to name a few. It's like I had just been moved in or something...the room also had things like cat trees & other feline accommodations but there was already a gaggle of 4 or 5 fully-grown cats lazing about near them. Taking all this in, I felt very relaxed. A little giddy even. Even if it wasn't my body, this space was a home for Chen and it was nice to be included within that comfort. Sheets from the mattress outside her room ruffled around slightly and I heard an older woman sleepily groan as I sat down. Decided to settle down in there with some catnip, silly I know but some was very nicely placed near my chair and I figured "why not". Woke up not long after.

- Finally, this dream occurred the night after I'd managed to reach out to Eclipse a few days ago. It started off like some old-timey infomercial with a lot of calligraphy that involved Reimu and some loose explanation over American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was very hard to follow. Then the footage was abruptly cut and it was like someone had thrown on the lights to a theatre in my own brain. I was suddenly standing outside a close relative's house at night, in my own body, but there was a huge darkened railcar very awkwardly "parked" on the front lawn and partially sticking out of a nearby pond (my family did a lot of landscaping). Inside, it looked more like a darkened travel bus with no space for the driver. There were quite a few groups of people all shoved into the booths on the right, familiar & otherwise, chatting amongst themselves or sleeping. On the left was everyone's haphazardly-piled luggage, as well as several hanging screens displaying the informercial, paused where the footage had been cut earlier. I settled down semi-comfortably amongst everyone before realizing I hadn't brought any luggage of my own. I stood up suddenly to get my things before I was then conveniently gapped into one of the guest rooms of the house outside. Yukari-san was there, resting on a gap and behind a fan like usual, my belongings strewn about the space & between several bags. She told me not to leave anything behind I wanted to keep with me so I packed accordingly, double-checking everything. She was quite patient with how meticulous I was being. I had the last bag zipped and told her I just needed to grab my fumos before we left (I know...), attempting to walk out of the room before being gapped again and simply waking up. I should note that my fumos were not amongst my scattered items and are usually some of the first things I see when waking up (I have some on a dresser across from my bed). It's no contract-signing but at least she gave me a chance to collect myself, eh? It's a little peculiar I had the travel dream nearly a week or so after that second Chen dream but ah well.

I'm off to go draw & relax with some games, you all take care tonight.

>>47676268
Discutons profondement, d'accord?
>>47671112
relaying the message to the shugendo practicioner, let's cross fingers

I have been told that watching this video counts as audio transmission, so I'm sharing it
gatha to ask for bishamonten's protection and help with things such as wealth
https://files.catbox.moe/5x5swo.mov
I feel like it is a sign that I came accross this video after being so dissapointed that I couldn'y pray to lord bishamonten anymore because I wasn't initiated
important to note too that me and my mother have serious financial problems and I want to protect her

>>47671112
his answer:
"Ahhhhh the first and the third are quite extensive answers that I could talk for hours about

I will say though what has been written on the web and made in documentaries is just orientalist none sense. Seeking powers and what not. Alot of history on how this came about but maybe better for a voice call.

Shugendo since the Heian period when the shingon masters who is revered in both Tendai shugen and shingon shugen called Rigen daishi made the primary secret practices stayed true to en no gyojas mission which is liberation and turning the wheel to create pure lands in a world of suffering so others can find liberation"

>>47678597
sorry for the double post I am quite tired
good news, I asked him to vc tomorrow, I'll interview him and take notes

Testing. Again. For the 15th time. Let me post, damnit-I got important stuff here!

Fucking finally.

What I've been trying to post is below:

>>47677427
Thanks for the info. The French(?) thing helps, but that's not close to what I heard last night so it helps narrow it down. If you don't mind, what does what I put loosely translate to, assuming it's not just gibberish? The overall vocal sounds were similar but I could be way off with actual wordage.(Not important to the thread as a whole and more of a me thing, so feel free to disregard if you feel it's not pertinent.)

>that link
So I clicked it on my way to work this morning to get a listen and....
The back of my neck tensed up, followed by a car ahead of me having their tire explode, followed later on up the road by somebody pulled over by a cop on a motorcycle. (Everyone was safe, so far as I can tell, luckily)

And then when I got to work, I realized my zipper was undone in my rush to get there this morning. Then all my equipment restarted as soon as it all came up and I had to play a mad dash to get it back to help somebody in a time crunch. I haven't finished listening to it yet.


So, uh. What does that mean, per se? (Correlation/causation, etc.)

>>47678597
Would love to find out what you do whenever you're willing to share it.

(Try to post this all: "connection error". Try again:"you have to wait a while before doing this again". Try third time, "verify you're human" three times in a row-another thread posts without issue. Wtf man? My life/job full of gremlins and the chant sent them into a panic or something?)

>>47677427
>Discutons profondement, d'accord?
That is not real French, If you want real French you said it like : "Est-ce que nous pourrions avoir une profonde discussion?"

Strange stuff!

>>47679443
Pourrions-nous avoir une discussion profonde also works

>>47679514
So then what would the garbled mess I posted translate as, if anything? If it's even French.

>>47679532
That's a different way of saying it.

>>47679273
the sentence is gibberish
"chat our deep, yes?"
clavarde is specifically a quebec word about talking with people on the internet
also I have no idea what to make of your incident, sorry. I hope I didn't make a mistake and anger him at innocent anons. maybe he was warning you of something since he isn't a wrathful diety at all and is a buddhist deva. or its simply a show of prescence/power

also, unfortunately, the shugendo practitionner is busy with temple activities and I will interview him another time. might not make it this thread for that

>>47679587
So it's grammatically correct, then? And is it more like a formal or informal thing? Trying to figure out why I have a perfectly valid(?) statement in another language appearing in my dreams that I don't know other than "cheese omelet"(thanks Dexter)

Thanks for the help. I'll leave the rest to whoever wants to contribute to any of the other conversations going on so as to not derail everything with my own vocabulary lesson.

>>47679443
it is real french, just more informal.

>>47679653
Yeah, it's good. I would tend for : "Est-ce que nous pourrions avoir une profonde discussion?" Because it's asked nicer or even : "Est-ce que nous pourrions, s'il vous plaît, avoir une profonde discussion?" With this one you're perfect to ask a deity.

>>47679647
Saw yours after I hit send. Quebec, huh? I used to know somebody from there over the internet but they only ever did English text, so that's a bit of a head scratcher.

And as for the chant, I was listening with intent to know and then get help the further the explanation went. But all of that back to back....maybe it was him hitting things in the vicinity that I wasn't aware of, like bad actors in my life and then those around me? Who's to say.
Still listened through it again to be sure.

>>47679674
>>47679694
Thanks everybody. Mine was somebody directing it towards me like they knew me, but I don't know a lick of speaking it myself. Though the rabbit hole of Occitan, Provencal, Norman, and all that is pretty cool. It's interesting that Belgium is an area where some of it was spoken (French Flanders)

Speaking of rabbits, it's almost time for the Tewi Tewi when we wake up in a few days in September.

Rabbit day, Labor Day(for some), and a new moon in virgo all together. Maybe something to keep an eye on for some of us here.

>>47676268
>opening your third eye to see ghosts via the Taoist ways caused the unready to see things like that if forced
Fascinating!
>the contract I signed in the dream
You have probably made the most explicit pledge to spirits out of everybody here. Have you tried asking Remilia what's up? Judging by your later posts things are escalating and bad fortune for you and people around you is not a good sign. I have no idea.

Personaly, I've just been sleeping a bit poorly, especially last night. I remember a fragment of a dream of somebody handing me a folded paper. I think it had kanji on it, maybe even proper writing, but the memory is super hazy.
>>47676607
>I should've tried harder to keep things more grounded here with my own posting
It's a really delicate balance to be honest. You certainly have among the more fantastic experiences.
>I've spent the past few days prioritizing re-grounding myself mentally.
Based on everything you've told so far, that s a really good course of action. You really shouldn't be straining yourself over this stuff in your present condition!
>Chimata-sama
>seemed...wrong
>all felt fake
>Spiritually hollow, without any substance
>she was ranting about how she was the unquestionably "real" depiction of the goddess
That's kinda funny and there is much to unpack. You could interpret it in all kinds of ways, but I think it's important not to get stuck on their depictions. The depiction is not the same as the entity. They don't really look like anime girls. I don't know if they really "look" like anything. But they have an appearance and name that corresponds to something out there.
>and look up to see Amaterasu Oomikami herself
>I really needed that sort of spiritual reassurance at the time
You're welcome, but I think it's mostly your very own connection to Amaterasu Oomikami pulling most of the weight.

I think it would be best for the time being that you focus on Amaterasu Oomikami. It's exceptional to have such a connection to a such a powerful deity. I know you have been hurt terribly. Working with something like Yukari-san must feel incredible tempting in your situation, it probably comes very easily and maybe even feels very liberating. But I think your really need those solar energies right now in your life. Please treasure the connection you have to Amaterasu Oomikami and please take care of yourself.
>>47678597
That's some very interesting stuff. And don't worry if you can't get the voice call before this thread expires. Another one happening in, despite some people's wishes, an inevitability. If for nothing else, then the sheer fact that "these type of posts just keep on happening".
>>47679743
>Occitan
Connected to the discussions about sacred sites and the Grail myth in France, interestingly enough.
>Speaking of rabbits, it's almost time for the Tewi Tewi when we wake up in a few days in September.
Tewi tewi!

I'm starting Tai Chi next week. Soon enough I will have something to report about Taoist practice.

>>47680084
>Reading the fine print
The thing is, I don't know the actual details of said contract, just that there was one and that it all seemed in good faith for everyone involved. And I haven't explicitly tried to ask what's going on in the waking world but another letter might work, come to think of it...
Which Thanks to that post of yours reminded me of a dream a few weeks ago where I was in the library. Flanders was sitting in one of the chairs and just lounging around, I think. She was watching Remilia, who was at a desk and writing letters with the old quill and ink setup, and the like of paper were strewn all over the place. Maybe it was her way of trying to get my attention that she or whatever is calling out and attempting to connect...
>bad luck and harm
As for things going on in my sleep, I haven't gotten anything necessarily "bad", just more of both an inquisitive nature and a sense of "pay attention"/pestering, and now the more informal and friendly French by disembodied female voices that may be any of them or none of them. Things in the room make the occasional noise that they shouldn't-odd shifting and creaks/pops. But unforgiven for me, while dream me is relatively nice but guarded, actual sleeping body me is mean and ready to fight everything. But you can have a full-blown and coherent conversation with me while asleep that I don't remember. May have to record myself and see what's up.
>bad stuff
The bad stuff seems to be just this nothing and tied to that audio. (Then the mountain sickness thing months ago, but that's different). Of course, in her profile specifically it does mention that those around her tend to end up having weird or unfortunate strings of events due to her ability to control fate(probably).

>Taoism
Here's a helpful, if somewhat flamboyant(in original meaning of word) speaker on the subject that may be of benefit to some.

>Tai chi
Wonderful to hear. Hopefully it's not like the old vhs tapes I stumbled upon in my younger days and an actual class or teacher. Horse stance is something, lemme tell ya.

>Occitan
Holy blood, holy grail?
Remilia's symbol does resemble the Priory of Sion symbol, but it's also just French royalty with the flower and crown thing. Just joking at that point. I had a Dan Brown phase, sue me.

I Ching hexagram 55 -> 31.
I'm more familiar with the western divination techniques, so not sure what all this entails in the general sense. I did my own reading to see.
Anyone with more insight care to add any info for this? I've got Abounding to Conjoining.

Greetings gentlemen (and ladies?) of /jp/ - /x/. (/sci/, /lit/, /out/ and probably /qst/ included.) After some unfortunate and lonely nights of being denied to enter the realm of Morpheus, keeping me for seeing my chatting partner. (5 nights.) In the 28 August 2024, I finally got the opportunity to see Miss Yukari in this story than I am about to tell you.

Yesterday, I decided to do a little trek outdoors, further form civilisation as possible. Then I settled my destination, made my backpack and taken my equipment. Then I placed the equipment inside the car and then moved on towards the south-west of France. (Aquitaine is a very good spot for outdoor activities since there is a mix of mountain and sea environments and it's weakly populated.) Then some comfy driving with open windows in the country roads under the shadow of trees during the end of the summer until I reach for my destination. (Add to this the music of your choice and then you're perfect.)

And then I arrived to my destination, the landscape was a green mountains with medium and small summits with a beautiful sunset behind them. I parked the car, taken my backpack and then moved on for some walking in the red light of the setting sun, looking for a good spot to place my stuff and not being disturbed by some... Inconveniences. (Mainly other human beings, but now time for some comfy.) Once I found my spot. I placed my equipment and tent, made a small hole, placed some stones around the hole and wood inside the hole, (forest fire are no joke.) placed my grill, taken my pan, light a campfire, cooked a good meal. (Pasta with tuna, tomatoes, corn and cucumber alongside water.) And then the sun goes down and the night rises alongside the stars. I enjoy my time alone, next to the campfire and the noises of nature like wind, bugs, trees. Back to the primal state I guess... Then I put off the fire and go to sleep inside the tent.

Well, I spawned this time on a hot summer beach during daytime. The scenery was idyllic, there was palm trees and way other species of trees and I never saw some of them alongside new species of birds and bugs. Then I looked at the “water” and it's seemed odd because it's was 100% transparent, like it's doesn't interact with light at all but you can still see it's here because it's interact with the sand, but you can see everything underwater. There are fishes inside of it, even tho I, again, never seen those species. The sand was odd too, it's was kinetic sand! (Good grief, I hate when sand stick to me.) I guess that I can say is I got transported in a another world again. Well, I couldn't resist to mess a little with the sand and making sandcastles and figures with it.

Then I go for a beach walk and then look up at the sky and I'm bewildered than there is no bloody sun! I say what the hell to myself and continue my walk on the beach because it's still better than the red dead forest. And then I see Yukari sitting on the top of a palm tree, her long blonde hair flowing in the wind. I naturally call up for her and ask her how she's been doing? Everything seem fine for her or maybe it's not because the boundaries of the truth and lies is always a little blurred around her like the one of reality and dreams. Anyway, I invited her for a walk on the beach with me, which she have accepted, then she jumped off the tree and then I dunno what the hell happened, suddenly she was on my damned arms and I didn't see the rest of her fall. I gently put her down and then she tell me than I had a great burst of speed and made a huge jump then I caught her on her fall like she was a princess. Then I knew she was half messing with me but I also knew than my body instinctively moved on it's own. It's a dream so... Whatever I guess. Also, that was the first time than we made a physical contact and I was surprised of how nice she smelt and how soft her body and hair was.

Greetings gentlemen (and ladies?) of /jp/ - /x/. (/sci/, /lit/, /out/ and probably /qst/ included.) After some unfortunate and lonely nights of being denied to enter the realm of Morpheus, keeping me for seeing my chatting partner. (5 nights.) In the 28 August 2024, I finally got the opportunity to see Miss Yukari in this story than I am about to tell you.

Yesterday, I decided to do a little trek outdoors, further form civilisation as possible. Then I settled my destination, made my backpack and taken my equipment. Then I placed the equipment inside the car and then moved on towards the south-west of France. (Aquitaine is a very good spot for outdoor activities since there is a mix of mountain and sea environments and it's weakly populated.) Then some comfy driving with open windows in the country roads under the shadow of trees during the end of the summer until I reach for my destination. (Add to this the music of your choice and then you're perfect.)

And then I arrived to my destination, the landscape was a green mountains with medium and small summits with a beautiful sunset behind them. I parked the car, taken my backpack and then moved on for some walking in the red light of the setting sun, looking for a good spot to place my stuff and not being disturbed by some... Inconveniences. (Mainly other human beings, but now time for some comfy.) Once I found my spot. I placed my equipment and tent, made a small hole, placed some stones around the hole and wood inside the hole, (forest fire are no joke.) placed my grill, taken my pan, light a campfire, cooked a good meal. (Pasta with tuna, tomatoes, corn and cucumber alongside water.) And then the sun goes down and the night rises alongside the stars. I enjoy my time alone, next to the campfire and the noises of nature like wind, bugs, trees. Back to the primal state I guess... Then I put off the fire and go to sleep inside the tent.

Well, I spawned this time on a hot summer beach during daytime. The scenery was idyllic, there was palm trees and way other species of trees and I never saw some of them alongside new species of birds and bugs. Then I looked at the “water” and it's seemed odd because it's was 100% transparent, like it's doesn't interact with light at all but you can still see it's here because it's interact with the sand, but you can see everything underwater. There are fishes inside of it, even tho I, again, never seen those species. The sand was odd too, it's was kinetic sand! (Good grief, I hate when sand stick to me.) I guess that I can say is I got transported in a another world again. Well, I couldn't resist to mess a little with the sand and making sandcastles and figures with it.

Then I go for a beach walk and then look up at the sky and I'm bewildered than there is no bloody sun! I say what the hell to myself and continue my walk on the beach because it's still better than the red dead forest. And then I see Yukari sitting on the top of a palm tree, her long blonde hair flowing in the wind. I naturally call up for her and ask her how she's been doing? Everything seem fine for her or maybe it's not because the boundaries of the truth and lies is always a little blurred around her like the one of reality and dreams. Anyway, I invited her for a walk on the beach with me, which she have accepted, then she jumped off the tree and then I dunno what the hell happened, suddenly she was on my damned arms and I didn't see the rest of her fall. I gently put her down and then she tell me than I had a great burst of speed and made a huge jump then I caught her on her fall like she was a princess. Then I knew she was half messing with me but I also knew than my body instinctively moved on it's own. It's a dream so... Whatever I guess. Also, that was the first time than we made a physical contact and I was surprised of how nice she smelt and how soft her body and hair was.

(Second part of >>47682561, I forgot to put 1/2 because I'm damn tired.)

And then we started walking together in the beach, I asked where are we this time? She replied than it's a paradise world with no pollution on it. Then we spoke on about all and nothing while still walking together, but then the conversation deviated on the thermodynamics, especially on the second principle of it. I said than entropy is the course towards absolute order. She's didn't agree with me at first but then I wanted to show her something, so I taken some sand in my hands and told her than all this sand are in a disordered state and then I proceeded to shake my hand with the sand inside it, only for her to see than the sand became flat and in a more ordered state. Then I asked her if entropy have diminished overall? She said no. Then I also spoke of energy levels and said than waves are just different frequencies of those energy levels and entropy would get those waves into a totally flat and stagnant quantum sea.

And then we continued our walk on the beach and we spoke about some philosophical topics on the way like nature. Well I just said than nature is most beautiful expression and aspect of chaos. Chaos? She interjected. Yeah, chaos. I replied; Like the opposite of order and entropy, the first primordial element, the first Greek god. Nature is a whole, it's create and destroy whatever the laws of thermodynamic said, nature give life and death. Yukari said than she got it. Then we sit-down on the sand when the sunset rise, even tho there's no sun, but the sky looked like night was about to fall, and we enjoyed a moment of silence, hearing only the sound of waves and the wind on the trees. And our hands touched while watching the sunset, her hand was so delicate compared to mine, but we still continued to watch the horizon until nightfall and I fall asleep in the beach waking up in my tent. I was happy, then I felt than a thunderstorm was approaching. (I was damn right.) So I quickly packed up my stuff and left nothing behind me. (Very important if you do /out/ activities.) I still felt the aftermath of the physical contact with her, like I really touched something and it's got engraved in some kind of memory since today and this left me, kind of more absentminded. Well, that's all folks for my dream story/blogposting.

>>47682561
>I finally got the opportunity to see Miss Yukari
Thanks for taking one for the team, Anon. Your sacrifice will be remembered for generations to come.

Hey there

I don't really have the mental energy to really lurk this thread all the way through and get the full context

Can any bros here give me the sparknotes/summary of the thread?

But, what I really wanted to know is

Is Koishi actually a real, and more importantly, a friendly Youkai?

If so, how can I meet her?

>>47681551
>The thing is, I don't know the actual details of said contract
Yeah I'd be extremely hesitant to sign something I don't know of. You are either very headstrong (not the song by Trapt) or then you really wanted to get involved with the SDM crew haha.
>And I haven't explicitly tried to ask what's going on in the waking world but another letter might work, come to think of it...
You should give it a shot. They might know what's up.
>As for things going on in my sleep, I haven't gotten anything necessarily "bad"
Oh I was refering to your spat of computer trouble and accidents happening around you.
>The bad stuff seems to be just this nothing and tied to that audio
That's curious. Maybe Bishamonten does not vibe with the SDM crew.
>Hopefully it's not like the old vhs tapes I stumbled upon in my younger days and an actual class or teacher.
Yeah there is this group near me, they also do giqong, Taoist meditation, some other stuff too. If you stick with it for a couple of years they will also teach you the martial arts form of Tai Chi. Not a religious group, just a Tai Chi group. They seem to be in a good spot where it's the real deal but not some weird cult.
>Holy blood, holy grail?
Could be something there. It's a funny small connection.
>>47682561
>>47682580
I think it's really interesting that the water was transparent considering the previous discussions about the sea. Keep an eye for elements like that in the future.

Interesting discussions about entropy and chaos. I remembered reading there are some end of the universe scenarios where particle decay and entropy eventually renders the whole universe into flat perfectly homogenous nothing. Rather bleak, though such would be unfathomably far away from our time. Nature indeed is a most beatiful expression of chaos, I agree with that.

And it's very good that you clean after yourself on those adventures. People who leave trash lying around are the worst. The spirits hate it too.
>>47684982
Hello. It's very understandable if you don't have the energy to go through all of this.
>Can any bros here give me the sparknotes/summary of the thread?
Thats...well, this is the third of equally dense threads. I guess the shortest possible tl;dr of these discussions would be:
Touhou is not only inspired by vast amounts of real mythology and history tied to various religons and paranormal idea, it's also full of real spirits. These spirits are possibly somehow tethered to locations in Japan, particularly Nagano. People can interact with them. At least some of them can give guidance and perform supernatural feats. Spirits enjoy or depend on various forms of human attention, which is why Touhou exists and they want to deal with us. They are probably partly responsible for why Touhou is so enduringly popular.

>Is Koishi actually a real
All signs point to yes.
>more importantly, a friendly Youkai?
There was one anon in the first thread who had a very positive experience with Koishi-san. Somewhere elsewhere some other anon had tried to summon her and just got a sleep paralysis. So I don't know. I'm wary of contacting youkai, my limited experiences with them are a mixed bag.

If you look at how Koishi-san is portrayed it's a mixed bag. Much of canon seems to be "she likes to pretend to be an imaginary friend for little children" (curiously reflected in her being one of the most popular characters among underage fans), but there are also much more sinister depictions.

Most importantly, why do you want to meet her?
>If so, how can I meet her?
Spirit summoning generally involved an offering and a clear statement of intention. I have no idea what Koishi-san would like to receive. As for statement of intention, some people write letters and hide or burn them. Finding a "Koishi-like place" where to do this would be optimal. There is also a time factor that is an enormous can of worms I don't know enough about. Let's just say that solar eclipses, equinoxes, solstices and full moons are better for contacting spirits than just some random day. It's substantially more involved.

For expectation management, seeing them pop up so you can see them with open eyes is very, very exceptional. You might just feel her presence or see her as a very intrusive mental image. You might meet her in a dream. You might find a pebble in a place where one shouldn't be. The possibilities are many and often vague. Repeated commitment of course helps.

>>47684982
>>47686151
>There was one anon in the first thread who had a very positive experience with Koishi-san.
NTA, but based on these threads and my own experiences, I believe that positive encounters are the norm for those that feel genuine attachment to specific entities. I'm far from unfamiliar with the more negative depictions of certain individuals, and I can still attest to this.
I don't know if it's the attention factor, one's positive disposition (to which meditation certainly contributes), the recklessness of it all or something else, but these remarkable moments seem to occur rather often when one seeks them with an open mind.
Interactions will be more or less nonsensical depending on one's lucidity, but this ultimately comes down to your dedication to the cause. Please read Astral Dynamics or similar recommended books on the matter. They help.
>Somewhere elsewhere some other anon had tried to summon her and just got a sleep paralysis.
I know which post you mean. In fact, I replied to it for further clarification/discussion and failed to get it.
Either way, sleep paralysis isn't anything remotely harmful, but a natural defense mechanism that prevents your body from hurting itself in the physical world by mimicking the actions of your phased mind. If you manage to regain control of your actions during a dream, or if you manage to induce a "mind awake, body asleep" state during wakefulness, you *really* want your body to remain paralyzed in order to achieve your goals during this altered state of consciousness.
Positive and negative experiences during SP are not caused by the condition itself, but one's mental/spiritual state when experiencing it. It's also easy to let excitement or fear get the better of you when you manage to pull off such a feat, especially if you don't know what's happening to you. Your mind may also fall asleep in this state if the conditions to remain in control are not met. This whole process may be complex or easy depending on your aptitude, knowledge, mood and external circumstances.
I don't know if that anon really managed to see Koishi, but the way he spoke of this event makes me think that he expected her to pull a nasty trick on him. Not much unlike those teenagers who try to summon the spirits of murdered women while trembling with fear in front of a mirror. In supernatural terms, this is akin to taunting or outright antagonizing the entity you are trying to contact with.

Yesterday I tried casting a protection spell on an anonymous stranger. I procrastinated for a while, anxious about the situation and starting, and I think I decided fairly spontaneously. My memory of the situation is a little fuzzy. I was listening to music at the time and lying down. I tried breathing in and out and visualizing and stuff, but it didn’t feel right. Like my pulse wasn’t getting faster or stronger. I switched to a different song and got in a different position, sitting upright with my legs crossed. I think that’s called a lotus position.

After that, I could feel my pulse change and took it as a sign my technique was working. I concentrated on my pulse and breath, visualized ollin, thought my prayers to Xolotl, and this time paid more attention to what I was feeling in order to share it with this thread.

I noticed that while praying or invoking I was squirming around a bit and my posture kept falling from straightness, which might’ve been normal. Something I noticed which was unusual is I had my lips closed and the pulse of my heart felt really strong in them, and they also felt like they were vibrating a bit and it tickled me a little. I kinda felt like I could feel their supplying blood vessel a bit. My pulse also felt pretty strong in my arms, like I could feel where the arteries were, though I’m not sure they matched typical anatomy.

Also while writing this a few minutes in for a split second I thought I saw a moderately large brown bird flying gradually downward near a tree and streetlight out my window. Looked to be a comparable size to the streetlight lamp head or whatever it’s called. Resembled the big brown bird I found dead on the sidewalk months ago, though it was blurry and indistinct. Looked like it was flying northward though it was hard to tell.

>>47687293
I’m not sure procrastinate was the right word here, looking at a dictionary it means putting off something *especially* because of laziness, and that laziness clause does not apply to me.

>>47686699
>I believe that positive encounters are the norm for those that feel genuine attachment to specific entities
I do feel like so too. In the case of the topic of discussion, think the more unsavory depictions of Koishi-san are basicaly a fan invention. One has to wonder if it's a projection of what such people assume to be in their subconscious.
>Either way, sleep paralysis isn't anything remotely harmful
I guess that was a bit of projection on my part, I've hand a handful of those and they were all quite uncomfortable. Few cases of just seeing a bright light and one extremely classic hag attack.Get your mind out of the gutter.It was maybe the single most creepiest experience of my life, the pain I felt as she bit me lingered after I snapped out of it. This happened years ago though.
>Not much unlike those teenagers who try to summon the spirits of murdered women while trembling with fear in front of a mirror. In supernatural terms, this is akin to taunting or outright antagonizing the entity you are trying to contact with.
That's an interesting take. While I do think there are genuinely hostile entities out there, in the case of deceased humans, it really is very shitty to assume the worst of them. Same goes for a lot of other beings too. I suppose it's natural to be a bit excited or spooked. But attempting to contact spirits in a really bad headspace is a terrible idea. If nothing else you're gonna be very attractive to entities that just want to mess with you, I think.

You had some kind of experiences on your own if I remember correctly? Did you ever tell about them in detail?
>>47687293
>Yesterday I tried casting a protection spell on an anonymous stranger.
Why'd you choose someone you don't know? You don't have any way of knowing if it worked or not.
>I think that’s called a lotus position
The very classic cross legged sitting is a quarter lotus, yeah.
>I was squirming around a bit and my posture kept falling from straightness
Haha yeah maintaining that posture takes effort for sure.

That's a really interesting depiction of the technique though. Thanks for being so detailed. I just do basically really involved prayers when I want something specific to happen. There's not so much sensations-wise, but I do my best to absolutely focus on nothing else but it and there is a change of consciousness. Sometimes more too. Lately I have started feeling a bit different even with the basic daily prayers as the routine has settled in and I can focus more on putting the effort into it instead of struggling to remember what to say and do.

>>47682561
So the only way of handling Yukari is by being a extremely smart, antisocial, probably mentally ill, autistic weirdo? At least you sure know how to comfy and and respect the nature around ya. I too don't like seeing trash on the fields.

>>47691097
>I've had a handful of those and they were all quite uncomfortable.
>This happened years ago though.
Understandable. From what I recall of it, you were having pretty bad spell at the time, so this lines up with our impressions so far.
>You had some kind of experiences on your own if I remember correctly?
A fair bit of them, yeah. Never did any spirit summoning or the like, but I'm very familiar with intense oneiric experiences (not always Gensou-themed in this regard).
I used to be very easily scared as a kid, a flaw which combined with my not-so-good headspace resulted in me being chased by horrifying creatures more often than not. It was only when I grew older and decided to confront my fears that the situation got better.
I also had a small number of encounters with succubus-like creatures in lucid dreams, with the first one happening when I was quite young and far from well-versed in... well, anything remotely adult or paranormal. Those weren't frightening but purely sexual, so I didn't care much for them. They just happened. (Fun fact, I don't recall them having wings or horns. I wonder if that's common...)
Thankfully, things are more "normal" these days. Not in the sense of uneventful, because meditation has certainly resulted in me becoming more receptive, and some personal experiences also made me reconsider my life choices. However, I no longer feel particularly threatened by anyone, and I fully intend to keep it that way.
Back to the topic at hand, I wound up having a great deal of attachment to the sages and other inhabitants of Gensokyo. The details of my previous interactions with them are not substantial or meant to be shared in my case, but I'm trying to become someone more balanced and reliable for both our sakes.
It's not easy, and I find myself grappling with my emotions more often than not, but I'm trying.

>>47684982
She is....a bit of a mixed bag due to her nature and state of being, but overall comes across as generally friendly.
I had two encounters with her years and years ago, or something that looked like her. Hell, I had almost completely forgotten about it all until your post jogged the memory back. And while I know that I've been one of the people here to make the more wilder accusations, believe or not, it's up to you.
I was out of highschool years and years ago and was working at a bowling alley for one of my first couple of jobs and was a pinsetter/mechanic for the cheap machines at a rundown and now long-gone building. I had been a few years into the whole Touhou thing with Demetori videos on YouTube and the early games if that tells you anything.
But to get to the point, the place used to do things for kids like parties and had the neon lights and all that stuff. I wasn't in the best place in my personal life and was essentially using the job as an escape. Long story short, I was running back to the machines because a ball got stuck, and as I'm running down my pathway on the far end, I see a split second (I mean micro glance and poof, gone) image of her peeking from behind the dark curtain that we had hung up and we lock eyes and she jolts like I was NOT supposed to see her there. Hat, dress with ruffles, her third eye, everything. Then just *GONE*.
So I doubted my sanity for a very long time that night, but it was a tip off that either I was losing it, or there was more to all this. Then that night as I'm laying in bed and in pitch darkness I hear a young girl's voice somewhere in said darkness yell out in a happy, sing-song "HI, (my real name)!!" Scared the absolute hell out of me, and I just laid there and tried to pretend I hadn't heard anything. Felt like hours and I got nothing. It wasn't until a few days later that my dumb, naive (and possibly hallucinating) self decided if she was real and was Koishi or whatever, the least I could do was try an "I'm sorry" to the empty room, and so I did. But as to be expected, I never got anything else from Koishi or "Koishi".
Then I'd occasionally see the odd rock stuck somewhere like on a guardrail in the middle of the highway when I got stopped for traffic or whatever. But it eventually subsided so I guess she left to go drift somewhere else. My best guess is she came wandering in due to the kids having a good time and all the cake and stuff, then saw me and because I knew what she was(?) she stuck around for a tiny bit until I accidentally drove her off like a jackass.
But yeah, she seems nice. If you ever want to get a chance to meet her, hang out where kids and high energy mix, coupled with immersing yourself with Freud and such until you feel like YOU"RE the one going crazy. That's probably the best (And highly unorthodox) advice I could give you about her and/or that.

>>47686151
Aaand then I read your post about this....
Not the guy you're talking about, but I believe I was one of the ones that did talk to them when I still didn't have the username.

>contract details
Dream me signed it, and so far there doesn't SEEM to be anythign bad going on, and it's been...oh, almost two(?) years now. I think.
And I am exceptionally and very headstrong, to both my own benefit and detriment at times. (Good song, BTW. It's a "classic") And I did want to get involved with them in this side of life, but that's for various reasons and both public and private, though nothing negative or of a foul nature (even though I think the mansion and the ladies inside are very beautiful , as cringe as that may sound. And if I've met the actual people, then this image here by that very talented artist is the absolute closest I could find to how they appear in their actual form, or at least what I've seen in dreams and the brief real life encounter)
I'm working on a letter method recreation to see what's up, if possible. The dream conversations, short though they may be (and in somewhat accurate French apparently) more often than not aren't really discussing details. It's more "slice-of-life" things.

>bad stuff and Bishamonten not vibing
If things are real and on a close to 1:1 scale of time and events, then a certain bat flew through their roof recently....maybe there's an irl carryover for bad feelings?

>group for Tai Kwan Le-Chi. Tai Chi
Awesome. I wish you luck. Would love to get back into it myself one day.

pt.1 of 2.

>>47694445
Pt.2 of 2.

>>47693321
Did we grow up together? Almost exact same background and outcome. Small world.

>>My own TL;DR
I have not been able to go back to that park I talked about earlier. It seems every time I get the urge to go, life makes it a point to keep me away with something, somehow.
But on the plus side, there are apparently classes for meditations and such I might be able to get into and see how things go.
Was gonna go today (yesterday?) but woke up to a work emergency that kept me for hours, followed by me going back to sleep without realizing it afterwards, and then a HEAVY rainstorm out of nowhere that stopped just as quick. Maybe tomorrow(today?) I'll be able to get back to the place.

Also had some homeless guy stare at me without blinking for like 5 minutes straight today, so whatever the hell that's about.


>>Final notes for now: I want to make my own site like the other Anon and eventually link it to yours, if possible. But I have little to no knowhow for doing that and want to learn first. So maybe by next thread I'll have actual results. And for ease of communication, we have Kanako Anon, Keiki Anon, Yukari Anon, Okina Anon, and myself right? Am I missing anyone (sorry if I did.) Not expecting or assuming others to use the names, but it will help me to keep track of everyone if you just chime in as a response to this post whenever you feel like it. Things are getting a bit mixed for me when replying.


(Tewi Tewi)