Jaxon Washburn
@jaxonwashburn.bsky.social
ASU -> HDS -> UCLA • PhD Student of Armenian Studies • Religion/History Nerd • Interfaith Enthusiast • Writer • Latter-day Saint/Mormon
Blogs at: https://theapotheosisnarrative.wordpress.com
Blogs at: https://theapotheosisnarrative.wordpress.com
Pinned
Jaxon Washburn
@jaxonwashburn.bsky.social
· Jul 13
A MESSAGE OF HOPE
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
A MESSAGE OF HOPE
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
July 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
A MESSAGE OF HOPE
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
The Los Angeles, CA Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just issued a message of unity, support, & comfort—along with a call to action & special stake-wide fast—for those currently impacted by the ongoing immigration raids and concerning political climate. 🧵
A friend w/ a relative currently serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Florida shared that “[they] told us today how the ICE raids are negatively affecting missionary work. People won’t open their doors for missionaries (especially elders) because they think they’re ICE agents.“
July 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
A friend w/ a relative currently serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Florida shared that “[they] told us today how the ICE raids are negatively affecting missionary work. People won’t open their doors for missionaries (especially elders) because they think they’re ICE agents.“
Marriage is all about compromise and compromise means that during our road trips, I get to listen to two hours-worth of podcasts on the Jeffrey Lundgren/Kirtland Temple/RLDS* murders followed by my wife listening to several hours of Christmas music.
*the second largest denomination of Mormonism
*the second largest denomination of Mormonism
December 1, 2024 at 11:23 PM
Marriage is all about compromise and compromise means that during our road trips, I get to listen to two hours-worth of podcasts on the Jeffrey Lundgren/Kirtland Temple/RLDS* murders followed by my wife listening to several hours of Christmas music.
*the second largest denomination of Mormonism
*the second largest denomination of Mormonism
I ran into a Gnostic from Appalachia the other day who warned me about the malevolent demiurge of this world, Y’all’d’vebaoth.
November 23, 2024 at 2:38 AM
I ran into a Gnostic from Appalachia the other day who warned me about the malevolent demiurge of this world, Y’all’d’vebaoth.
New acquisition for my small (but growing!) collection of religious objects: an obsidian scrying mirror made of solid obsidian (volcanic glass) measuring ~7.5” in diameter and ~.5” in width.They have been used within Mesoamerican spiritual traditions, such as by the Maya, as a means of divination.
November 21, 2024 at 4:01 PM
New acquisition for my small (but growing!) collection of religious objects: an obsidian scrying mirror made of solid obsidian (volcanic glass) measuring ~7.5” in diameter and ~.5” in width.They have been used within Mesoamerican spiritual traditions, such as by the Maya, as a means of divination.
Certain Parsi Zoroastrian explanations for why they can’t attend the marriage or navjote ceremony of someone with mixed-faith parentage (ie. a non-Zoroastrian is involved) strike me as remarkably similar in form and argument to some Christian explanations for why they wouldn’t attend a gay wedding.
November 20, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Certain Parsi Zoroastrian explanations for why they can’t attend the marriage or navjote ceremony of someone with mixed-faith parentage (ie. a non-Zoroastrian is involved) strike me as remarkably similar in form and argument to some Christian explanations for why they wouldn’t attend a gay wedding.
A thread on my visit to the Tenrikyo church is still to come, but one funny clarification I had to give while I was there was when my wife texted me:
“Remind me, are you visiting Tenrikyo or [Aum] *Shinrikyo* today???”
Verrry important distinction 😅
“Remind me, are you visiting Tenrikyo or [Aum] *Shinrikyo* today???”
Verrry important distinction 😅
November 18, 2024 at 3:03 PM
A thread on my visit to the Tenrikyo church is still to come, but one funny clarification I had to give while I was there was when my wife texted me:
“Remind me, are you visiting Tenrikyo or [Aum] *Shinrikyo* today???”
Verrry important distinction 😅
“Remind me, are you visiting Tenrikyo or [Aum] *Shinrikyo* today???”
Verrry important distinction 😅
As a Mormon missionary, my late-father clearly took the admonition to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15) very seriously. ☠️
November 17, 2024 at 4:01 PM
As a Mormon missionary, my late-father clearly took the admonition to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15) very seriously. ☠️
Tenrikyo church today at 10 am.
Then, will finish the LDS temple recommend interview process at 2 pm (met with my bishop already, need to meet with a member of the stake presidency now.)
Then, will finish the LDS temple recommend interview process at 2 pm (met with my bishop already, need to meet with a member of the stake presidency now.)
November 17, 2024 at 3:53 PM
Tenrikyo church today at 10 am.
Then, will finish the LDS temple recommend interview process at 2 pm (met with my bishop already, need to meet with a member of the stake presidency now.)
Then, will finish the LDS temple recommend interview process at 2 pm (met with my bishop already, need to meet with a member of the stake presidency now.)
Interested in the intersection of Queer and Mormon identity? I was delighted to be asked to review Nathan Kitchen’s memoir, The Boughs of Love:
November 17, 2024 at 5:25 AM
Interested in the intersection of Queer and Mormon identity? I was delighted to be asked to review Nathan Kitchen’s memoir, The Boughs of Love:
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
Q: Kaitlyn, why are you so obsessed with #torii gates?
A: Because they're so much more beautiful, diverse, & wide-ranging than the stereotype we have of the red Inari or Floating torii at #Shinto shrines in Japan!
Exhibit A: a torii raibow⛩️🌈
Follow for more global torii sightings & #ToriiTuesday!
A: Because they're so much more beautiful, diverse, & wide-ranging than the stereotype we have of the red Inari or Floating torii at #Shinto shrines in Japan!
Exhibit A: a torii raibow⛩️🌈
Follow for more global torii sightings & #ToriiTuesday!
The Many Types of Torii in Japan | Blog | Travel Japan (Japan National Tourism Organization)
www.japan.travel
November 17, 2024 at 4:11 AM
Q: Kaitlyn, why are you so obsessed with #torii gates?
A: Because they're so much more beautiful, diverse, & wide-ranging than the stereotype we have of the red Inari or Floating torii at #Shinto shrines in Japan!
Exhibit A: a torii raibow⛩️🌈
Follow for more global torii sightings & #ToriiTuesday!
A: Because they're so much more beautiful, diverse, & wide-ranging than the stereotype we have of the red Inari or Floating torii at #Shinto shrines in Japan!
Exhibit A: a torii raibow⛩️🌈
Follow for more global torii sightings & #ToriiTuesday!
For reference, the astronaut in this photo is Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who grew up as a Methodist and is a believer in God.
The hard binary implied by this meme gets quickly complicated when we take into account the reality of religious scientists, as well as oppressed folks under irreligious regimes.
The hard binary implied by this meme gets quickly complicated when we take into account the reality of religious scientists, as well as oppressed folks under irreligious regimes.
November 17, 2024 at 3:45 AM
For reference, the astronaut in this photo is Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who grew up as a Methodist and is a believer in God.
The hard binary implied by this meme gets quickly complicated when we take into account the reality of religious scientists, as well as oppressed folks under irreligious regimes.
The hard binary implied by this meme gets quickly complicated when we take into account the reality of religious scientists, as well as oppressed folks under irreligious regimes.
Don’t mind me following basically every starter pack for scholars of different religious traditions.
I promise I’m very interested in literally all of your areas of focus. ✌🏻☺️
I promise I’m very interested in literally all of your areas of focus. ✌🏻☺️
November 17, 2024 at 1:34 AM
Don’t mind me following basically every starter pack for scholars of different religious traditions.
I promise I’m very interested in literally all of your areas of focus. ✌🏻☺️
I promise I’m very interested in literally all of your areas of focus. ✌🏻☺️
Currently learning up on the Apostles of Infinite Love, a traditionalist independent Catholic sect HQ’d in Quebec:
“If the post-Vatican II Church was currently in the truth, it would mean that she has been in error for 2,000 years. And if she was in truth for 2,000 years, she is in error now…”
“If the post-Vatican II Church was currently in the truth, it would mean that she has been in error for 2,000 years. And if she was in truth for 2,000 years, she is in error now…”
November 16, 2024 at 11:12 PM
Currently learning up on the Apostles of Infinite Love, a traditionalist independent Catholic sect HQ’d in Quebec:
“If the post-Vatican II Church was currently in the truth, it would mean that she has been in error for 2,000 years. And if she was in truth for 2,000 years, she is in error now…”
“If the post-Vatican II Church was currently in the truth, it would mean that she has been in error for 2,000 years. And if she was in truth for 2,000 years, she is in error now…”
My likelihood of traveling to Iceland is directly connected to how soon they finally finish construction on Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins, the first Nordic Pagan (Asatru) temple to be built in 1000 years. 😅
youtu.be/rpeUtvF3ooY?...
youtu.be/rpeUtvF3ooY?...
November 16, 2024 at 9:08 PM
My likelihood of traveling to Iceland is directly connected to how soon they finally finish construction on Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins, the first Nordic Pagan (Asatru) temple to be built in 1000 years. 😅
youtu.be/rpeUtvF3ooY?...
youtu.be/rpeUtvF3ooY?...
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
They’re going to tell you that white supremacist symbols are “Christian” because, well, white supremacists adopt Christian symbols for this exactly reason.
November 16, 2024 at 1:49 PM
They’re going to tell you that white supremacist symbols are “Christian” because, well, white supremacists adopt Christian symbols for this exactly reason.
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
In my Tibetan Religions class, I regularly emphasize the importance of foregrounding Tibetan voices. Next week, I'll share with my students this terrible erasure of Tibet, from the Musée Guimet and Quai Branley. Doubly frustrating given the recent closing of the Rubin Museum in NYC.
Tibetans in Paris continue their protests against the erasure of TIBET by Guimet Museum.
@sftparis.bsky.social
@museeguimet.bsky.social
@sftparis.bsky.social
@museeguimet.bsky.social
November 16, 2024 at 2:18 PM
In my Tibetan Religions class, I regularly emphasize the importance of foregrounding Tibetan voices. Next week, I'll share with my students this terrible erasure of Tibet, from the Musée Guimet and Quai Branley. Doubly frustrating given the recent closing of the Rubin Museum in NYC.
“Neither the Bhagwan nor Sheela had Young’s political skills and long-range vision. He could compromise to secure his religious community. They could not.”
—Carl Abbott. “Revisiting Rajneeshpuram: Oregon’s Largest Utopian Community as Western History”. Oregon Historical Quarterly 116.4 (2015): 443.
—Carl Abbott. “Revisiting Rajneeshpuram: Oregon’s Largest Utopian Community as Western History”. Oregon Historical Quarterly 116.4 (2015): 443.
November 16, 2024 at 4:26 AM
“Neither the Bhagwan nor Sheela had Young’s political skills and long-range vision. He could compromise to secure his religious community. They could not.”
—Carl Abbott. “Revisiting Rajneeshpuram: Oregon’s Largest Utopian Community as Western History”. Oregon Historical Quarterly 116.4 (2015): 443.
—Carl Abbott. “Revisiting Rajneeshpuram: Oregon’s Largest Utopian Community as Western History”. Oregon Historical Quarterly 116.4 (2015): 443.
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
In 1649, while traveling from Nagasaki to Edo (modern Tokyo), the visiting Dutch Embassy made an obligatory stop in Kyoto where they saw the Great Buddha of Hōkō-ji.
The Great Buddha stood nearly 60 feet tall and was completed in 1612, replacing an older destroyed icon. /🧵
#skystorians 🗃
The Great Buddha stood nearly 60 feet tall and was completed in 1612, replacing an older destroyed icon. /🧵
#skystorians 🗃
November 15, 2024 at 7:07 PM
In 1649, while traveling from Nagasaki to Edo (modern Tokyo), the visiting Dutch Embassy made an obligatory stop in Kyoto where they saw the Great Buddha of Hōkō-ji.
The Great Buddha stood nearly 60 feet tall and was completed in 1612, replacing an older destroyed icon. /🧵
#skystorians 🗃
The Great Buddha stood nearly 60 feet tall and was completed in 1612, replacing an older destroyed icon. /🧵
#skystorians 🗃
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
And a lovely #FossilFriday to everyone here on Bluesky.
Enjoy these beautiful Shaligrams (sacred fossil ammonites of the Nepal Himalayas) with their hand-knit hats and scarves. Everyone needs to prepare for the cold, even the deities!
Enjoy these beautiful Shaligrams (sacred fossil ammonites of the Nepal Himalayas) with their hand-knit hats and scarves. Everyone needs to prepare for the cold, even the deities!
November 15, 2024 at 4:08 PM
And a lovely #FossilFriday to everyone here on Bluesky.
Enjoy these beautiful Shaligrams (sacred fossil ammonites of the Nepal Himalayas) with their hand-knit hats and scarves. Everyone needs to prepare for the cold, even the deities!
Enjoy these beautiful Shaligrams (sacred fossil ammonites of the Nepal Himalayas) with their hand-knit hats and scarves. Everyone needs to prepare for the cold, even the deities!
Finished with most of the new office/study in our new apartment near UCLA. Still need to add assorted wall decor to offset the lowkey therapist’s office so far.
~1/3 children’s and classical lit (wife)
~1/3 religious studies + genocide studies
~1/3 Armenian lit and history
~1/3 children’s and classical lit (wife)
~1/3 religious studies + genocide studies
~1/3 Armenian lit and history
November 15, 2024 at 3:30 PM
Finished with most of the new office/study in our new apartment near UCLA. Still need to add assorted wall decor to offset the lowkey therapist’s office so far.
~1/3 children’s and classical lit (wife)
~1/3 religious studies + genocide studies
~1/3 Armenian lit and history
~1/3 children’s and classical lit (wife)
~1/3 religious studies + genocide studies
~1/3 Armenian lit and history
My ggg-aunt, Lorena Eugenia Washburn Larsen (1860-1945), was a Mormon plural wife who had to hide from federal authorities during the Utah persecutions of the 1880’s while her husband was imprisoned for polygamy. She wrote anti-American poetry during this time to express her righteous indignation.
November 15, 2024 at 1:40 AM
My ggg-aunt, Lorena Eugenia Washburn Larsen (1860-1945), was a Mormon plural wife who had to hide from federal authorities during the Utah persecutions of the 1880’s while her husband was imprisoned for polygamy. She wrote anti-American poetry during this time to express her righteous indignation.
Running list of new religious movements that I have visited/personally attended services for: (no one asked, I don't mind)
Iglesia Ni Cristo
Ordo Templi Orientis
Eckankar
Iglesia La Luz del Mundo
Soka Gakkai International
Scientology
Aetherius Society
Raëlian movement
Santa Muerte
cont.
Iglesia Ni Cristo
Ordo Templi Orientis
Eckankar
Iglesia La Luz del Mundo
Soka Gakkai International
Scientology
Aetherius Society
Raëlian movement
Santa Muerte
cont.
November 15, 2024 at 12:03 AM
Running list of new religious movements that I have visited/personally attended services for: (no one asked, I don't mind)
Iglesia Ni Cristo
Ordo Templi Orientis
Eckankar
Iglesia La Luz del Mundo
Soka Gakkai International
Scientology
Aetherius Society
Raëlian movement
Santa Muerte
cont.
Iglesia Ni Cristo
Ordo Templi Orientis
Eckankar
Iglesia La Luz del Mundo
Soka Gakkai International
Scientology
Aetherius Society
Raëlian movement
Santa Muerte
cont.
Reposted by Jaxon Washburn
What is Islamic art? lol glad you asked my friend but guess what? It's almost impossible to define. Yet that semiotic fluidity is what makes it so endlessly fascinating.
Every Monday, I'll post an object from my class History of the Medieval Islamic World in 100 Objects. It'll be funnn come along!
Every Monday, I'll post an object from my class History of the Medieval Islamic World in 100 Objects. It'll be funnn come along!
November 14, 2024 at 7:23 PM
What is Islamic art? lol glad you asked my friend but guess what? It's almost impossible to define. Yet that semiotic fluidity is what makes it so endlessly fascinating.
Every Monday, I'll post an object from my class History of the Medieval Islamic World in 100 Objects. It'll be funnn come along!
Every Monday, I'll post an object from my class History of the Medieval Islamic World in 100 Objects. It'll be funnn come along!