kermecat
@kermecat.bsky.social
student of Religious Studies, researching Japanese New Religious Movements. interested in Buddhism, Shinto, Daoism, Confucianism, Japan, East Asia, Anthropology, Ethnography. 日本語を勉強しています
Reposted by kermecat
Japan, ostensibly one of the least religious countries in the world, had its political order upended by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. That is THE story about Friday's epochal shift in Japanese politics (thread follows):
October 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Japan, ostensibly one of the least religious countries in the world, had its political order upended by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. That is THE story about Friday's epochal shift in Japanese politics (thread follows):
Reposted by kermecat
Illustrations from a copy of the apocryphal "Cause and effect sutra", attributed to one Brother Niu 牛哥
今生做官是何因。前世黃金裝佛身
What's the cause of being an official now?
In a past life, you adored the Buddha's body with gold.
archive.org/details/caus...
今生做官是何因。前世黃金裝佛身
What's the cause of being an official now?
In a past life, you adored the Buddha's body with gold.
archive.org/details/caus...
August 18, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Illustrations from a copy of the apocryphal "Cause and effect sutra", attributed to one Brother Niu 牛哥
今生做官是何因。前世黃金裝佛身
What's the cause of being an official now?
In a past life, you adored the Buddha's body with gold.
archive.org/details/caus...
今生做官是何因。前世黃金裝佛身
What's the cause of being an official now?
In a past life, you adored the Buddha's body with gold.
archive.org/details/caus...
Reposted by kermecat
i've regrettably just caught up on what has been happening to my friends at @transnews.network: a corporation-endorsed harassment campaign targeted at journalists.
Itch's behavior is inexcusable. plainly.
Itch's behavior is inexcusable. plainly.
August 16, 2025 at 5:19 AM
i've regrettably just caught up on what has been happening to my friends at @transnews.network: a corporation-endorsed harassment campaign targeted at journalists.
Itch's behavior is inexcusable. plainly.
Itch's behavior is inexcusable. plainly.
Reposted by kermecat
The thing that's so difficult in fighting pseudoscience is that its followers fundamentally don't believe in expertise.
Exceptional people? Sure. The naturally gifted? of course.
But I've talked to people face-to-face who simply don't believe people can get better at things.
Exceptional people? Sure. The naturally gifted? of course.
But I've talked to people face-to-face who simply don't believe people can get better at things.
August 13, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The thing that's so difficult in fighting pseudoscience is that its followers fundamentally don't believe in expertise.
Exceptional people? Sure. The naturally gifted? of course.
But I've talked to people face-to-face who simply don't believe people can get better at things.
Exceptional people? Sure. The naturally gifted? of course.
But I've talked to people face-to-face who simply don't believe people can get better at things.
I am very irritated that this viral image of "Pazuzu" is AI-generated and looks *nothing* like historical depictions of Pazuzu, who has "claws or talons, two separate pairs of wings, the tail of a scorpion, a penis with the head of a snake, and a canine mouth".
August 12, 2025 at 10:10 AM
I am very irritated that this viral image of "Pazuzu" is AI-generated and looks *nothing* like historical depictions of Pazuzu, who has "claws or talons, two separate pairs of wings, the tail of a scorpion, a penis with the head of a snake, and a canine mouth".
When were y'all going to tell me about magic castanets in the Nichiren tradition?
March 25, 2025 at 11:11 AM
When were y'all going to tell me about magic castanets in the Nichiren tradition?
Reposted by kermecat
How did ancient Hebrew literature, a cascade of alternative visions, become the unified Torah of the Rabbis, that predated, predicted, and served as the plan for the universe itself? 🧵 from my book in progress, a sort of counter-history of the Hebrew Bible:
March 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
How did ancient Hebrew literature, a cascade of alternative visions, become the unified Torah of the Rabbis, that predated, predicted, and served as the plan for the universe itself? 🧵 from my book in progress, a sort of counter-history of the Hebrew Bible:
Reposted by kermecat
The government is about to give OpenAI the ability to legally steal if we do not flood this page in the next 12 hours.
OpenAI will have immunity from all lawsuits regarding copyright infringement. All other AI companies will follow.
Do you despise AI? Dissent, retweet. Do something. #furry #art
OpenAI will have immunity from all lawsuits regarding copyright infringement. All other AI companies will follow.
Do you despise AI? Dissent, retweet. Do something. #furry #art
Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan
On behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the NITRD NCO requests input from all interested parties on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan ("Plan"). Th...
www.federalregister.gov
March 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
TIL Yoko Ono released a song titled "Namyohorengekyo" in 1992. As the title implies, it's her singing the daimoku. A priest from (Nichiren) Honmon Butsuryū-shū commented on his blog that her way of chanting is identical to that of his tradition. 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vizx...
yoko ono namyohorengekyo music video
YouTube video by kyleeld123
www.youtube.com
February 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM
TIL Yoko Ono released a song titled "Namyohorengekyo" in 1992. As the title implies, it's her singing the daimoku. A priest from (Nichiren) Honmon Butsuryū-shū commented on his blog that her way of chanting is identical to that of his tradition. 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vizx...
Reposted by kermecat
The Haitian “zombie” folklore and mythology entered white American cultural consciousness during the 1920s-30s, that is, during the U.S. military occupation of Haiti.
September 11, 2024 at 9:53 AM
The Haitian “zombie” folklore and mythology entered white American cultural consciousness during the 1920s-30s, that is, during the U.S. military occupation of Haiti.
does anyone know if Ephesians 1:18-19 is used in any exorcism or deliverance prayers? It's recited by a character in Blue Exorcist against a giant squid demon. They also refer to this piece of scripture as eishou 詠唱, a chant(?).
February 23, 2025 at 10:52 PM
does anyone know if Ephesians 1:18-19 is used in any exorcism or deliverance prayers? It's recited by a character in Blue Exorcist against a giant squid demon. They also refer to this piece of scripture as eishou 詠唱, a chant(?).
from "Buddhism in Chinese History" by Arthur F. Wright, 1959, p. 56.
February 8, 2025 at 1:52 PM
from "Buddhism in Chinese History" by Arthur F. Wright, 1959, p. 56.
Reposted by kermecat
now live with day 3! donates and shares very appreciated! 🦖
now streaming at the link below raising money for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund! 🦕
www.twitch.tv/shaun_vids
www.twitch.tv/shaun_vids
shaun_vids - Twitch
PCRF Fundraiser
www.twitch.tv
February 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM
now live with day 3! donates and shares very appreciated! 🦖
I was devastated to learn that in Chinese, Mao's book is not called the little red book. It's 红宝书 - red treasured book. The app is 小红书.
i don’t think i’ll ever get past americans being black pilled by the government into downloading a chinese app called red note referencing the little red book. that’s so fucking awesome. chinese propaganda is so powerful they don’t even have to do anything
January 14, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I was devastated to learn that in Chinese, Mao's book is not called the little red book. It's 红宝书 - red treasured book. The app is 小红书.
Reposted by kermecat
A student somehow accidentally emailed the entire NYU faculty and the reply-all carnage is like a freeway pile-up
December 30, 2024 at 12:41 AM
A student somehow accidentally emailed the entire NYU faculty and the reply-all carnage is like a freeway pile-up
Reposted by kermecat
Took a nap and dreamed that this became a hot new meme
December 16, 2024 at 1:30 AM
Took a nap and dreamed that this became a hot new meme
The "iconography refers not only to Erasmus’s commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke but, in the diagram of the horoscope of Christ which he includes, the De astorum iudiciis, an edition of a work by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, published in Basel in 1554."
December 15, 2024 at 3:05 PM
The "iconography refers not only to Erasmus’s commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke but, in the diagram of the horoscope of Christ which he includes, the De astorum iudiciis, an edition of a work by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, published in Basel in 1554."
Reposted by kermecat
this is the reason why I love the term 'protestantized buddhism' it explains why a lot of modern buddhism is the way it is (focus on Pali texts; denigration of magical aspects).
Of course many of their criticisms of local religion are shaped by strong anti-Catholic sentiments
December 14, 2024 at 3:26 PM
this is the reason why I love the term 'protestantized buddhism' it explains why a lot of modern buddhism is the way it is (focus on Pali texts; denigration of magical aspects).
Reposted by kermecat
the reader should note that these plays are not put on for human audiences, but rather for gods and wandering ghosts
Tainan, Taiwan
A temporary puppet theater set up in a back alley
Even after the play started, not many people were watching the play, so it was like a dream
A temporary puppet theater set up in a back alley
Even after the play started, not many people were watching the play, so it was like a dream
December 14, 2024 at 4:04 AM
the reader should note that these plays are not put on for human audiences, but rather for gods and wandering ghosts
I'm reminded of this book
December 13, 2024 at 5:12 AM
I'm reminded of this book
Reposted by kermecat
Didn’t know this ~ 1974 photograph shows a group of freshly-excavated 2,000 year-old Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, China, with their original vibrant colours. Once exposed to air and sunlight during excavation, the colours started to disappear almost immediately www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...
November 28, 2024 at 6:15 AM
Didn’t know this ~ 1974 photograph shows a group of freshly-excavated 2,000 year-old Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, China, with their original vibrant colours. Once exposed to air and sunlight during excavation, the colours started to disappear almost immediately www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...
How do we know Amida's vessel is not a duck paddle boat?
November 28, 2024 at 2:07 AM
How do we know Amida's vessel is not a duck paddle boat?
Reposted by kermecat
"92 million low-income people in the U.S. states—everyone whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line—have some basic aspect of their lives decided by AI"
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
November 23, 2024 at 11:37 AM
"92 million low-income people in the U.S. states—everyone whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line—have some basic aspect of their lives decided by AI"
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
I'm learning about the Book of Changes and Wen Wang Gua divination, and I made/edited a few charts. Perhaps others will find them useful.
The first image shows Six Auspicious Beasts (六神獣), with four of them from the Kitora Tomb (キトラ古墳). Each Beast is assigned to a line of the hexagram.
The first image shows Six Auspicious Beasts (六神獣), with four of them from the Kitora Tomb (キトラ古墳). Each Beast is assigned to a line of the hexagram.
November 20, 2024 at 1:20 PM
I'm learning about the Book of Changes and Wen Wang Gua divination, and I made/edited a few charts. Perhaps others will find them useful.
The first image shows Six Auspicious Beasts (六神獣), with four of them from the Kitora Tomb (キトラ古墳). Each Beast is assigned to a line of the hexagram.
The first image shows Six Auspicious Beasts (六神獣), with four of them from the Kitora Tomb (キトラ古墳). Each Beast is assigned to a line of the hexagram.
Reposted by kermecat
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 🗃