I don’t feel satisfied with my current amps. As the subject says I have those two amps now. I mostly use the Fender at church and the Katana at home. However, the power situation at church is less than optimal, and the Super Champ is a bit sensitive to that. Also it hasn’t been possible to make use of the modeling ability for years since the software was discontinued. The Katana is quite nice, of course, but I’m not really using the modeling aspect of it. Instead I have a multi-effects pedal (NUX MG-400) that has more flexibility than the Katana. The NUX has more memory slots, for example. I’m not going to go into which is better here since I’ve pretty much decided it works better for me this way.
I like to leave the Fender at church most of the time just to spare the lugging back and forth. But, I can’t really dial in a sound at home when I do that. I don’t really have a good space to keep it at home all the time, either.
So my decision is what to do with these two amps.
My current line of thinking is to trade both in and get two of the same, or close to same, amps so I can have one at home and one at church. That way I can get a sound I like at home and easily replicate at church. Having the multi pedal helps with that, and is much less cumbersome to carry. My local used shop has a few Orange Crush Pro 60s and a 35RT. I was considering getting one of each, with the 35RT for home and 60 for church. I also like the analog signal line on the Crush amps.
I could also see getting another Katana to leave at church. However, that feels less optimal to me given I don’t use the modeling of the amp itself. The 100 is also a bit cramped at home due to space limitations. If they made a 50 with fx loop, that’d be an easier decision. Both the Orange models do all I want, and the 35RT would fit better at home.
Am I crazy for wanting to trade in the Fender and Katana for a medium and large Crush? Something else I should consider instead? I do prefer solid state over tube (don’t judge me, please), so suggestions in that category would be useful.

EXTENSIVE Rebirth, Remake, and OG FF7 spoilers in here.
This is a continuation of What's Actually Going On in FF7R (The White Materia) where I attempt to make sense of everything the Remake continuity added to the OG FF7 story. It really is best if you read the other thread first, just because this will be easier if i've already explained my theory on the White Materia and it's associated spell, Holy.
Another disclaimer : This is, still, just a theory, aGameTheory. Don't hate me (or square?) in the event it's completely wrong, which it has a decent chance of being.

There are only 2 things about FF7's Story that have fundamentally changed in Remake.
The White and Black Materia. Or more specifically, the Magic granted by them.

But what I want to discuss this time is (what I personally think, as of Rebirth) is one brilliant misdirection from Square Enix...in hindsight, anyway.

The Whispers

Oh no

"....What the hell was Square thinking?" -- You, probably, watching the ending to Rebirth and/or Remake

Well, they were thinking exactly what you were thinking. And they used it against you.
So getting right to it. TLDR;
The Whispers are exactly what they were said to be -- they protect fate by rejecting any changes to the Lifestream. The misdirection here is how YOU have been goaded into misinterpreting this information.
The White and Black Materia can fully explain their existence and purpose. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the OG FF7.
Let's start with what we learned from the previous thread about the White Materia:

So what does the White Materia ACTUALLY do in FF7R?
The White Materia (Holy) gives the user access to the Lifestream. Not just a piece of its knowledge, like regular materia....but the actual lifestream itself. In doing so, they gain knowledge, like all Materia allows them to do. Knowledge of the past, the future, and everything else in flux.
But this is NOT knowledge that you're not supposed to be able to actually do anything with, **because unlike casting Fire or Lightning....**knowing the future allows you to change fate.

Materia are orbs containing knowledge of the ancients. In effect, they contain information from the lifestream itself. The White Materia's magic (Holy) is special though. The magic it contains seems to allow the user to traverse the lifestream itself. This means, in effect, the ability to interact with (and take knowledge from) the actual memories of the Lifestream.
As we know, the Lifestream is everything, everywhere, and every time. All life comes from the lifestream, and when something dies, it returns there. And its memories stay there forever, as physical places within the lifestream.
This is something Tifa observed for herself in Rebirth. In her brief time floating with the WEAPON, she was reunited with her very own memories...in a very literal fashion.
Tifa, inside the Lifestream in the middle of the Gongaga Reactor
This is the Mako pool in the Lifestream underneath Gongaga. We literally watched Tifa fall in, and physically swim to this location........so why is Tifa's house here? Along with...the Nibelheim Mountians?
A Fragmented Nibelheim, including Mt Nibel and the Bridge that Tifa and Cloud almost died on in the past.
Tifa's memories are not only being played out here....they are physically real. This is because she's inside the Lifestream. She hasn't gone anywhere, she's still in Gongaga, but look at the extent to which this pool of Mako is able to interact with one person's memories.
And also....wait a second.
This space beneath the reactor is filled with White and Black Whispers.
...I thought we killed all the whispers? What are they doing here?
We'll come back to this later.
Lets back up a bit.

Why you [probably] hated the Whispers.

Hear me out.
The "OG Storyline" has never existed in Remake. It's not a thing. And the Whispers have nothing to do with it.
\"Oh, the Whispers came because Reno doesn't die in the original game\" -- You, probably

"The whispers were put into the game as a meta commentary on how the developers just want to create their own story, but the fans won't let us, so the party fucking KILLS FATE so that Nomura or Nojima or whomever is most annoying can write whatever they want." -- The Internet. Also you. Probably.

Everyone thinks the Whispers only existed in Remake in order to ensure that the story never deviates from the OG FF7 Storyline. Every time something important is about to happen that didn't happen in the original game, the whispers intervene and correct the timeline.
This is the typical, widely accepted "Meta Commentary" explanation of the Whispers.
But it's wrong.
No, not just because this theory says so. This interpretation was ALWAYS wrong.
So the whispers are canon police, but are just gonna IGNORE stuff like this?
FF7R's storyline is self-contained. If the whispers existed to "protect the old events", then why is even Remake chocked full of shit that never happened in the OG and would actively change the story if it did?
But don't be confused -- the writers ABSOLUTELY wanted you to think this way. It's what bothered me about Remake's ending. But they were actually clever about it, and Rebirth vindicates this decision.
"Changing the Future", "Defying Fate", and "The Future is Unwritten" has nothing to do the OG FF7.
Okay good we got this out of the way, I can stop talking about Meta Analysis and get to the actual good stuff.

What the whispers were ACTUALLY doing

Remake explained what the Whispers are verbatim.
They protect fate -- the Lifestream. From Aerith, and Jenova.
The Lifestream IS Fate.

Red -"Perhaps best described as arbiters of fate. They are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny's course and ensure they do not."
Tifa - "And you're saying that flow is somehow...fixed?
Red - "Yes. For it is the will of the planet itself."

Barret then speaks about possible bad fates. And Red XIII says this:

Barret - "So if we're destined for a bleak future, these Whispers will try to keep us on that course?"

"....Now wait just a damn minute. How in the hell could you possibly know any of that? Spouting that cryptic stuff -- which could all be bullshit!"

Red - "When Aerith reached out to me...I found this knowledge of the Whispers."

In the previous thread, we explained how Aerith has been messing with the Lifestream by mistakenly using the White Materia to obtain information she has no business knowing. The Whispers are simply reacting to her blatant misuse of this, and act to correct it.
This is very consistent, even in Pt1. The Whispers in Remake ONLY appear when someone is either:

1. Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream
2. Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream
3. When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

This is the only time they act. But the THIRD one is the most important. I'm going to go through a few examples in Remake and show exactly what's happening that is causing the Whispers to intervene, and explicitly why.
After I show you this, please go back and watch videos of all these sorts of events in Remake. You will see exactly what I mean.
Okay, buckle up kids!

Violation #1 Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream

Watching the first appearance of Aerith in Remake gives us full clarity of what's actually happening.
Aerith is attacked by an invisible force.
Aerith is being attacked by Whispers. This is because she possesses the White Materia, and has constant access to knowledge she isn't supposed to have. They are taking it from her.
Thing to note here. Cloud cannot see the whispers. This is because he is not violating any of the 3 rules.
Sephiroth makes an appearance here.
The appearance of the \"Mental Static\" used in both Remake and Rebirth
This is a Red Herring...in fact, this is THREE brilliantly placed Red Herrings. Because the "Memory Static" that appears here belongs to both Cloud AND Aerith, and serves to confuse you on what it actually means.

1. Aerith sees Cloud, and immediately gains knowledge about them both that she is not supposed to know. Also, if you pay attention, Aerith is NOT frozen during this sequence. This is her scene just as much as it is Cloud's.
2. Cloud has yet another vision of Sephiroth, caused by his Jenova cells. This is a huge misdirection, to eventually make you think Sephiroth is popping up in places he "shouldn't be."
3. This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered. Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

The biggest red herring here though is Sephiroth.
It SEEMS unnatural that Sephiroth is appearing here, this early in the game. But it isn't unnatural -- Cloud is plagued by these visions all the time in this continuity. This is why the game gave us a Sephiroth appearance immediately after the Bombing Mission.
Now. Notice how, despite being attacked by invisible whispers, Aerith mostly seems unbothered by this.
...Almost as if she's used to it. Similar to the way Cloud is equally used to visions of Sephiroth. They BOTH carry on with the conversation as though NOTHING has happened.
The game is explicitly showing you that both of these occurrences are seen as normal for these characters. Suggesting that they have actually been dealing with them for much longer than you would think.
Aerith has another Whisper attack. Cloud is once again very confused, until this happens:
Cloud's violation of #1 through contact with Aerith
Aerith touches Cloud.
We learn later that Aerith touching you gives you knowledge you're not supposed to have. Thus, Cloud is now in violation of Rule #1 -- Forbidden Knowledge. He can now observe whispers for the rest of the story.

Violation #2 Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream

The Church Scene is a great example of this. In fact, most of the moments in Rebirth involve Aerith doing this to some degree.
The White Materia is explicitly the cause of the Whisper Attack in the church, and the game goes out of its way to make it very obvious.
Cloud Memory Static, this time it's Holy, not Jenova. (I don't have enough attachments to spell this out, so please go look at the scene after you read this.)
This is another VERY good example of Remake fucking with your head.

• Aerith brings up her White Materia in conversation
• Cloud looks at the back of Aerith's head. He has a memory static attack, and then immediately has a vision of the White Materia.
• Cloud ignores this phenoemon, because things fucking with his head is completely normal to him. He doesn't skip a beat, and suggests Aerith just doesn't know how to use it.
• Aerith playfully agrees.

The Red Herring here is obvious -- the vision of Aerith's Death. Yes, it was a vision of her death. But her death wasn't the important information the game was showing you in this scene. The White Materia was.
Regardless, the whispers did not intervene here, despite Cloud obviously glimpsing forbidden knowledge.
So why DID they intervene?
\"...Huh?\" - Cloud
Because Aerith couldn't keep her mouth shut.

1. She tells Reno that Cloud is her bodyguard. He isn't. Reno is.
2. She exposed that he was a Soldier. Reno explicitly does not like Soldiers.
3. She already knew that Cloud was doing mercenary work, and used this to persuade him.

Cloud told her none of this information. But it caught Reno's attention. And what was the result?

*Sizes Cloud up*

"Well, you're weird enough to be one."
\"What Class are you?\"
Reno doubts Cloud's Identity as a First Class Ex-Soldier. And Cloud violently reacts to protect it.
The whispers stopped Cloud from killing Reno, NOT because Reno survives in the OG game...but because Reno's life wouldn't even be at risk here if Aerith didn't instigate this fight.
And just like the Flower scene, Remake actually sets this one up with prior character information too. -- Cloud was shown from the beginning of the game to be prone to extreme violence. He would have also executed Johnny without Tifa's intervention. So we KNOW he would have killed Reno if the Whispers didn't intervene.
Hopefully you're beginning to see a pattern here.
Here is the most obvious example of this rule triggering the Whispers.
Aerith attempting to stop Barret from doing something....
In this scene, we see Aerith clearly knows something she isn't supposed to. She wants to share with Barret that killing the President isn't a good idea...And the whispers immediately appear, threatening her to stop. By this point, Aerith is beginning to become aware of why the whispers are harassing her so much.
I covered this scene in my last post, so I wont again...but this scene is crucial towards understanding what's happening in this game. Everyone should watch this scene again. Pay attention to what happens to Aerith the moment she says "Follow the Yellow Flowers". Aerith is clearly not herself as she says this. It's almost as if someone possessed her to say it. And the Whispers absolutely swarm her as a result.

Violation #3 -- When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

And here we go. The one that caused like 90% of the confusion in Remake. To be fair, this could only really be understood in hindsight after playing Rebirth.
There are many cases in Remake where the Whispers do something that seems...odd, given their explanations as arbiters of fate. Like attacking Sector 7, silencing Hojo, or literally helping Sephiroth at the end of the game. This is because although it's clearly whispers doing it...in Remake there is no visual indication of which Will any given Whispers serve -- The Planet, or Jenova's.
They all LOOK the same.
But they absolutely ARE NOT the same -- they are separate (black and white), just like in Rebirth.
But Remake included subtle clues as a nod to this reveal in Rebirth.
The Whisper Attack on Sector 7
This is another situation where you're expected to believe that the whispers are causing a ruckus because Cloud isn't going on the second bombing mission with Avalanche. Which is something we know he does in the OG game.
But that's just because we likely misinterpreted the clues that lead up to this moment that explain exactly why this is happening : The white whispers are attempting to correct the deliberate isolation of the main party by the black whispers.
A whisper is seen lurking around in Sector 7 the day before this happens. It's extremely easy to miss.
A whisper was present in Seventh Heaven. This was shown immediately after Barret told Cloud he wasn't on the next mission and has to leave.
See...if you're comparing Remake to the OG, then this whisper shown here is 100% going to force you to misinterpret what it's doing here.
In Seventh Heaven, multiple things happen that result in a break up of the entire main party.

1. Tifa is feeling anxious about the next mission. Jesse goes out of her way to voice concerns about her involvement, leading to her getting kicked off the team for the mission.
2. Jesse then tries to aim to get Cloud placed on the team instead. Barret refuses to do this because he "doesn't want the team leaning on him."
3. Barret pays Cloud, tells him he isn't wanted on the next mission, and kicks him out the bar.
4. A whisper will literally stop you from entering Seventh Heaven again after this happens to make sure you can't fix it.

The side mission with Jesse happens.....and then this.
A whisper with Sephiroth's voice trying to keep Cloud sleep
A Whisper with Sephiroth's voice approaches Cloud in the morning. He wants him to sleep through Barret, Jesse, and Biggs going on the mission. This would have likely isolated Barret, resulting in his death. Something Jenova tries again towards the end of the game.
She really does not want Barret to stay alive, because he is the glue of Avalanche, and the main reason the events of the story begin the way they do. Cloud also likely never would have met Aerith in the church.
Jenova's whispers are trying to prevent Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret from getting together. This event would have succeeded in separating all of them.
That's why the whispers are at war with one another.
The Black ones are trying to isolate you. The white ones are correcting their meddling.
The game even STOPS you mid-combat to bring attention to the fact that the Black Whispers are being exposed.
Black Whisper being made vulnerable by something external

• You don't have to do anything to these whispers for this to happen.
• The entire screen gains a Static Memory effect....as though Cloud is being shown the truth. He even comments on it.
• After they go vulnerable, they become Black/Purple until they die.

They stop attacking after a whisper manages to isolate and injure Jesse, at which point the battle is over and all whispers leave.
And of course....there's most obvious example of this kind of massive violation from Remake....The Infamous Chapter 18.
But that's gonna have to wait for another post.
I'm out of attachments again.

TL;DR : FF7R is messing with your head.

Aerith using the White Materia in Remake is literally going through the events of the story the exact same way the player did -- with "forbidden knowledge" about how things are "supposed to be".
In Rebirth, the White Materia is empty. She no longer has knowledge of what's "supposed to happen", and thus has to accept that whatever happens, happens. This is why the "The Journey is Unknown." Not because the party killed the whispers, therefore the writers can do whatever they want. But because Aerith hid her knowledge of the future (Holy) from herself. She used to be able to know what was going to happen. Now she can't. The real Meta thing is that FF7R only really starts to make sense when you willingly abandon what you thought you already knew about the story. Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows.
Now go back through Remake with the new perspective and tell me that everything doesn't make way more sense.
Also, please tell me im crazy so I can stop writing these.
Otherwise, stay tuned for pt3 -- The Black Materia.
....Oh. One final hilarious mindblowing. Remember this?

This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered.
Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

Rebirth DOES distinguish the visual effects of memory alteration.
But only for the player.
Cloud still can't tell the difference.

My story takes place on an off-the grid Christian fundamentalist compound. There is no cell service, but church members are occasionally allowed to be taken off the compound and closer to a highway where there's enough connection to call their families.
The church leader grows increasingly paranoid, and performs a bonfire purge of all technology from the compound. All technology, except for a singular phone my protagonist finds belonging to a missing member and a charger he rescues from the fire at the last second.
Obviously, he can't call anyone, and there is no Wi-fi anymore. Over a year passes before he is able to escape the compound. My question is, when he does escape, would the phone still be able to make a call even if no bills have been paid on it for a year? If not to a specific person, then at least to 911? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I don't currently pay my own phone bill, so I'm not sure what happens when you financially abandon one.

Hope Biosciences Research Foundation Announces Topline Results of Cell Therapy Clinical Trial in Long COVID
May 31, 2024
SUGAR LAND, Texas, May 31, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Houston-area clinical research organization Hope Biosciences Research Foundation (HBRF) today shares topline results of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II study (NCT05126563) to evaluate Hope Biosciences’ adipose‑derived allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy (HB-adMSCs) for patients with Post‑COVID‑19 syndrome.
The trial enrolled 79 participants, with 39 subjects in the treatment group and 40 in the placebo group; 34 participants completed the study from the treatment group, and 30 from the placebo group. The 26-week study mandated four infusions of 200 million stem cells, for a total of 800 million cells.
The primary endpoint was a visual analog scale (VAS) test for fatigue, in which 68% of subjects in the treatment group showed significant improvement (p=.0002) and 63% of subjects in the placebo group showed significant improvement (p=.001). Differences between the treatment and placebo groups were not statistically significant. Treatment was safe and tolerable in both groups. Detailed analysis is now underway.
"Our previous pilot study (Adipose‑derived, autologous mesenchymal stem cell therapy for patients with post‑COVID‑19 syndrome: an intermediate‑size expanded access program) with N=10 subjects demonstrated highly significant improvements in treating the symptoms of patients with long-COVID," explains Ridhima Vij, Ph.D., Clinical Research Scientist, HBRF. "Consistent with those findings, the current trial shows significant improvements in long-COVID symptoms. However, an unexpectedly high placebo effect was observed, masking the treatment effects, with both groups exhibiting significant improvements. This unprecedented placebo response suggests a need for further investigation."
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, HBRF is exploring the effects of high volume, sustained application of adult stem cells on diseases and conditions that currently have no cure and affect substantial portions of the American population.
In addition to COVID and long-COVID protocols, HBRF has conducted and is pursuing work in central nervous system conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, polyneuropathy, muscular dystrophy, drug-resistant epilepsy, and ataxia.
To date HBRF has obtained FDA authorization for more than 35 clinical protocols in these and other conditions, including in lupus, chronic musculoskeletal pain, severe osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, stroke, palliative care, and pancreatic cancer.
The study announced in this release is made possible in part due to support from The John S. Dunn Foundation. Learn more at hopebio.org.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hope-biosciences-research-foundation-announces-204100491.html
Note: Per the study's page on ClinicalTrials.gov, the ages eligible for the study were 18 Years to 70 Years.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240531123002/en/Hope-Biosciences-Research-Foundation-Announces-Topline-Results-of-Cell-Therapy-Clinical-Trial-in-Long-COVID
TL;DR: trial failed. no significant difference to placebo group.
Hope Biosciences Research Foundation (HBRF) today shares topline results of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II study (NCT05126563) to evaluate Hope Biosciences’ adipose‑derived allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy (HB-adMSCs) for patients with Post‑COVID‑19 syndrome.
The trial enrolled 79 participants, with 39 subjects in the treatment group and 40 in the placebo group; 34 participants completed the study from the treatment group, and 30 from the placebo group. The 26-week study mandated four infusions of 200 million stem cells, for a total of 800 million cells. The primary endpoint was a visual analog scale (VAS) test for fatigue, in which 68% of subjects in the treatment group showed significant improvement (p=.0002) and 63% of subjects in the placebo group showed significant improvement (p=.001). Differences between the treatment and placebo groups were not statistically significant. Treatment was safe and tolerable in both groups. Detailed analysis is now underway.
"Our previous pilot study (Adipose‑derived, autologous mesenchymal stem cell therapy for patients with post‑COVID‑19 syndrome: an intermediate‑size expanded access program) with N=10 subjects demonstrated highly significant improvements in treating the symptoms of patients with long-COVID,” explains Ridhima Vij, Ph.D., Clinical Research Scientist, HBRF. “Consistent with those findings, the current trial shows significant improvements in long-COVID symptoms. However, an unexpectedly high placebo effect was observed, masking the treatment effects, with both groups exhibiting significant improvements. This unprecedented placebo response suggests a need for further investigation.”

I'm looking for books on corruption, hidden agendas, cults and conspiracies. I prefer non fiction but if you know of any good novels with these elements I would enjoy those as well. I'm reading Killers Of The Flower Moon right now. It's about the hidden plot to kill the Osage Native Americans to steal their money and land back in the 1920s. Another books I plan on reading is IBM And The Holocaust. Its about how the American company IBM aided in the genocide of Jews during WW2. A few fiction books with some of these themes I read are The Fifth Gospel, a book about biblical gospel that could prove the legitimacy of the shroud of turin and the lengths the church would go to surpress it. Another novel is When No One Is Watching. It's about the gentrification of an originally African American neighborhood and the disappearance of the neighbors day after day only to be discovered underground below the neighborhood in cells being experimented on. I know these books are all vastly different, I just enjoy the finding out about plots and hidden truths and a good twist. Don't be afraid to suggest books you think might be remotely related to any of these topics. I will appreciate anything 😊

Hey there! I'm looking for a fellow horror enthusiast to join me in putting OCs through the irreversible trauma of horrors beyond their comprehension. I've got a few vague prompts in mind to develop with you, but I am happy to brainstorm other ideas if none of them is to your taste.
A little bit about me and what I'm looking for: I'm 21+ and have been writing for about 12 years with the last couple of them being almost exclusively horror. I write in third person, sometimes in present and sometimes in past tense so I am happy to adapt to whichever you prefer. I am comfortable with writing in any length, any amount of characters. I love horror of any kind, but I am fascinated by the cosmic kind with religious and body horror sprinkled in. You can expect disgusting descriptions woven into holy imagery, yada yada yada. I am more than open to OC romance and smut as long as it's not the main focus.
I'm looking to write with someone also above 21 mainly due to the darker themes we'll be writing. I think it's really important to mesh well with the person you're writing with ooc, I'm not looking for an rp machine, rather someone who's willing to chat and be friendly ooc, talk about stuff we like, share memes (rp related or not), art etc.
Without lollygagging for too long, here are the prompts I've had in mind:

• Big city precinct is thrown in for a loop when murders with no common point but an ominous calling card arise.
  
• Small, isolated town (island, mountains) starts experiencing weird things. Could it be because of the strange person who just moved in? What's going on in the new community center the local church built?
  
• Once again, a small town has a surge in people going missing, sometimes wandering off hiking trails and sometimes in broad daylight. Local children stumble upon their bodies, arranged in some sort of strange ritual. What's worse is this has happened before, and before.
  

Along with these, here are some media and themes I like pulling inspiration from that we can brainstorm and come up with a unique plot over: The Magnus Archives/Protocol, Midnight Mass, The Hellbound Heart/Hellraiser, The Cthulhu Mythos, The Sandman, American Gods, Until Dawn, Sinister, Stranger Things, KULT Divinity Lost, Dead by Daylight, The Exorcist, IT, analog and digital horror... If anything I've said so far interests you drop me a chat and let's talk about it! Looking forward to hearing from you.

Have you ever thought about who you are? Are you John? That’s your name. Are you British? That’s your nationality. Are you a doctor? That’s your occupation. Do you hold a Ph.D degree? That’s your educational qualification. Have you ever thought about who you are? Are you John? That’s your name. Are you British? That’s your nationality. Are you a doctor? That’s your occupation. Do you hold a Ph.D degree? That’s your educational qualification. Are you a millionaire? That’s your financial status.
Who are you? Have you ever stopped to think?
Man has invented everything from submarines that go deep into the oceans to supersonic jets that fly in the sky. Man has discovered new lands, stars in space, a thriving underwater life, but man has forgotten to discover himself – who he truly is. It is only when man discovers himself, experiences a spiritual awakening that leads him to self-realization and God-realization, that he will be able to live a peaceful, blissful and happy life.

What We Are Not

So, we all think that we are ‘me’. But who is this ‘me’?
The best way to find out who or what we are, is to discover what we are not. As we keep eliminating what we are not, we will be rewarded with the realization of who we are. Are we this body? Everybody thinks, “I am this body.” But just like we have a car and a house, but are neither of these, we also have a body, but are not the body. If I say, I ‘have’ a body, then it certainly can’t be who I am!
If not the body, then we must be the mind. Our mind thinks, feels and remembers. Therefore, that must be who we are. But then, we feel our mind worrying, and we watch it wandering. Moreover, when we try to locate the mind, we cannot find it. Thus we realize that we may have a mind, but we are not the mind. We are distinctly different from it.
If we are not the body and the mind, then we could be the ego. But the ego is invisible and intangible. Then, how can we be the ego? We are the ones who have an ego, mind, and body but we are different from these. We know that we are none of these. There remains only one unanswered question after we know what we are not – ‘Who am I?’

We Live In Ignorance

Now let’s consider another analogy. We look at a gold ring, a necklace, and a bangle and think these to be different ornaments. The truth is that while these appear to be different pieces of jewellery, in reality, they are nothing but gold. Our mind doesn’t let us realize the truth that there is no bangle, no ring or necklace. It is only gold that appears in all these different forms. Remove the gold and there will be no ornaments.
We fail to realize who we truly are because our mind makes us live in ignorance. We are not able to go beyond the body, mind, and ego to realize who we are.

We are the Life Energy

We now understand that we are not the body or the mind or the ego. Then, who are we? Scientifically, when the smallest particles in the cells of the human body are examined under sophisticated instruments, they are proved to be nothing but energy.
Yes, the truth is that we are Energy. The Life Energy that causes our breath and without which, there would be certain death.
However, ‘mere knowledge’ of who we are is not enough. It is the ‘realization’ of the self that leads to everlasting happiness, spiritual enlightenment and liberation from pain and suffering. And to progress on the spiritual path to enlightenment, which is the only path to happiness, a seeker needs the guidance of a spiritual guru, besides the grace of God. A true spiritual master can help a seeker realize the self.
“What I see is not me. I am the one who sees. The Body may suffer, or the Mind may suffer, but that is not me!”

Post navigation

Are you a millionaire? That’s your financial status.
Who are you? Have you ever stopped to think?
Man has invented everything from submarines that go deep into the oceans to supersonic jets that fly in the sky. Man has discovered new lands, stars in space, a thriving underwater life, but man has forgotten to discover himself – who he truly is. It is only when man discovers himself, experiences a spiritual awakening that leads him to self-realization and God-realization, that he will be able to live a peaceful, blissful and happy life.

What We Are Not

So, we all think that we are ‘me’. But who is this ‘me’?
The best way to find out who or what we are, is to discover what we are not. As we keep eliminating what we are not, we will be rewarded with the realization of who we are. Are we this body? Everybody thinks, “I am this body.” But just like we have a car and a house, but are neither of these, we also have a body, but are not the body. If I say, I ‘have’ a body, then it certainly can’t be who I am!
If not the body, then we must be the mind. Our mind thinks, feels and remembers. Therefore, that must be who we are. But then, we feel our mind worrying, and we watch it wandering. Moreover, when we try to locate the mind, we cannot find it. Thus we realize that we may have a mind, but we are not the mind. We are distinctly different from it.
If we are not the body and the mind, then we could be the ego. But the ego is invisible and intangible. Then, how can we be the ego? We are the ones who have an ego, mind, and body but we are different from these. We know that we are none of these. There remains only one unanswered question after we know what we are not – ‘Who am I?’

We Live In Ignorance

Now let’s consider another analogy. We look at a gold ring, a necklace, and a bangle and think these to be different ornaments. The truth is that while these appear to be different pieces of jewellery, in reality, they are nothing but gold. Our mind doesn’t let us realize the truth that there is no bangle, no ring or necklace. It is only gold that appears in all these different forms. Remove the gold and there will be no ornaments.
We fail to realize who we truly are because our mind makes us live in ignorance. We are not able to go beyond the body, mind, and ego to realize who we are.

We are the Life Energy

We now understand that we are not the body or the mind or the ego. Then, who are we? Scientifically, when the smallest particles in the cells of the human body are examined under sophisticated instruments, they are proved to be nothing but energy.
Yes, the truth is that we are Energy. The Life Energy that causes our breath and without which, there would be certain death.
However, ‘mere knowledge’ of who we are is not enough. It is the ‘realization’ of the self that leads to everlasting happiness, spiritual enlightenment and liberation from pain and suffering. And to progress on the spiritual path to enlightenment, which is the only path to happiness, a seeker needs the guidance of a spiritual guru, besides the grace of God. A true spiritual master can help a seeker realize the self.
“What I see is not me. I am the one who sees. The Body may suffer, or the Mind may suffer, but that is not me!”

Post navigation

The GCPD don’t make jokes about him anymore.
They used to. Back when they thought they knew the rules. Familiarity breeds contempt, after all. They’d let the freak handle the other freaks, even if he didn’t go all the way like he should have, but the Blue Wall was too big even for him. He’d know his place or get crushed.
So yeah, there were jokes. And some of the braver cops even made those jokes when in earshot.
(Never face-to-face, though. Funny that. Not a single cop was brave enough to make those jokes with him standing right in front of them.)
But not anymore.
Thank Lenny Flasco. CSI tech, out of the 65^th. A real entrepreneur, Lenny. Had a sideline in selling evidence from high-profile crime scenes. Quickly figured out how to make bigger profits. Made it known that, for a generous fee, he’d make sure you never got caught. It’s easy for fingerprints to get smudged, after all, or evidence to be contaminated. Had a good thing going for a while there.
Thing is, Lenny fancied himself an artist. Was aiming for the big time. And, well, you need a gimmick in this town to get noticed. And he’s kind of an asshole, is Lenny, and one day he happened to get the term ‘pencil-dick’ thrown his way, and a synapse fired.
And the Eraser was born.
To be honest, even in Gotham the helmet got him some odd looks. But he was too damn good at what he did for people to make a big deal. Guy practically was a human eraser anyway. Robberies, rapes, murders, whatever you did, he could make it disappear. Make it like you were never there. It was almost like rewriting reality. And no one even noticed.
Well, almost no one. A lack of evidence can be its own type of evidence, after all.
But he couldn’t do anything. No evidence chain to follow. And besides, the Eraser knew the nature of the Blue Wall. The wealth was spread generously. Too many cops benefitted for the game to stop, and even among the ones that didn’t there was the joy of rubbing in exactly who was in charge in this town. And if a few victims went without justice and a few lives got ruined, well, shit, que sera, you know? Their fault for not being able to buy justice in Gotham. Just the way the game is played. Suck it up.
So, life was sweet for the Eraser. The mobs were eager to pay, as were the wealthier perps. Plenty of uniforms and detectives and ADAs willing to spread the word for a cut. Things got so good that for a while there he practically ran CSI. You wanted a conviction, you had to run it by the Eraser first, make sure he hadn’t set up an arrangement.
Yep, for a while there, things were pretty sweet.
Then Trent Davenport happened.
Trust fund asshole, heir to the Davenport millions. Streamer and social media influencer, which just meant idiots gave him money he didn’t need to be a too-online rich asshole with some barely coherent far-right views. But one night, after some media event, Trent got coked up with a thousand-dollar-an-hour call-girl and took her on a joyride around the Adams Expressway in his Mercedes. Got into a fender bender with a family sedan and went off on the occupants. Lifelong Gothamites, but with enough visible Puerto Rican and Guatemalan ancestry to set Trent off. The resulting racist tantrum, recorded by security cameras, both dashboard cams, and at least 100 onlookers, would have ordinarily have just prompted a tearfully insincere apology on social media the next day… except Trent pulled out a ridiculously large gold-plated handgun and filled the sedan – and family – with bullets. Only the youngest, Celia, survived.
Frankly, Trent’s brief career as a criminal didn’t cover him with glory. He barely made it to the city limits before he caught up, and it wasn’t even an especially difficult collar; Trent basically pissed himself at the first glimpse of a cape. And there was so much evidence that he wasn’t even really needed. Hundreds of witnesses, video footage, a custom handgun, a custom car with custom plates… even the GCPD couldn’t screw this one up.
But Daddy Davenport didn’t like the idea of his son and heir, useless waste of DNA he might be, bringing that kind of shame on the family name. Certainly not just over a car full of brown people. So, when a cop sidled up to him and suggested a solution, he listened.
And the Eraser went to work.
In a twisted way, it was genius. A work of art. All that evidence somehow evaporated. Even the call-girl who’d been next to Trent all the time was somehow seen at the other side of the city when it happened. It was like someone had managed to hack reality. When it came to trial, the thing had been cleaned up so efficiently that the judge – one of the most honest in Gotham, no less – had no option to throw the whole thing out with prejudice.
It didn’t matter how much the little people in the courtroom exploded. Trent Davenport swaggered out, made a smarmy comment to the press hoping the “real culprit” would be found, implied he was gonna sue the little girl and her surviving family for damages, and hopped into a substitute for masculinity to prepare for his celebration party. That night, at one of Gotham’s most elite club. Only the most beautiful and the most elite would be there. Entry cost, your soul, but a price too many were willing to pay if it meant a night they wouldn’t forget.
And so, Gotham sank a little further into the muck. Felt a little rottener and more hopeless. When even Plastic Man couldn’t crack any jokes on TV that night, you know something had broke.
The GCPD were worried. Incredibly – and somewhat ironically, given how things turned out – they were as shocked by what happened as everyone else. They actually hadn’t approved this fix. They might be many things, most of them rotten, but they weren’t stupid. They knew how Trent Davenport strutting away from getting caught murdering three people practically red-handed would look. They knew they were only hanging on to whatever public support they had by a thread. They knew fucking over an orphaned six-year-old in public was the last thing they needed. They knew the city only needed a spark to explode. And some of them even had consciences. Trent Davenport was too rich to get the whole book thrown at him, but he needed to hit with a few pages at least.
No, this one was all the Eraser. He’d gone off the reservation. Because Lenny had been getting greedy, Lenny had been getting cocky, and worse of all, Lenny had been getting bored. The usual heists, drug deals gone wrong and accidentally dead hookers were beginning to bore him. He wanted a real challenge. And part of him wanted to show everyone who was really in charge of this town. Who really decided who was guilty and innocent, what was true and lie, reality and fantasy.
So, the GCPD got out the riot suits and tanks, ready to crack a few heads… but the streets were weirdly quiet. There’d been the usual pleas for calm, but it didn’t feel like people were listening. No, it felt like people were mostly… bunkering down. That there was some weird collective, animalistic instinct spreading through the people of Gotham, telling them there was a storm coming and that no one wanted to be on the streets when it hit.
Oh, how right they were.
Because there was another victim of crime in Gotham City. A victim who looked at a little girl with a void in her life she’d have to live with forever and saw himself. A victim who had felt that powerlessness and despair and hopelessness only too keenly.
A victim who had made a Vow.
A victim who went to work.
Trent Davenport really enjoyed his celebration party. Especially enjoyed the feeling that he really was untouchable. Looked forward to proving it with a few hot bitches who caught his eye. They wouldn’t say no. Even if they wanted to. Because he could do whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted.
Yeah, Trent really enjoyed himself that night.
For about forty-seven minutes. Until the gate crasher arrived, and the storm began.
The beautiful elite of Gotham certainly got an experience they wouldn’t forget that night. Not the one promised, however. They spent it cowering in the blacked-out ruins of an elite rooftop nightclub, the power dead, the exits blocked, the only source of light a ragged hole in the ceiling. The only sound the screams of an influencer, snatched from the floor under cover of darkness, as he whined and shrieked that he didn’t know who fixed his trial, that it was Daddy who cleaned up his mess like always, that he was sorry and would never do it again, oh God, he’s sorry, please stop, he’s so so sorry…
They never did figure out how the sound system still functioned despite all the damage to the electronics.
(Incidentally, you don’t see Trent online much these days. He shies away from the spotlight. Not just vanity, though the surgeries have mostly restored his former looks. Or the legal troubles, though he no longer has the income streams he once had. He just doesn’t really have the time for content creation these days. Or politics. Or partying, or fast cars, or girls, or skiing, or anything, really, outside of relearning to walk. Turns out, Trent couldn’t do anything he wanted. Flying, for example, remained beyond him. As he made abundantly clear.)
Then it was Roland Davenport’s turn. He faired comparatively better to his son. But as one of the wealthy and powerful of Gotham City, he wasn’t used to inconvenience. Or pain. Which meant it only took a broken nose, a few good punches, and about thirty seconds dangled off a penthouse balcony for him to begin screaming about a detective, possibly called Kline or Keane or something else beginning with ‘K’, who offered to put him in touch with someone who could make his son’s latest screw-up disappear. But he never met this ‘Eraser’ directly, it was all handled by intermediaries…
And that’s the problem with Gotham: there are so many intermediaries.
So he decided to go through all of them.
The GCPD was so preoccupied with the possibility of riots that it took Dispatch a while to realise certain officers were beginning to go AWOL. Just completely dark, no communication at all. But it somehow took them longer than it should have to realise the connection: from the first beat cops on the scene to the precinct captain, all the missing officers had at some point worked the Davenport case.
And then those same officers began showing up in emergency rooms. Or walking into precinct houses or churches desperately begging to confess their sins. Or, in one notable case, were found in their patrol car as it was dangling off the Azzarello Bridge by a cable. They found Detective Andrew Kendall at the altar of St Jerome’s naked from the waist up, on his knees, arms wrapped around the parish priest and sobbing, desperately begging for someone to absolve his sins because he’d had a taste of Hell and didn’t want any more…
And then more began to join them. It’s still one of the worst nights in GCPD history for 10-13 callouts. There weren’t enough cops to cover all the cops who were suddenly screaming into whatever device was closest to them that they were under attack, they needed immediate assistance, oh God, they think it’s the—
Cops from all over the city. Cops guilty of any number of sins. But who all, some bright spark eventually realised, had one particular sin in common.
And then the entire 65^th Precinct went offline.
Word is, every single SWAT officer present refused to even enter the building. Five tactical units, twenty men a piece, and every one of them said no way. Apparently, not even one of them wanted to risk being caught alone in the dark. There’s a photo of Commissioner Loeb literally stamping his foot and screaming at a guy like a toddler which somehow managed to slip through the media blackout and blew up on social media. Apparently his now-customary death orders didn’t carry the same weight they once did.
They eventually did storm the building… when the lights went back on. The place was a war zone. Cops sprawled everywhere. No fatalities, but plenty wishing they were. The lucky ones were just unconscious. A few of them – the clean ones – were unharmed, but this was the 65^th, so there weren’t many of them. Non-badged criminals were all sitting in the cells, quiet as kittens, not making trouble. Not wanting to attract any attention. The precinct’s forensics team were found huddled together in the remains of their office, cowering and whimpering, but for the most part physically unharmed. They weren’t much help, though. The most lucid one just kept sobbing “I’m sorry” over and over.
The most useful comment came from a witness who’d been processed for possession when the storm hit. He just looked the interviewing officer right in the eye, and said “He’s out for blood tonight, bro.”
Lenny Flasco was nowhere to be found.
Oh yes, the Eraser had seen it coming. And he’d made plans, because he was smart, and cunning, and a slippery little asshole when all was said and done. Oh yes, Lenny was well away from the 65^th by the time the storm showed up, and he was planning on being even further by the time the evening was through. Somewhere nice and sunny and sandy. He had plenty of money to enjoy it now, after all.
But you know what they say about plans and the enemy.
Because, like all plans, the Eraser’s hinged on other people helping him out. And by that point, those other people had also realised the nature of the storm passing through Gotham. And who was the focus of it.
Connections suddenly started drying up. Phones weren’t being answered. When they were, people were pretending not to know who was calling. Finally, someone had to spell it out: the Eraser was marked, radioactive, and no one with two brain cells to rub together wanted to be between him and him. Even Two-Face didn’t need to flip the coin to make that decision. The Eraser was persona non grata. He’d been cut loose. Erased.
You might feel a small stab of pity for the Eraser at this point: he’d made millions on his fixes, but none of it would even buy him a cup of coffee in this town. Word is, last anyone saw of him when he could still stand under his power, he was desperately trying to force a bag full of thousand-dollar bills into the hands of a sketchy car dealer who was equally desperately trying to pretend he wasn’t even there over some shitbox. He was still wearing that helmet.
No one else knows if the Eraser managed to get the car or not. But they do know he didn’t get somewhere sunny and sandy. Unlike Trent, he didn’t even get to the city limits before the storm finally hit him.
Next time anyone saw the Eraser, he was lying in a mangled and whimpering heap on the floor of Commissioner Loeb’s office, tangled in black fabric. He’d been thrown through the window. Forty-nine floors up. With him was a recorded confession, detailing every crime he’d covered up. No one’s been willing to listen to it more than once. And even with that, a week later, when he woke up in the hospital, the only thing he’d say was “I confess.” His physical injuries healed surprisingly quickly, but his brand-new stammer doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. Or his night terrors. To this day, no one’s managed to figure out exactly what he did to the Eraser.
They know what he did with that stupid helmet, though; it’s still impaled on the tip of Lady Justice’s sword. No one’s been able to figure out how to get it down.
Or if they should.
A lot of cops left after that mess. Not enough to really change things, but enough to make people notice. Some of them – not enough, but some – left facing criminal charges. More just quietly took early retirement. Trauma, they said. They couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. What specific pressure they couldn’t handle went unsaid, but everyone knew. For months after, there were stories of cops having panic attacks just after being assigned the night shift. Some were physically invalided out. No one likes to think about them. (There’s a significant overlap between these ones and ones facing charges.)
And the ones who stayed, clean or dirty, even they couldn’t help but notice a gradual change in the GCPD. The rot didn’t disappear – it was too deeply embedded, for that – but it wasn’t like before, when the times were good, the money was flowing like wine and you could laugh at the jokes about the freak. Now, someone offers you a kickback, someone offers to make it worth your while to look the other way or fix a problem, someone even makes a joke about bats, every time you feel a sudden cold chill, and you can’t help but think: that he might be watching. That he might somehow know. That the only reason you’re even still here might just be because he allows it. That he doesn’t kill only because there are worse things than death, and he can summon them. And that some night, when you’re alone on the mean streets, no backup in sight, the shadows might suddenly move, and it might be your turn for your sins to catch up to you, to get yours like the Eraser got his…
…No, the GCPD doesn’t make jokes about him anymore.

In this article, I aim to highlight the inconsistency within the Iglesia ni Cristo, which believes in total apostasy while staunchly rejecting divorce. Total apostasy, likened to Christ divorcing His wife, the Church, contradicts their firm stance against divorce.
Note: This is not an argument for or against divorce.
The concept of apostasy holds deep implications, touching the core of Christ's relationship with His Church. At the heart of this theological debate lies a profound biblical truth: the inseparable bond between Christ and His Bride, the Church. Yet, within discussions of total apostasy, a challenging assertion arises—one that questions the foundation of this sacred union.
To explore this assertion, one must first understand the theological significance of Christ's relationship with His Church. In Iglesia ni Cristo doctrine, the Church isn't just an institution but the mystical Body of Christ, united with its Head.
Central to this bond, according to INC, is the sanctity of marriage, symbolizing the union between Christ and His Church. The Apostle Paul elaborates on this mystery in Ephesians, likening the husband-wife relationship to that of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). In this analogy, Christ is the loving bridegroom, and the Church is His cherished bride, adorned with His grace.
Against this backdrop, total apostasy poses a theological dilemma. Suggesting the Church has apostatized implies a rupture in the bond between Christ and His Bride. It insinuates that Christ, the faithful bridegroom, has abandoned His beloved Church, divorcing her for a new union with the INC.
This proposition not only undermines Christ's unwavering love but also contradicts His teachings on marriage. Throughout the Gospels, Christ upholds marriage's sanctity, denouncing divorce as against God's intent (Matthew 19:3-9). To propose Christ would forsake His Bride, the Church, and enter a new union with INC distorts His teachings and diminishes His divine character.

***TL;DR: Provided below**\*
Hey guys! Throwaway account here, but I have been trying to define where the lines are in regard to the Law of Chastity. To start, I do consider myself an active, faithfully trying member to come more in line with God's will (hence the request for others' opinions). To let you guys know where I am at, I have made the following conclusions. (Keep in mind that I'm a single RM as that seems like important context. Also that everything listed below assumes all parties consented)
First, the list of my potentially controversial OKs (Not a sin)
-Passionate kissing is OK
-Lying on top of another person is OK
-Masturbation is OK
-Seeing/being with somebody nude is OK
-Fondling the breasts or butt of another person (with or without clothing) is OK
I know most of these go directly against some of the older teachings of the Church including the old For Strength of Youth pamphlet. But, I personally feel that most of those these things were guidelines to keep your cart away from the cliff. Passionately kissing while lying on top of another person, seems to be a way to drive with one wheel off the cliff to borrow an analogy from the Miracle of Forgiveness.
Now what seem to me to unequivocally be sexual relations
-Penetrative sex (whether vaginal or anal)
-Oral sex
Gray area to me, for which I'm mostly seeking clarification
-Manual sex (To me this seems to definitely be a sin and I do feel guilt in my soul the couple times I have done this, but do you guys think this counts as a sexual relation?)
-"Touching the private sacred parts of another person" (I feel this is probably a sin, but to me doesn't seem to count as a sexual relation)
-Fantasizing or envisioning another person sexually (imaging them nude, having sex with them etc.) Obviously a sin, gross as well, but also not a sexual relation.
-Viewing/reading porn (essentially the same as the above in conclusion)
-Masturbating to porn/fantasy of another person/memory of a sexual experience (Seems like more of a sin then just putting your mind in that space, but also doesn't seem like a sexual relation)
I know a lot of the way I phrased these things sounds like I have come to unwavering conclusions, but I'm actually super open to what you guys have to say. Personally, I fear that some of these conclusions are, at root, a way to protect myself from the potential reality that I may have pushed the Spirit out of my life in ways that would take years to repair. I want to know what you guys (strangers) think as I would like opinions from all stages of life/activity in the Church..
TL;DR: I'd like your opinion on what counts as violating our covenant to not have any sexual relations outside of marriage.

I am part of a registry for bone marrow and blood stem cells (nmdp if you're curious). I was matched for a blood stem cell transplant. I am just a little bit concerned about filgrastrim, I know everything I read says it's safe for people who don't have cancer but I still feel weird about it for some reason (haven't had my first shot yet). As for the transplant itself, I'm not particularly worried about though I did read in my forms about the possibility of a central line surgery. I'm nervous about getting that too though it shouldn't be likely since I have had surgery (wisdom teeth surgery to be specific) in the past with stuff in my veins and there wasn't any problem. My main concern is the fact that I'm overweight and that I cracked my head open as a kid but it fully healed and I don't think I got any brain damage from it. One last thing, I haven't my pre surgery check up and vein assessment yet, that will be this Tuesday.
Let me know if my concerns are valid.
Thank you.
Other information: Height: 5'8.75"
Weight: 233 lb
Race: White (Not Hispanic or Latino)
Medical issues: Overweight
Drink: Yes (small amount of red wine at church once a month)
Smoke/Vape: No
Recreational drugs: No

According to the exclusive information of ope.gr and the journalist Demetrios Stroumbakos, Metropolitan Kyrillos of Kifissia, Amarousi, Oropou and Marathon submitted a file to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece which contains the information regarding the Canonization of Eldress Makaria Desypris, who was the one who discovered the Sacred Relic of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri in January 1950.
This morning (May 30, 2024) the Metropolitan officiated at the Monastery of Saint Ephraim, on the occasion of the joyous event of the deposit of the file for the canonization of Eldress Makaria, which will then be transferred from the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Eldress Makaria of Mount Amomon (1911-1999)
Eldress Makaria (in the world known as Margarita Desypris) was born on March 12, 1911 in the village of Falatados in Tinos. When she turned nineteen she made the decision to become a nun. During the German Occupation, she went to the Averof women's prison in Athens and there she lovingly cared for the prisoners' children. In 1945, she visited the then stavropegic men's monastery on Mount Amomon, where she lived amidst its ruins for several years under difficult conditions. There her health was tested many times. She slept in the ruins of the monastery, without windows or coverings and endured every ordeal.
By divine impulse, she built a cell there and began to clear the ruins of the old temple to rebuild it. Many times she contemplated how monks had lived in that place over the centuries and she prayed that one of them would appear to her. A voice, at first silent but with time growing louder in her soul, told her: "Dig and you will find what you desire," until the moment a spot was revealed to her in the courtyard of the monastery
On January 3, 1950 she commissioned a laborer to dig the specific spot that her own soul indicated to her. Although the laborer was negative and wanted to dig anywhere but at this spot, finally, after pleas and prayers, the laborer was convinced and began to dig. The site had a half-demolished fireplace, wall and things that indicated that there had once been a monk's cell there. The first find was a skull. In fact, the place emanated with a wonderful fragrance.
"I knelt with reverence and embraced the Saint's relic and deeply felt the extent of his martyrdom. My soul was filled with joy, I acquired a great treasure, and taking the soil with care I saw the harmony of its setting, which, despite so many centuries in the earth, had not changed," wrote Eldress Makaria, describing the shocking things that happened to her.
Carefully, the Abbess Makaria took out the whole relic and placed it in a box that was above the grave. It was obvious that he was a clergyman as his cassock had remained intact.
In the evening, while reading Vespers, Eldress Makaria heard footsteps. The sound came from the grave, echoing to the church door. That's where she first saw him. He was tall with small round eyes, with a long black beard that reached his neck, dressed in the monastic garb. In one hand he had a flame and with the other he was blessing. He asked to be taken out of the box they had him in. The very next day the Abbess cleaned the bones and placed them in a box in the Sanctuary of the temple.
That same night, the Saint appeared in her sleep, thanked her and revealed his name: Ephraim. The relic of Saint Ephraim has been kept there since then and every day hundreds of believers visit it asking the Saint for his blessing and help. The Saint, by the grace of God, has performed thousands of miracles. In the vicinity of the Monastery, and protected by a building built around it, there is the mulberry tree on which Saint Ephraim breathed his last.
Without financial resources, until 1980 Abbess Makaria maintained an orphanage with approximately 70 school-age children, to whom she provided shelter, food, clothing and an elementary level education, from which some went on to Higher Educational Institutions.
Although she did not have a University education, she published Patristic texts, "Ascetic Discourses of Basil the Great" and compiled a Supplicatory Canon and Akathist to Saint Ephraim, whom she loved very much. She also recorded and gradually published in sixteen volumes the miracles of Saint Ephraim for the support and encouragement of the faithful.
After partaking of the Immaculate Mysteries her soul ascended to the Heavens. It was Friday, the feast of Saint George the Trophy-Bearer, April 23rd 1999.
Today, her sacred relic lies in the secluded tomb that she herself had dug years ago in the forecourt of the Monastery of which, by the grace of God, she was Founder and Abbess for half a century.
According to the exclusive information of ope.gr and the journalist Demetrios Stroumbakos, Metropolitan Kyrillos of Kifissia, Amarousi, Oropou and Marathon submitted a file to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece which contains the information regarding the Canonization of Eldress Makaria Desypris, who was the one who discovered the Sacred Relic of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri in January 1950.
This morning (May 30, 2024) the Metropolitan officiated at the Monastery of Saint Ephraim, on the occasion of the joyous event of the deposit of the file for the canonization of Eldress Makaria, which will then be transferred from the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Source