Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

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@Metonymy I moved my reply. It got away from the original screenshots.

An obsession with architecture, it's the one beautiful thing that can be built and enjoyed by all simply by looking at it, and when done right it tells a story. Brutalism is my favorite but a lot of people don't like it due to the feeling of oppression it often conveys, nor is concrete all that friendly, it is however very strong and true to it's form, I respect that. Architecture is the one thing I pay attention to when we visit somewhere, it's grown as an interest as I build more of my own cities and worlds. Now I go out of my way to meet architects and contractors when we mingle, they know there's a genuine interest and I'm not pretending to follow the conversation I.E. pretend everything they are saying is fascinating by requirement. I don't know what the conversation was last night, I tuned out and played the 3D game instead. You pick an item in the room and mentally rotate it, they say it leads to strong spatial awareness (like DareDevil perhaps) so I was visually twirling cigars and whiskey bottles through my mind. That might sound boring, it can be fun.

Your Grandmother sounds like someone I could get onboard with. Mine on one side was the first to hand down the tradition of divination, I learned Tarot, palm-reading and tea-leafs from her. I still practice the former but readings are extremely rare. Like your Grandmother certain superstition made it's way down my Family line and I adopted quite a lot of it. No doubt the eccentricity too but I think that's a big part of generational Families and certain old world traditions. When you are raised outside of the modern world you are bound to run into that kind of thing and symbolism is all encompassing in my Family. Symbols, ink, it all tells a story, I'm allowed neither. I'd rather not turn my body into a canvas so it's fine. What you might call a coat of arms, it's everywhere. Crest might be the right word.

I liked Mexico for it's blending of both. Most people think it's a very violent place and it can be (I saw some things) it's rich in culture, architecture and superstition too. I was very interested in Santa Muerte for a time, not the transactional side, the compassionate side. It's not my culture though, I respectively moved it to the side. Besides my Partner didn't want any 'giant skeleton statues in our home'. She is kind of scary looking if you don't understand who she really is or what she really symbolizes, I see her more as a protective loving force.

Vodou is different. People confuse it for Hodoo which is more practical with it's rootwork/HeXes etc while the former focuses more on faith and ritual. I'll probably never stop researching either, different practitioners have their own methods and it's interesting to see where they took them from. That kind of adaptation doesn't exist in other types of high Magik or Occultism, it's very easy to track ritual back to it's inception. It's never not been there, just hidden and still involves itself in certain societies and orders.

Feng Shui (like you mentioned about your Grandmother) plays a role in all three, but only when you know where to look. It all goes back to Spirit and place, the same even for Alister Crowley's work in Thelmatic Magik and for Christianity, they see that place as physical space (Churches) an Occultist sees it as metaphysical. We bridge the gap and both worlds meet on set terms. So for example a door to you is a physical object, I see it as both a door to a physical place but also understand that metaphysical opening of place to space. A wardrobe for example, for most it's a door to nowhere but in Magikal context it becomes a door to somewhere. Much like the cabinet in traditional Spiritualism. Hence children say 'there's something in there', who's to say they are wrong. That metaphysical architecture is also something that a practitioner would target for curse-work, to focus that deconstruction of the person's environment by tearing those metaphysical walls and inviting something else in. To the uninitiated that's Black Magik, but real Magik is neither black nor white. A practitioner is neither good nor bad, only reactive to their situation and circumstances.

What your Grandmother did, that's to strengthen those boundaries. If you ever saw her use salt or oil it's no different nor is it any different in the Catholic tradition with the burning of frankincense. It's high frequency and used in Magik too, the same for Myrrh. In-terms of dispersal it's smudging, the Vatican will never use that term, they want to distance themselves from such claims. It's not all that different to what I'm seeing back home, it went from 'she's a witch, that's weird but fine' to 'it's forbidden', which is fine I stopped practicing before then. Superstition never lifted. Not when those around me always abide by it.

I think there's a lot to be said about superstition, I'd rather honor it than rubbish it and in some ways I understand it better than the more normal approach. I'm surprised your Grandmother didn't smudge or sage her home after that scrub. Her approach sounds very old world, or what I call current world.

She was very superstitious. Things had to be arranged in rooms a certain way, that sort of thing.

• I do the next level approach of that and have chosen rooms for specific uses due to lay-out as it relates to certain teachings in the Occult, certain numbers of doors/windows and the direction they face. The same for the number of mirrors/candle holders etc. That space is private, I clean my own cauldrons so to speak.

Certain figures in the Occult did/do the same thing. Aleister Crowley for example and a former property that he purchased. That was for one particular ritual, very involved, complex and six months long. That home met all of the requirements needed, doors facing a certain direction, the threshold facing due north (very important in that ritual) what we call the Watchtowers. Jimmy Page was/is the most recent owner of the property, he's a big collector of Occult material too. He went so far as to open his own publishing house so he could print his own Book of Goetia and a lot of Occult imagery features in Led Zeppelin's work, but Goetia is very controversial as is he among others in the industry. He spooks them out, Bowie kept his distance because of what I said above. If you take the song Stairway to Heaven? It means one thing to most listeners, another to Occultists. A Jacob's Ladder/journey to enlightenment or what's known as rowing the boat through the river ecstasy. Not what you would call a figurative Heaven, that would be 'place'. Rather we see true space as a sense of being and entirely non-physical, a construct of consciousness. I see Page's thinking through that piece of music.

I no longer practice but I do still study and old habits definitely die hard. Superstition plays a big part in my culture too, some is rooted in identity, one particular one I can think of would be leaving an empty bottle on a table. One that was observed last night, once that bottle was done it was gone. It would be bad luck to leave it there, either someone clears it or it goes to the floor. Others might be more Family specific, I'm not entirely sure, I've only ever mixed with one normal/modern Russian. She wasn't overly superstitious, nor eccentric. We use technology, study economics, learn languages etc but after that it's entirely insular. This (conversation) is my only way to see things any other way. I find it hard to distinguish tradition and superstition from normality, I've only experienced the first two. I try not to keep my eyes wide shut, and to make an effort.

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@Th3solution Have you played the Metro games? I think the first is Metro 2033, then Metro Last Light, and Metro Exodus, and maybe another one but I’m not sure. If so how did you like them and do you feel there’s good representation of your culture in them?

• This might not fit and will require a lot of thinking, if so I'll split it into two parts (if needed)

I've played the first one and read the books. It's a very good representation of Moscow in that most people don't just live there, they survive there. I used the word more corporate before and that's definitely true compared to somewhere more open like Saint Petersburg. The latter is more like a doorway to the West and Moscow is more like a Controlled fortification, we have more security firms and security contractors in the city/suburbs than anywhere else in the world. There's the constant need for prevention, and preservation of life. Tourists glimpse it and don't understand, they think we're one thing when really we're many. Many different hats, all interchangeable.

That many was an evolution, humor evolved with it. A kind of darkening of humor, it was one way regular Russians coped with what they were seeing. If you saw a shoot out on the street you'd remember that for life maybe, or if something blew up. Not when it happens multiple times, it becomes normal, humor then evolves to counteract what should be trauma but is just life. It's a harsh city even without the monsters. The same thing happened with the rise of the Oligarchs, humor evolved, as with Communism.

The game was developed by a Ukranian studio and even before the current situation there wasn't always the best of relations. I do think they acted responsibly, especially when exploring the political aspects of the game. I remember one of the factions were Nationalists. Words like National pride are new to me. By default I'm seen as a Patriot and there's no compromise there. Nationalism in England is seen as far right, dangerous and very racist. It's been translated to me more as National identity which we're apparently fighting to protect, while also bringing back the Empire. I'm still told there are Nazis in charge of Ukraine (truly) The message in my mind is very mixed and that's because it keeps evolving to suit the order of the day. I see prevention not detention, I don't like confusion either. I'm right now in England but only in body, my mind and soul are planted firmly on Russian soil, not by choice. I just never really left.

Metro then becomes a kind of lens to what those developers (and author) knew all along. I think it coloured their predictions for the future and they used those factions to present that outcome. People might play the game and wonder if there are Nazis in Russia, yes more than anywhere else in the world. We have what's called ultra Nationalism, I'm kept away from it but I know it's there. Their symbolism, ink etc is not ours. The game's was a kind of fourth Reich, the same ideals were there, the same brutality. We're long past escalation, similar ideology exists in other Slavic regions and Eastern European countries, it's not entirely homegrown. I believe it can happen anywhere and I can only see it as weaponizing ideology. I don't see Communism as weaponizing anything. We're one side Communists and the other Capitalists, we holster certain ideals at the door, especially with business. Many of the older people around me speak of Communism in the highest regards. They had structure and order, both of which I cling tightly to. I am however aware of the discrepancy in balance. My view would be different if I didn't see it from the position of an old world Nomenklatura.

That faction shows what could be. We've always been naturally very Patriotic, like I said before I did have Patriotism classes and ethics classes. You probably have no pictures of your President in your home? I have many. Music about him etc. That's described to me as National identity, a figure of the State, our Leader etc. It wasn't there by choice, it was/is 'this is who We are, this is who you are' with absolutely no room for compromise and no questioning why things are the way they are.

Had the last four years not transpired it would have been easier for me to label the game and the writing as purely stereotypical, mainly because of it's relationship to the post-Soviet system. Previously people could have been nonchalant about their politics and their way of life. Now it's dangerous to not pick a side, it influences survival. Hence so many people fled. The game was similar with it's Communist faction, it was 'Our way or the highway'. I think that was a result of the original author, they exaggerated the politics of the time and now it's the rule.

The Government labelled one of the last games as Russophobic, I never looked into why. I have to choose my words carefully but how I look at Metro now is how I look at what happened with my Apps at Christmas. Each one was either restricted or blocked, I see that as cutting a person off. The game did that by confining it's citizens to the underground. My original take from the game was 'that's good they stay down there it's safer than going outside, I'd unintentionally projected myself into the game while completely missing why they ended up down there in the first place.

Something else the game did was explore what we call Russkaya Dusha, or Russian Soul. It's a kind of resilience, one that I see as stoicism. I have to get current to give an example, we haven't been sanctioned and even if we were business would continue. We as a people have a natural resilience to any pressure from the outside world, that's why sanctions don't work. Young people know this, old people too. They would affect a Western country, their economy would be more transparent, ours isn't. The thought is that 'this is hurting X Y and Z', it's not, we don't put our cards on the table and no one sees what's happening under that table. Our entire way of life was built around resilience, not despair. I saw that same thinking with the Communist faction in the game and there was that heavy emphasis of Communist ideals. In the book they talked a lot about a great Patriotic war, it came up many times. I'm being told that what we're doing right now is a great Patriotic military operation, we don't call it a war, it's SVO but I'm self aware, I know it's war. Patriotic or not.

The people in the game weren't given the opportunity to gain that self awareness. Confinement and being cut-off meant their faction grew and expanded until it was set in stone. That very Dusha has now become a tool of current ideology, and the symbol for resilience. The 'Us against them', which grows by the day. I don't see pessimism like I did in the game, nor fear. If you remember in the game the Communist faction talked about their technology having Soviet soul? They meant that same Russkaya Dusha, it survived in their ideology and they transferred that thinking to their technology too. It's the same in a Warhammer game I played. Which is also something I see when I attend Victory Day parades. When I feel the ground rumble as a nuclear missile rolls past, that's weaponized soul. I'm supposed to see it as resilience, and protection, not mutual destruction.

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@Th3solution I was right it didn't fit. Here's the rest.

There's a bleakness to the game and to the novel that I can only understand from a distance. Most normal Russians face some kind of bleakness and power through it. They've learned through experience that things can always be worse and their humor reflects that. I can't pretend to identify with ever lacking in anything, I don't have wants but I do have needs. When you play the game a basic need is ammunition and a game like Metro makes it scarce. That's how people viewed the fall of Communism, shortages etc. The propaganda of the time pushed scarcity as the result of Western interference, which is the order of the day but again I lack in nothing so it's given me a more unique perspective on the situation. That part of the message didn't stick. It is affecting normal people, causing an escalation of an eye for an eye. People want more than ever to fight back. They too were dragged into something which wasn't their own doing and their resilience became entangled with cultural pride. Creating a cycle, and creating factions.

Propaganda to me removes the space needed for the growth of personal freedom, but I don't think I've ever had it. Freedom to you would be walking out the door when you please, mine is by request and much like the game it's dangerous out there. Normal Russians are starting to experience something similar. In one of the books they talked about their world as being a purgatory, caused by the destruction of both Heaven and Hell. I'm not sure if it was discussed in the game, people became shadows and ghosts, all co-existing in that underground. I've always identified with factions and a clan mentality, I understand it. Like most things the game took those concepts and amplified their ideologies. Many normal Russians had no real ideology until they had to choose a line in the sand. Mine was chosen for me since birth and survival has always meant literal survival. I don't see current day Russia as post apocalyptic, the bias is that things are grinding to a halt and that couldn't be further from the truth. The Metro in the game had it's own rules, each faction operated as they saw fit. They were insular and the outside world didn't affect their actions. That's Russia as a whole, the rules and laws can change to counteract any kind of outside influence. Walls don't go up unless the system is already in place to run independently, and it is.

It is however entirely subjective. The simple answer would be that the architecture in the game-world is quite accurate and the music is accurate enough that it does feature a well known Russian band, the dialogue too reflects the humor that comes about from struggle. My point of view would differ in some ways, I find it hard to register the claustrophobic nature of the level design. The books do a better job at world building and much like Andrzej Sapkowski's work the harsh criticism of the system heavily peppers the politics of the world. How like I told Ravix that Geralt has to fight for equal pay, that's what Sapkowski would have personally experienced from Communism.

My own views have developed over time (carefully) I now see the game as a warning, a kind of message of anti-war and given who the developers were it's entirely possible that it was their goal all along. The books however seem like deliberate attempts to poke the hornets nest, the author had certain views and made them clear (he became a target especially by Nationalists) He has been since been sentenced in absentia, which means maybe a decade behind bars if he returns to Russia. Many are for criticizing our actions in Ukraine.

Much like you said you were blinded to American politics I'm blinded to Russian politics, I'm too close to the source to not have unseen bias and it's probably there in my above words. And entirely unintentional.

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (in my opinion) doe's a better job of representing the culture, but that is the culture of the 1970's. I understand more the bureaucracy and the influence of the Cold War, that's the ideology I was given. That book is to me one big existential search for meaning in a very confusing and hostile world.

Metro tried to go there and got wrapped up in that previously existing distaste of the system (hence his jail sentence) Both books were made into games, Metro and Stalker, and both developers were Ukrainian. I believe Stalker now has also been deemed as undesirable. Thankfully no one pays too much attention to my video-games. If I was back home they would as Stalker 2 is seen as highly Russophobic. I believe it's been labelled as so because of the developers support for their own side. I see no other reason why and I'm not allowed to ask. I see major ethical dilemmas in both games and in both novels. I don't see Metro as representing a true Russian perspective, Glukhovsky was very young when he finished Metro 2033 and I believe it takes some time for a person to find themselves. It may have been cathartic to him, I do know that one of the major gripes is that he said that without an enemy we lose our identity. If I were to mention his name offline I'd be reminded that he's a traitor. Which wasn't always the case.