20.03.2025: Spring Equinox update
Published the Spring Equinox 2025 letter where I go over some anomalous experiences and changes from spiritual practice I've noticed since the summer of 2024.
Minor graphical updated to reflect the fact that I have taken up formal worship of Eirin-sama and Suwako-sama.
Spring is here so hopefully there will be a bit more frequent update cycle. There is certainly more than enough material for it.
The site has breached 29000 views.
14.03.2025: Enter the Mythosphere update.
Published Exploring the Touhou Mythosphere – Part 1: The West.
It is the first in a two-part series of articles that explores sources on the more mythological and spiritual side of Touhou.
As one can surmise from the tittle, the first part focuses on the Western sources.
There's not much represented in a systematic fashion, but the scattered bits and pieces tell an interesting story of their own.
It was a joy to discover that already in 2012 some people were seeing below the surface.
Also updated the external sources section a bit.
The site has exceeded 28000 views.
22.02.2025: Appeasement of the Sages update.
Received and published the first known account of someone finding and completing the Appeasement of the Sages ritual.
Momentous occasion and the success is auspicious to all those who desire to reach out to the Sages and other spirtis of Gensokyo.
Fixed some residual jank and added new headers to the various sub-pages.
The site has exceeded 25000 views!
Previously mentioned update on the more spiritual & esoteric takes on Touhou is still being worked on.
Please wait warmly...
09.02.2025: Buddha Pointing at the Moon update.
Small updates to Buddhism and ZUN Moon Rising sections.
Buddhism section is now fact-checked by a Real Mahayana Buddhist(tm).
Added direction mention to Shigisan Engi Emaki as source of inspiration for Undefined Fantastic Object & refrence(s) to Zen Buddhism and Wild in Horned Hermit.
Elaborated on the importance of Moon in East Asian culture, it's association with water also in East Asian culture, found more lore about Eirin and Tsukiyomi, and potential references to the Greek goddess Artemis in Touhou.
Slight update to the texts on the main page.
Site has exceeded 22000 views! However, because the new version uses more images, the increase in views isn't in reality as drastic as it seems.
People associated with the site have made some really incredible discoveries. There were people doing more mythopoetic, spiritual takes on Touhou already 13+ years ago.
Resources in Japanese exploring similar themes, perhaps less from a "believer" point of view, have been discovered.
Early Medieval Japanese Buddhists going to China to learn from the sources must have felt something like what I have been feeling lately.
Content related to these discoveries will be forthcoming relatively soon.
29.01.2025: Year of the Snake update.
Wrote the Year of the Snake Letter where I take a look at some things going on in Japan surrounding Buddhism, Shinto, and their strange intersection with Touhou.
In particular, I highlight the very unusual situation surrounding the Shika no Kuni documentary, where a Shinto ritual that had not been performed for 600 years was reconstructed.
The purpose of this ritual was historicaly to establish a line of communication to the kami of Suwa, which Touhou fans know through the Moriya Shrine characters.
The timing and certain events relating to Touhou, Suwa and Moriya Shrine (both the real-life and fictional) both in Japan and outside of it are quite fascinating to say the least.
A throughout article on the rich Suwa mythology is on my agenda.
The site has exceeded 18000 views.
25.01.2025: Great Work Re-Worked update.
Thanks to the efforts of Apollo Darkside, the Archive has taken another leap towards looking like and acting like an actual website. Huge thanks!
There is now an actual navbar.
Images are now highly responsive to re-sizing.
This should theoreticaly now load in a legible manner on mobile devices, old computers and consoles and whatever Rasperry Pi powered potatoes you might have.
Invisible to users but very meaningful to me, there is now an actual folder structure and the Recent Updates section and navigation bars can be updated from a single source.
Please note that there is some residual jank remaining. If the site looks broken, force reload (ctrl + f5 or shift + f5) on your browser.
The old structure will exist in parallel for a while...a liminal trace of the old world...soon to slip away...