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Absolutely incredible to see a snarky nit on a project like this. Hackernews never fails haha.

shakna 1y ago
The project is a carricature of real world religions that are still active today. Where is the surprise that it raises ire?
- b_e_n_t_o_n 1y ago
  Is it? I figured it was halloween themed.
  - shakna 1y ago
    Halloween is connected to the religious festivals, All Hallow's Eve and Día de Muertos. Whilst commercialism may have overtaken the holiday today, it is still a deeply sacred event to some, and can cause offense when it isn't treated that way. In the same way some Christians are offended by the commercialisation of Easter and Christmas.
    - herewulf 1y ago
      "Real world religions" would be better served by concerning themselves with more productive pursuits than getting worked up over every little perceived offense. Then there would be no ire at all!
      - shakna 1y ago
        You appear to have taken offence, at people taking offence. Which points towards beliefs you may hold. Yes, there is balance to be found. But if people point out you've made fun of their beliefs, then adapt. No need to act out. We all have beliefs, whether or not that is an organised belief. Ideaology is everywhere in everything. People are still people. Communicate and the irritation can fade.
        b_e_n_t_o_n 1y ago
        You appear to have taken offence, at people taking offence, to people taking offence!
        shakna 1y ago
        Did you want to try the communication part of the suggestion?
- egypturnash 1y ago
  Magic != Religion. Magic can certainly interact with things commonly seen as religion - talking to gods, angels, demons, saints, ghosts, ancestors, and other non-physical entities - but it doesn't have to. You can cast a spell without ever mentioning a single deity. Chapman's Advanced Magick For Beginners discusses some of the techniques involved in this but skips others that make it much more likely for you to be able to say "this is what is going to happen now" and have the universe listen. You can also have your magic deeply intertwined with your religion. Prayer is magic. A pantheon of gods or a list of angels, saints, or demons is a dictionary of specialists; ask this god for help with your problems involving going on a trip, ask this saint for help with finding a thing you lost, ask this demon for help with learning math. And part of how you make one of these entities more likely to lend a hand with your problem is by regularly saying hi to them and making some kind of offering, which is definitely getting into the territory of religion.
  - shakna 1y ago
    Religion also doesn't require deities. Its just a framework for discussing a coalescing number of beliefs. Atheism falls under the umbrella of religious studies, too.
dang 1y ago
I appreciate your intention, of course, but please don't respond by breaking the site guidelines yourself. It only makes things worse. Besides "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html), this guideline is relevant: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." I doubt that egypturnash intended a "snarky nit". More likely this is someone who's passionate about the underlying topic (grimoires!), naturally got excited when seeing the OP, and then was disappointed when it didn't go as deep as someone with their level of knowledge would expect. It's bad, of course, to express that by putting down the OP or their work; much better to respond by sharing some of what one knows, as I explained at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45561740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45561740.

The project is a carricature of real world religions that are still active today. Where is the surprise that it raises ire?

b_e_n_t_o_n 1y ago
Is it? I figured it was halloween themed.
- shakna 1y ago
  Halloween is connected to the religious festivals, All Hallow's Eve and Día de Muertos. Whilst commercialism may have overtaken the holiday today, it is still a deeply sacred event to some, and can cause offense when it isn't treated that way. In the same way some Christians are offended by the commercialisation of Easter and Christmas.
  - herewulf 1y ago
    "Real world religions" would be better served by concerning themselves with more productive pursuits than getting worked up over every little perceived offense. Then there would be no ire at all!
    - shakna 1y ago
      You appear to have taken offence, at people taking offence. Which points towards beliefs you may hold. Yes, there is balance to be found. But if people point out you've made fun of their beliefs, then adapt. No need to act out. We all have beliefs, whether or not that is an organised belief. Ideaology is everywhere in everything. People are still people. Communicate and the irritation can fade.
      - b_e_n_t_o_n 1y ago
        You appear to have taken offence, at people taking offence, to people taking offence!
        shakna 1y ago
        Did you want to try the communication part of the suggestion?
egypturnash 1y ago
Magic != Religion. Magic can certainly interact with things commonly seen as religion - talking to gods, angels, demons, saints, ghosts, ancestors, and other non-physical entities - but it doesn't have to. You can cast a spell without ever mentioning a single deity. Chapman's Advanced Magick For Beginners discusses some of the techniques involved in this but skips others that make it much more likely for you to be able to say "this is what is going to happen now" and have the universe listen. You can also have your magic deeply intertwined with your religion. Prayer is magic. A pantheon of gods or a list of angels, saints, or demons is a dictionary of specialists; ask this god for help with your problems involving going on a trip, ask this saint for help with finding a thing you lost, ask this demon for help with learning math. And part of how you make one of these entities more likely to lend a hand with your problem is by regularly saying hi to them and making some kind of offering, which is definitely getting into the territory of religion.
- shakna 1y ago
  Religion also doesn't require deities. Its just a framework for discussing a coalescing number of beliefs. Atheism falls under the umbrella of religious studies, too.

dang 1y ago

I appreciate your intention, of course, but please don't respond by breaking the site guidelines yourself. It only makes things worse. Besides "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html), this guideline is relevant: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." I doubt that egypturnash intended a "snarky nit". More likely this is someone who's passionate about the underlying topic (grimoires!), naturally got excited when seeing the OP, and then was disappointed when it didn't go as deep as someone with their level of knowledge would expect. It's bad, of course, to express that by putting down the OP or their work; much better to respond by sharing some of what one knows, as I explained at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45561740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45561740.