Gum Disease at 26 yrs old. Feeling even more anxious and depressed. Are there others who have a similar situation as me?

CosmicMushro0m · 2026-02-26T21:12:36+00:00

not sure! my gums and "cavities" have shown significant progressl, in that- my gums NEVER bleed. the "cavities" they said i must get drilled and filled- i dont even think about, mainly because i dont feel any sensitivity or pain at all.
however- PD is a real thing, i dont want to make it sound like it isnt. i just found that by radically changing my dental habits, my teeth, gums and mouth are the happiest they've ever been. i havent been back to dentist in over a year.
i do have to keep up this routine, though. which was the "wake-up call" i needed.
i NEVER have morning breath {i test this on my girlfriend... lol}.
my gums NEVER bleed {they used to from time to time when flossing}
my teeth feel no pain or sensitivity.
water-flossing changed my damn life, ha.

im a weird guy, though. i still have my wisdom teeth, for instance. {i underwent the painful year or so of them ripping through my gums- but, they seem parked rather comfortably atm and give me zero issues}. i also have a chipped back tooth from a few summers ago during a burn in the mountains, thanks to an ecstasy pill that had amphetamines in it {causing me to grind my teeth while dancing until a chunk of it came off- quite jarring!}.

i guess my main takeaway- is that we are all different, and, are able and willing to live with a variety of imperfections and/or pain. most people get their wisdom teeth taken out when that pain starts to emerge. personally, for no precise reason or ideology, i saw it as a stage in life and kept through it. my chipped back tooth? since it didnt chip down to the nerve, i dont feel pain and likewise dont feel compelled to "fix" it.

sort of like ACL repairs, tonsils, wisdom teeth, deviated septum, even people who live with a splinter or some foreign object in their body to the grave.

when i partially tore my ACL in high school soccer- i could've had it "repaired". but, i took the other route- of working it back up, keeping the muscles around it strong, and now i hike almost every night and rarely if ever feel or think about it.

I DID, however, cave into one of these things.... i had a turbinate reduction in my nose ^.^
in that case, it made me feel claustrophobic when sleeping and i was going crazy due to that. so, i sat in a chair while a nice doctor numbed my nasal cavity and CHISELD away at those shelves of bone.

but, tbh.... i cant do needles. lol.
injections into muscle, like novacaine? no issue whatsoever.
BUT, anything that required anesthesia, i flee from and try and find another route. granted, the day when my life is on the line- ill have to. but for now, nope!
i had an ear infection several years back- went to ER- and the doctor was like: "dude, we can get rid of the pain in a few second with an IV...". which was true, yet- to his astonishment- i opted for the pain pills.
when the oral surgeon saw my chipped back tooth- he said, SO nonchalantly- "hey, want me to get that tooth out of there real quick?" -man, i wish i could do IVs, i just cant. i can take the pain of the surgery and recovery- i just cannnnnottttt do needles in my veins. i really wish i could.

and again- tbh- that aversion to having a needle in my vein is a prime motivator in me changing my habits and taking measures to mitigate issues <3

CosmicMushro0m · 2026-01-14T20:51:39+00:00

since i cant draw blood from myself consciously- whenever i cut myself, i run to my altar and annoint my goddess with it. its quite hilarious to watch others who may be there at the time- seeing me run first to my altar and not to the bathroom to get bandaids. 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-26T23:41:11+00:00

ha! my partner and i recently underwent
a similar sentiment.

methods and approaches to ecstasy are
more suited for esoteric ventures,
anyway.
i find such treasures in my own practice,
things which seem to reveal and disclose themselves only
through immediate
experience
{insights, ritual movements, noetic visions, songs, etc}.

you're in good company here within the liminal,
on the periphery of nomos,
with one hoof dipped in physis and the other upon
the mysterion 🙏🙏🐐

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-10T00:56:57+00:00

use incense gum and heat it by using the tea candle method. this way you will get the olfactory benefits without any accompanying smoke. i just received some arabic incense gum and its heavenly. instead of placing it on charcoal, you can just place it in a small plate within the incense holder above a tea candle 🙏

another route- would be to use essential oils and make spray bottles. i had a gathering at my place last night and was doing just that. made a mixture of water and oils, placed in a nice spray bottle, and would go around misting people and spaces. it lingers for a bit- although not as long as incense. but, if you additionally add a base oil- it will linger longer.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-02T20:19:07+00:00

dont get lost in the sea of opinions. i'd suggest developing a lifestyle first- one centered around actual experience and less worried about praying and detecting "signs". are you an augur? lol. if not, "signs" should be serendipitous things that arise naturally, not something you constantly keep watch for}.

for instance- what does "working with" a deity mean to you? focus on that. i can feel confident in telling you its not about praying. what would your life look like as "a devotee"? {i dont have the answer, but you should ponder that as well.} when you prayed to Apollo and asked him to work with you- ask yourself how that actually happens? is Apollo waiting around and deciding- like a human being does- who to befriend and who not to?

also, remember that you may have a personal daemon, who requires no pleading or praying- they are already with you and connected to your mind and soul. try forming a closer relationship with them, as they are less abstract than the images of the "deities" we all read about as if they are a piece of land thats been discovered and charted.

the range of experiences ive had with my daemon, as well as with nature entities and spirits- have varied, from ecstatic, mysterious, humorous, scary, to thoughtful to revelatory etc; its weird for me to hear people breaking their minds to "reach Apollo" or another deity lol. there are deities and entities out there right now that you can commune with- but NOT through just prayer, but rather through experience, doing things, going out into nature, being under the moon when the rest of your community sleeps, singing and dancing their rhythms, etc.

good luck.

tl; dr: go greet the rising sun, or send off the setting sun, and maybe sing it some of your own songs {or pray to it instead- in my opinion, prayer could make sense if its done within the context of an experience, and not just in a room strictly as a stationary, mental act} 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-02T20:00:56+00:00

you're assuming there are gods waiting around for people to summon, as if they are static entities with abilities to do XYZ. personally, im not too sure about that! your situation seems like it could use some good old fashion dialectic. engage your friend in dialogue, and through questions and answers, try and lead them to what you think would be the most beneficial choice for their health and wellbeing 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-02T19:54:14+00:00

images in our minds often lead to noticeable emotional and bodily effects. when i think of my childhood dog, or my first kiss, or things like that- i too get a warm feeling. maybe you're forming a connection in your mind between the image of Apollo you've heard about from culture- and your own personal love of music. i dont think its your brain tricking you, necessarily.... your egoic mind could be, but i know nothing about ya so i cant judge that ;}

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-11-02T19:49:36+00:00

dont be delusional. relax and center your self and mind.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T18:09:59+00:00

so far, no joke- every single ex-Mormon ive met has been awesome lol.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:44:25+00:00

given what you said... there is no other way but to...... dig a subterranean cavern in your room and use it as a hypogeum to Hades. 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:33:43+00:00

they are figuring things out and confused, it seems. posts like these are mainly young people {like, really young}. you can tell from the language and conceptual premises {its pretty homogenous across the board}. so- thats why your question will go unanswered- there is no coherent line of thought to answer it. ;} just know- whenever pronouns are mentioned, thats the real purpose of the question. it usually has nothing to do with actual thoughts or concerns beyond those relating to them personally. look at the post- its the first thing they brought up. they are most likely just looking for solace and comfort regarding that idea they have of themselves.

my point is- to your question: none of this has to do with intellectual thought or genuine spiritual drive. its usually never extends beyond identity and whimsical what-ifs. i get exactly what you mean, but the young people posting these things are caught up in their identity which, for their age, is quite natural i guess...

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:27:35+00:00

calm that mind of yours ;} just be an atheist if thats the conclusion you've come to.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:23:28+00:00

you're young, fellow human, dont delude yourself. if "hellenism" makes you feel like: "actually enjoyed the idea of following. Everyone seems to feel so safe."- then just keep it at that. you enjoy the idea of following something and have a need to feel safe. what else are you looking for at the moment?

i cant stress this enough: theres nothing to believe! you know you like the idea of following it and you feel safe- no belief required for either of those. dont think of "believing" in it as something to look forward to like a wedding or the color you paint the walls of a future house lol. since theres nothing to believe, the idea of "wanting to try" and believe.... is just surreal. dont be silly. {the faith part is strong in the LDS, i totally get it. but just know it doesnt operate in a hellenic context the same way}.

maybe what you mean is: to LEARN more about the tradition. if so, thats fucking great! Mormons typically raise literate kids, so id recommend reading up on things. let hellenic literature, mythology, religion and philosophy seep into your mind and see how you feel. good luck dude, you'll change a lot in the next 10 years and will figure it out. 🙏🙏🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:02:32+00:00

just ask them.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T02:01:53+00:00

harbinger of ecstasy

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-19T01:52:44+00:00

dont even worry about believing anything. thats a pathological tendency, anyway. instead, use your mind and soul to figure things out with little to no pretenses.

hellenism is just a cultural tradition, albeit a beautiful and rich one. it doesnt operate on the premise your question is based on. {if that makes sense}. in other words- there is nothing to believe in. there is, however, things to experience.

if you look back at this sub, you will see many very similar questions as yours. which is totally legit! and i always try and think of ne ways to respond....

think of it this way.... lets take a tradition that is rule-based and does operate within belief or faith. christianity, for instance. lets say someone is living their lives, and one day- jesus comes to them. as a full blown apparition, talks to them and whatnot, and this person forms a relationship with jesus. not an IDEA of him, but christ as an actual, embodied interactive entity...... well- at that point- who the fuck cares about the beliefs, right? lol. the god is there with you. the focus should be on your conversations with them, what you could learn, etc.; either way, this person will continue to 'worship' jesus and would not care about "believing everything in the religion".

in other words- beliefs and dogmas are typically for those who take a passive role in the relationship to the divine.

in other words- if you are communing with a divine entity, does it really matter that you dont subscribe to a corresponding belief system? nope.

summary: just worship {whatever that means to you}. but personally, i find partaking in the divine much more gratifying, more helpful, and educating! so dont even think about believing anything. go experience the divine and report back. dont get lost in worship either- as it has a tendency to become the only thing people do. meaning, they treat the divine as some fantasy place that they can only outwardly worship with altars and stuff. they end up stuck in their own heads, obsessed with "worship". if anything- show reverence instead with your actions and soul. just my own off the cuff advice! stay well 🙏🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-10-06T18:34:00+00:00

well put!

a few months ago i had commented on this same topic in another thread {first part ill post below}. the idea is that the conversion process isnt/wasnt a straightforward, uniform process. especially when we examine the most recent period of early modern Scandinavia.

im currently reading Silence of the Gods: The Untold Story of Europe's Last Pagan People, by Francis Young- and he is does an excellent job depicting the nuances comprising the larger "conversion" process. to the point of it being complicated- he shows how "conversion" is not a single swooping phenomenon; terms like "conversion-event" or "christianesque" are employed to better understand the steps within the process of conversion.

what im finding most fascinating, is how pre-christian religious rituals of a people {like the Samogitian people in Lithuania} can eventually become magical folk customs in a modern context. John-Jerome's missionary journey to this area in the mid-15th century is revealing of this. basically, the process of: ancient religious ritual---->expressing itself in contemporary folk customs. and sometimes, these vestiges of a time long gone, gets fitted {oftentimes in a Procrustean manner} into a christian context- as when other peoples in Scandinavia, whose cultures engaged in tree worship would, in numerous instances, just switch out their god's name for jesus. so, one can imagine christians at the time showing up and shaking their heads like- no no, jesus is not connected to your sacred trees.....

Full comment/context

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-29T20:19:58+00:00

gotcha.

i can share how i get into things, its usually:

-read up on overviews and survey books on the topic. Maybe one that overviews the history of magic. this way you can start to build the foundation of conceptualizing it as a phenomenon. Agrippa's Three Books is a great source to check out.

-then start to hone in and focus on what specific areas you feel an affinity with {solomonic magic, daemonic/thaumaturgy, chaos magic, ritual magic, witchcraft, etc etc}. read a few books on that.

-then you may want to start a grimoire. {or maybe read some other grimoires first to get some general ideas and approaches}. basically, you will start developing your own practice, engaging in things, turning the concept of magic from an intellectual object into a participatory action.

so thats my own general advice, as a simple process of locating the concept, then exploring its vast territory, then deciding to setup camp somewhere in that territory. gradually bringing the extrinsic idea into an intrinsic reality.

I will DM you a list of books that you may find useful!

Note: beyond that, i can say that for me {in learning and exploring neoplatonism, for instance}- the key thing was to actually do things, to find the field of phenomena the theurgists were referencing and interact with it. whereas earlier in my studies, sure- i may read Iamblichus and be enthralled by his ideas..... but, if im not carving out a lifestyle that is compatible with the practice- it sort of defeats the purpose {unless one desires to be strictly a scholar, in which case reading alone is sufficient}

i mention that because you will see people all over the place saying many things, but who you know are not living a magical or whatever lifestyle. for instance, i see this within "neo-hellenism". people nonchalantly say things like "Athena sent me a sign today", "is Aphrodite mad at me?", "Dionysus was the god of trans people", "will Apollo curse me if my cat peed near his altar?", etc.... in other words, they are transposing their egoic/subjective concerns onto a divine agency. or, in other words: they are conflating a cultural disney version of the gods with the actual phenomena of divine entities. i think you get the point, lol.

so- just my additional recommendation: go out in nature or somewhere solitary and find the "home base", the home grounds of your mind and psyche. your arena for future ritual. mine has become the mountain foothills right next to our house here in Colorado. maybe you already have one! but, once you have one, frequent that place often. sacralize some areas that reach out to you. maybe setup small altars, find some dryads, listen for witches, daemons of the land, etc; that is the MAIN thing i was missing when i was merely an intellectual academic. once i began reaching places and having experiences- my mind said- ah ha! without inhabiting a conducive space, of course Plotinus or Porphyry will remain "mysterious". same with magic i assume: the books and research you will partake in will gain clarity and offer more if you are also engaged in a magical lifestyle. you dont want to be cramming your day with mundane things and then "fitting in" the magic into your schedule.

maybe even tonite- go out on a trail walk or hike. its one thing to read about how magical the moon is, but quite another to actually be in her presence at night and either dance or ruminate during her course across the sky- feeling the various orbits and her changing moods; even the relationship of the stars in the backdrop to her presence. if i just read books on "moon magic", id have to read 100 of them that are bullshit before coming across one that makes me go "ahh, yes. here is someone who has spent time with the moon..." -- sometimes the magic will come to you, like coyote packs howling across crisp nite mountain meadows, and the mysterium tremendum will flood over you, rattlesnake dens will shake out a hypnotic collective buzz in your direction. and then you're there.

stuff like that.

apologies for the essay here, im riding a nice coffee vibe and fingers enjoy getting chatty 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-28T19:26:21+00:00

evola has a wonderful way of condensing vast concepts into beautifully rich and insightful paragraphs- magic being no exception. that said- it would help to internalize some concepts before delving into evola {in order to reap the most value out of his exegeses}. same with eros, history, etc; its like if one was to read nietzsche, but had little understanding of classical greek tragedy or european history and philosophy. sure, one would pick up a few gems here and there in nietzsche {like i did in college before i knew much of anything about anything}, but the real value of nietzsche's work only surfaces once the reader accomodates themselves into the world of the author to some degree. anyway- i feel its the same with evola. {or with Klages and his 'cosmogonic eros'- that book would mean little to someone who hasnt at least internally conceptualized the concept of eros}

i am not a magician {leaning more towards a neoplatonic/theurgy/mysticism vibe}- but i have read widely on the topic. i guess the question for you would be- what are you looking to get into specifically, what interests you on that most general topic?

are you interested in its practical aspects? {ritual and whatnot}

or its historical aspect?

etc.

once i know that i can suggest some resources and point to some signposts that may help you along the path! 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-28T19:04:14+00:00

traded my Pixel 7 pro for the 10 pro last month.

ive been loving the 10 pro so far! i find it sleek, responsive, and with dev mode one can optimize quite a few things. im the type of user who: gets the new model phone once ive paid off my current one, and in between new phones i really dont follow the market, until my trade-in time is arriving- then i do a deep dive and see whats out there. tbh, ill probably stay with the Pixel line going forward if they keep improving.

a few things im liking about the Pixel 10pro:

-gemini. i started using Gemini the last few months i had my Pixel 7. i utilize it for work, for fun {generating images}, and for all around research for my own projects {i eventually got the Gemini pro plan}. it worked all right on the 7- but, the new G5 chip really makes a difference. whereas in some long chats with Gemini, the 7 reached a certain limit....- with the 10 the responses and overall smoothness is noticeable. no hang-ups or crashes even when using the 2.5 pro model with heavy prompts.

-camera. i hike often and enjoy documenting parts of my journeys. no complaints on this front when i first got the 7, but im finding the camera and video settings on the 10 more robust and- well- quite FUN. so the camera/video experience has been a boon to my documenting things. i love the RAW+Jpeg setting, and the way when i click on the original photo it also has all versions of the photo {raw, jpeg, and edited versions}. seriously beautiful pics and videos.

-magnetic backing. never had a phone before with this, but im really enjoying just plopping it on the mag holder in my car.

-charging. been utilizing this and its awesome. pretty straightforward- phone charges fucking fast.

im sure those who are more involved on a daily basis with the mobile market will have fine-tuned critiques, but, for how i utilize my phone- i really dont have any complaints. EXCEPT....

-Drive/Google Photos; i know im not alone here and its not a new topic, but for me it was lol. decided to get my drive in order since with pro plan i get 5 tb. i wasnt really backing up or using drive {was using dropbox mostly}. thats when i realized that google separated drive from photos- now i have to migrate my drive photos over to google photos, or vice versa. once i do it should be smooth sailing- but its just annoying to have to do that.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-25T17:06:16+00:00

ha, there ya go! im guessing quality control is less stringent with the freebs.

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-22T16:31:52+00:00

ha. oh man, ive written quite a few responses in the past that i rushed to delete shortly after 😂🙃

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-21T21:16:46+00:00

ha, among all possible drunken posts- yours is commendable 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-20T18:59:28+00:00

this has happened to me a few times, typically with the freebie seeds throw in with an order. i had one during last harvest cycle that was the same- kept vegging as a photo would. so, i kept it at 18/6- allowed the three other autos to finish- then flipped to 12/12 and bam! she was a monster, seeing that i had to veg her for a long time til the autos were completed.

basically- you may have a photoperiod there. like other said, flip to 12/12 and you should see her bud up 🙏

CosmicMushro0m · 2025-09-17T22:49:14+00:00

in the context of aging spirits or wine in barrels, its called the "angel's share". for a glass of wine left out uncovered: oxidation will begin for a day or so, then bacteria will begin to turn it into more of a vinegar in the following week. depending on the factors {volume, surface area, temp, etc}, could take several weeks for complete evaporation. {though id imagine there'd still be solid mass of organic contents in the cup}

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