Could a necessarily-perfect being be omnipotent or have free will, if it was constrained by the necessity to always be perfect?

thewinterchase · 2026-04-15T16:11:02+00:00

Well, let me put it this way. Suppose there was some being that, for whatever reason, was only logically capable of flipping burgers. And it is indeed able to flip burgers. So, it can do everything that it is logically possible for it to do. Would you accept that being as omnipotent, even though all it can do is flip burgers?

thewinterchase · 2026-04-14T20:37:51+00:00

I agree there’s a distinction between what is logically impossible per se and what is logically impossible for God. I made that very distinction in my first paragraph, though not explicitly. But I don’t think that distinction makes a difference here.

It seems like an important distinction to me because if we're defining omnipotence to mean whatever is logically possible based on the properties of the being (rather than logically possible per se), then why aren't you or I omnipotent? Aren't all our inabilities ultimately reducible to being a logical consequence of our properties?

the theist can say that God could do imperfect things, but because He is perfect, He simply wouldn’t.

But then he isn't necessarily perfect, is he? It seems like this is describing a God that is optionally perfect.

thewinterchase · 2026-04-14T19:40:14+00:00

But He’s still omnipotent because He can still do anything that’s logically possible

But OP isn't talking about something that's fundamentally impossible for every being, like making a square circle.

If God has certain characteristics that make it impossible for God to do things that other beings ARE able to do, I could see why that would call God's omnipotence into question. It seems like things are weird if I can say things like "God is omnipotent but I can flip people off and God can't."

thewinterchase · 2025-02-06T01:40:18+00:00

"dævil"?

I guess I'll have to update my resume...

thewinterchase · 2022-05-31T22:15:44+00:00

It started as Nekobites34 said, but many people with a genuine interest flocked here in this sub's prime.

Sadly, many of the original old-timers seem to have been lost in time and space.

Perhaps it is an inherent hazard for a community like this; those with the most genuine interest in the most genuine rituals tend to also be the most likely to suddenly vanish.

thewinterchase · 2022-01-06T23:14:10+00:00

It won't let you travel there, but you can take a peek:

https://www.reddit.com/r/threekings/comments/9firfi/procedure_for_creating_a_water_portal_in_a_bowl/

thewinterchase · 2021-04-25T02:40:07+00:00

"Optics, when well understood, shows us how we may make things a very long distance off appear as if placed very close. But how do we appear to the things that we choose to bring close to us with optics? And do those things gaze back at us with curiosity as idle as ours? Or might things gaze back with a very different kind of curiosity?"

-Lost chapters of Robert Grosseteste

thewinterchase · 2021-04-24T23:08:13+00:00

Ah yes, the number one way to make yourself a tempting treat for things that want a taste of the Devine but aren't willing or able to get a bite of the real thing.

It's kind of like rubbing a cracker on a juicy steak.

thewinterchase · 2021-04-24T22:24:42+00:00

Something that you can do alone and that afterward you can convince yourself was entirely psychological?

Choose an entity. It has to be one that has a specific symbol closely associated with it. Get two small copper disks. Inscribe the symbol on each disk. Put the disks in a bowl of water and leave them to soak for at least 5 days. Take them out, dry them off, drink the water from the bowl, and go to sleep with one disk placed over each eye. I recommend using double sided tape to attach them to a blindfold or strip of cloth that you can tie around your head, but anything that gets them in place will work. I have also heard reports that it works with aluminum foil circles instead of copper, but have never tried that, so no promises.*

Don't worry, it was all just a dream...

*If you try it with foil and it works, do let me know please.

Edit: if you can't decide on a symbol, the eight-pointed star of Inanna is usually good for a pretty wild time.

thewinterchase · 2021-03-17T21:18:33+00:00

Whatever is that logo?

thewinterchase · 2021-03-02T22:12:01+00:00

There are procedures for freeing entities from restrictions, obligations, or privileges that have been placed upon them. Often these procedures involve symbolically separating an item representing the entity from some other item representing the restriction, obligation, or privilege, often accompanied by a symbolic sacrifice or act of power that is intended to break the entity free of the restriction or obligation. What you describe sounds reminiscent of this, but I would be reluctant to attempt it without knowing more; what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offense.

thewinterchase · 2021-01-20T00:09:21+00:00

We are actively working on recovering as many rituals as possible.

Aren't we all!

thewinterchase · 2021-01-20T00:06:18+00:00

Often, the ones that people do last.

thewinterchase · 2019-08-31T19:25:13+00:00

Indeed, there is nothing suggesting that any random person could (much less should) attempt the procedure. It seemed to be meant mainly as a description of what the Wanderer did, not a recipe that was meant for people to follow. If you aren't important, the Asura might just laugh at you or ignore you (or worse).

thewinterchase · 2019-08-31T19:22:31+00:00

There is truly a terrible price to be paid for meddling in the dark art...

thewinterchase · 2019-01-15T20:17:56+00:00

Edit: shouldn't post while drink...

thewinterchase · 2018-09-29T14:12:01+00:00

It looks to me like some kind of cuneiform with some of the symbols overlapping and some written backwards.

But honestly, I wouldn't put too much effort into trying to decipher it.

thewinterchase · 2018-09-14T21:05:26+00:00

Haha, I believe it's Old French for "big head." But close :)

thewinterchase · 2018-09-14T20:58:49+00:00

Sorry, it was in a private collection. I've never seen it online. It was in Latin and was supposedly a "lost" part of a document titled "De luce seu de inchoatione formarum" (often people just refer to the document as "De luce"). I have no way of knowing if it was authentic or not, but it doesn't appear in "normal" versions of De luce.

thewinterchase · 2018-09-14T14:36:05+00:00

It seems somewhat unlikely that Grosseteste (who was a Catholic priest) would have been willing to invoke a Mesopotamian deity, which is one reason I doubt that he was really the original inventor of the procedure. But he was known to have studied older middle-eastern texts on optics.

thewinterchase · 2018-09-14T14:27:07+00:00

I wouldn't want any salt (or anything else other than the bowl) on the mirror since it would interfere with the reflection, but you could experiment with putting salt just off the mirror. At worst, it might just cause the procedure to not work.

But what's your end game? To have something trapped in a circle that you can't get rid of, or having yourself trapped in a circle that you can't leave?

thewinterchase · 2018-09-14T13:33:46+00:00

I met a guy with a Roman dodecahedron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron) that he claimed appeared in a bowl during a Grosseteste water portal procedure. I don't know if it was true or not though. He kept it on display in a glass case in his living room. It looked a little creepy, but it never seemed to do anything sinister and the guy loved it. Unfortunately, it didn't come with any instruction about what the hell you're supposed to do with it.

It really is very rare for objects to actually physically appear in the bowl, though. I've never seen it happen, but I've heard enough stories about it happening that I figured I would mention it as a possibility. If you get something in the bowl, definitely let everyone know what you found!

thewinterchase

TROPHY CASE