What are your non-Occult hobbies?

[pixel_fortune]

it is probably truest to say that my main hobby is self-directed research projects

I have a tonne of short-term exploratory hobbies. Like I got into fragrances for a bit and bought hundreds of samples, read everything on Fragrantica and made spreadsheets tracking my impressions and then I was like, great, clocked that, and moved on (FWIW the ones I continue to wear are: Dune by Dior, Honey and the Moon by Tokyo Milk, and Rose Tabac by BDK. I really like Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille too, but I don't own it)

Also I have tried SO many sub-sub-varieties of frankincense and myrrh, it's ridiculous (best myrrh hands down: kua, if you can get your hands on it). I just like... understanding a sector.

I did archery for long enough to get medium at it, but the type of skill involved in getting better-than-medium is not fun for me (it's a lot about being able to perfectly recreate the same stance each time so you can make adjustments from that consistent set-up).

But in terms of things I have continued to do for years

• boardgames (of the complicated/strategy takes 4-8 hours variety, not like Monopoly).
• reading fiction (mainly scifi and fantasy)
• writing short fiction (fantasy, scifi rarely). Pretty inconsistent with this, giving me the bonus hobby of "feeling guilty about failing to live up to my potential"
• Reading European history, medieval through early modern + The Troubles
• live music, I live in a part of town with a lot of good venues. Mostly bluegrass, blues-rock, folk-rock. I like other genres, but that's what's good live around here. Got out of the habit during the pandemic; going to try and get back into it after Helios Unbound is finished
• live comedy - as above, once you drop out of the scene, you don't know who's good anymore, so it can be hard to get back into it
• i'm a big taker of short courses and workshops, but that probably comes under "self-directed research projects"

I don't really play videogames so much as read reviews of videogames and maintain an up-to-date list of games I'll play at some point haha. No not totally true, I'm playing couch co-op Baldur's Gate with my partner at the moment, and Diablo 4 was before that.

that list makes me sound more extroverted than I am - it's because I'm naturally very introverted that I have to plan and make an effort to go do 'being out in the world with people' stuff.

Post automatically merged: May 17, 2024

I'm not a collector of anything, but I do like to TRY everything. Eg, I've had ramen at every ramen place in my city, or at least every place built before 2019. I've tried a huge variety of fancy whiskeys even though I basically just drink Jameson. I almost always have something like that on the go. I'm sure a psychiatrist would put it down to anxiety making me want a sense of ownership over a domain, or to a fear of death or something.

 

[Xingtian]

-Birds (feeding, watching, imitating, etc)
-Creekwalking
-Tabletop roleplaying games and board games
-Weird fiction (e.g. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany)
-Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Lautreamont (the accursed poets) and kindred spirits
-Paintings of the northern renaissance, symbolists, surrealists
-I'm an omnivorous enthusiast for history, with some areas of focus including China, Byzantium, and Russia
-Bonsai trees
-Horror and wuxia cinema
-Music, including metal, jazz, reggae, dungeon synth, and renaissance madrigals

 

[Anna Lycania]

I have a lot of hobbies…
-Radio (i have a program of FM about magic)
-Music ( i’m singer and songwriter)
-Tribal Dance (yes, i dance too)
-Gym
-Sewing
-Make little things with leather and metal (jewelry, accesories )
-Learn about a lot of things

Walk, read and write…and spend time with my daughter and cats.

 

[Xag9]

I do have few things that I love doing which are:

Calisthenics (straddle planche achiever here!)
Running (long and short runs, including marathons)
Drawing appearance of spirits
Music
Free styling mathematics and letting myself be drown in thought about the slightest thing and try to justify it with formulas in paper
Staring at a wall or clouds (Bodhidharma activities!)
MatLab
Researching about the cosmos
Walks
Sometimes video games
Guitar

 

[pixel_fortune]

straddle planche achiever here!

dang!

 

[Amur]

Ninjutsu - Coding c/c++ - Doing music.

 

[Xenophon]

Jeez, this question really shines a light on how little I have going on besides my practices.
Initiation runs my life, and between working full-time and engaging with my entourage of daily practices, I don't really do much else...

Most of my little bits of "free time" where I'm not doing either of those things is usually just spent brooding quietly, killing time until whatever next exercise is in line on the schedule, but even that is practically a passive form of meditation in itself...

The transition to working full-time really killed my recreational side.
Before that though, I was a devout musician. Mostly as an organist and cellist, but in my teenage years when I was part of my HS orchestra I could basically play every stringed instrument under the roof, big and small.

Still, I maintained my passion for the Organ well beyond into these recent years, at least until I started punching the clock all the time.
Now it's something I only play once in a blue moon.

I also used to be a serious martial artist, combining elements of Wing Chung, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do in unarmed combat while also taking up practice with the Sabre (Polish style) and the Whip (as a weapon, not a sport-cracker). But of course, that has become another victim of my rat-race job swallowing up time.

The only recreational activity I maintain much these days is some PC gaming. Not a ton, but if I find myself with some extra unplanned time on my hands.

Oh and smoking.... I smoke pipe tobacco like a chimney

Sigh.... all I dream about anymore is somehow being unemployed but still being able to pay my bills.
Fuck "the grind", I want out - don't have time for shit anymore.

Did you have to be in Poland to study Polish style sabre? I've been enamored to the idea of saber -swinging ever I saw Sabaton's "Winged Hussars." Unfortunately, in China all we have is ti ji-jian, sword tai ji. Which is a bit on the slow side.

 

[Al-Zalaam]

Did you have to be in Poland to study Polish style sabre? I've been enamored to the idea of saber -swinging ever I saw Sabaton's "Winged Hussars." Unfortunately, in China all we have is ti ji-jian, sword tai ji. Which is a bit on the slow side.

Good lord, no.
Never would have been a possibility for me if that were the case, I'm too poor for that kind of luxury.

Compared to eastern martial arts, western swordsmanship is treated with a lot less mysticism and gatekeeping, and it is fairly common to encourage aspiring practitioners to just pick up one of the few central historical manuscripts dedicated to their style and begin practicing in the comfort of their home, especially in this age where most of the resources you need can be found online minus the blade-on-blade sparring. Having a group or organization nearby pertaining to your interest is ideal, but not a deal-breaker that will bar you from being a practitioner.
But that's the difference between something like western sabre-combat, which are mostly just bare combat systems designed around pure function and aren't terribly complex, and an esteemed tradition like Tai Chi, which entails a whole artistic philosophy and etc.

I suppose it's not too different between the contrast of attitudes of Boxing/MMA and Eastern martial arts in general.
In the eyes of the former, there's only so many effective ways to punch someone in the face, and similarly in our case, there's also only so many ways to swing a curved hunk of steel.
It's a much more informal scene and you aren't so heavily looked down upon as a solitary practitioner, especially given the small niche that western swordsmanship is in the first place.

Nevertheless, in Europe and NA, English, Italian, and Polish sabre-styles are regularly practiced by HEMA groups and similar organizations, so there's always a decent chance to find a nearby club from which to engage with your preferred weapon and style if you did happen to live in either of those.
Now the degree of historical "purity" is debatable and will vary from place to place, often being determined by the individual practitioner themselves.
Especially in this case, as the Polish sabre style doesn't have nearly as much historical resources as the other styles, and it is commonplace to see those practitioners crossing-over with bits of the other styles as well.

 

[fletflo]

I spend most of my diurnal time doing manual work in my very very large garden, as vegetable growing is my major responsibility to my house (in a rural area, and as the public cover/mask for my other interests) so the arrival of winter has fortunately provided me with a reduction in those tasks and I can now pursue indoor stuff like knitting and reading!

 

[that]

Most of you guys and gals have very interesting hobbies! i mostly enjoy the company of my spouse and our pets.
i love cooking and sourdough baking.
I love fernents and the hole process of fermenting.
Gardening a little.
The great outdoors literally and metaphorically.
Reading a bunch.
Diy stuff.
Used to paint a lot ,not anymore.
Solitude.


maybe i should buy a farm..

 

[a3ct]

I tend to spend my free time with martial arts like Jiu Jutsu. Something that encourages a mind-body connection under duress. This helps me with focus during any sort of occult studies and practices.

 

[Tiana Silvermoon]

• Drawing is both my job and hobby
• Stained-glass, even though I can't do it regularly yet, and stained-glass painting
• Pyrography
• Gift wrapping
• I'm interested in orcas, so I read about them
• Mythology and especially sphinxes in different cultures
• Playing videogames, though I do it rarely now due to lack of energy

Also I'm thinking about making jewelry (bijouterie), for now something like chokers and such.

 

[Accipeveldare]

I enjoy singing, playing guitar, and....... Oh my god that's all I fucking do

 

[Xenophon]

I enjoy singing, playing guitar, and....... Oh my god that's all I fucking do

What kind of music? No one ever dissed on Jimmi Hendrix for "just" playing guitar.

 

[Accipeveldare]

What kind of music? No one ever dissed on Jimmi Hendrix for "just" playing guitar.

True lol. To answer your question, I play lots of kinds of music (Mostly my own) but my favorites to play are things by Ghost, Motley Crue, and I love to play a lot of Queen.

 

[Tiana Silvermoon]

I enjoy singing, playing guitar, and....... Oh my god that's all I fucking do

You don't need to have a lot of hobbies
Mine are essentially drawing and mythology, and that's fine

 

[Accipeveldare]

You don't need to have a lot of hobbies
Mine are essentially drawing and mythology, and that's fine

I mean if you count practicing the occult as a hobby then I guess that is my main one lol. It's pretty much all I do other than those two other things.

 

[Xenophon]

I mean if you count practicing the occult as a hobby then I guess that is my main one lol. It's pretty much all I do other than those two other things.

Well said. Even better and in the same vein, David Kraig wrote, "Magick is something you are, not something you do."

 

[Accipeveldare]

Well said. Even better and in the same vein, David Kraig wrote, "Magick is something you are, not something you do."

He couldn't have been more correct on that. A good occultist puts pretty much most of their freetime (if not all) into practice

 

[Xenophon]

He couldn't have been more correct on that. A good occultist puts pretty much most of their freetime (if not all) into practice

Dr. Theodore Kaczynski argued that "free time" is the bane of civilization. The chink that lets in the rot. See his "Unabomber Manifesto," available online.