An eclipse, a pope fight and Yoba

Modern Relics is a newsletter about religion and pop culture and all the weird ways they intersect. Usually it’s weekly, but it’s been fortnightly recently for various reasons. For example, last week I was cough cough a bit sick.

If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter from a friend, don’t forget to subscribe! It comes out on Thrusdays-ish, so you really want to be signed up so you don’t miss an edition.

I survived the 2024 eclipse and God didn’t even get me out of here

There was a solar eclipse in the United States on Monday, which meant some people thought the end of the world was going to happen. Or at least, some people thought that some people thought the end of the world was going to happen.

I saw a lot of jokes about rapture-ready evangelicals on Twitter and Bluesky, but nobody earnestly anticipating the second coming of Christ. It really could be just the circles I run in. Did you see any earnest rapture posting?

Living in Australia, the eclipse had very little impact on my day at all. My father-in-law was in Texas checking it out, but I figured I’ll never experience one myself. WRONG. There’s an eclipse going directly over Sydney in 2028. So I guess I’m not going anywhere until Saturday 22 July that year. Or maybe you want to walk the Camino with me in 2026?

Oh sorry sorry I’m trying to delete it. (Also at this stage I have no plans to walk the Camino in 2026).

Would you charge your crystals during an eclipse? (Video)

Click through to watch the video.

Some posts about desire

Pope fight

This tweet has been up for less than a day, but two people have already sent it to me lol.

Who are these earnestly pope-ing men neither of whom are called Francis? You might recall Pope Michael II from an earlier edition of Modern Relics, when he was elected after the widely beloved Pope Michael I (aka David Bawden) from the Holy See of Topeka, Kansas, passed away.

Lord Pope Boniface X appears to be a sedevacantist claimant to the papacy with a cartoonishly antisemitic Twitter account. He doesn’t publicise his government name, nor where his Holy See is based, but he follows and promotes right-wing politics in the United States with great enthusiasm. He's claimed the papacy since at least 2013.

Last call for Easter memes

Quick get all your Easter memes out now it's almost too late to post them!!

Killer weed

What the flipping crap

Easter Sunday was an extra-special day

I was amused to read that not only was Easter Sunday this year Trans Day of Visibility, but also the 25th anniversary of the release of the Matrix.

Blasphemous shoes

I was interested to read this story about a brand in Malaysia that had to withdraw a line of shoes that had a logo on the sole that looked similar to the Arabic word for God.

From the ABC:

"For everyone's knowledge, this logo is 100 per cent inspired based on the shadow of a rope line connected to a high heel shoe, as shown in the attached picture."

A woman who ate

Served and she licked the plate. It's going on the Modern Relics Spotify playlist.

Yoba

I've been getting back into Stardew Valley lately, ever since the release of the 1.6 update.

For those unfamiliar, Stardew Valley is a farming simulation role-playing game, and probably the most popular "cozy game" ever made. Guess what? It's got religion in it.

When the player first inherits the farm, eagle-eyed players will notice the Anglo-Saxon rune Ear (ᛠ) above their grandfather's bed. The symbol appears in many places throughout the game, including on a shrine dedicated to a creator deity called Yoba in the back rooms of the village general store.

For such an idyllic game, Stardew has darker lore than it first appears. The country the Valley belongs to is in a terrible war. Krobus, a Shadow Person that lives in the sewers, informs you a brutal 1000 year war between his species the Dwarves is finally over, but given the chance, the Dwarves will still assasinate him. It makes me wonder what kind of god Yoba is.

There are clues, as well as parallels to real-world religions. Some of the villagers worship Yoba on Sunday mornings (other villagers are avowed atheists). Yoba's symbol, referred to in the game as the Sign Of The Vessel, appears on graves and as a sign of protection in hospitals and above the beds of the elderly.

At first it made me wonder if, in addition to being a creator god, Yoba is also a god of death or the grave. The rune Yoba's symbol is based on does seem to be associated with death, but of course, so is the Christian cross, and that's commonly found on tombstones too.

However, Krobus the Shadow Person stays silent on Fridays as a sign of devotion to Yoba, which is not something human worshippers do. Yoba's symbol also appears above the Dwarven Forge, meaning they also revere the god even though they are enemies with the Shadow People.

Stardew Valley's creator, ConcernedApe (Eric Barone), is working on another game: Haunted Chocolatier, which will share a connection to Stardew. I wonder if more clues about Yoba will be revealed in that game as well.

Faith maxing

Lastly, if you inherited a million dollars what's the first thing you would do?