Anime Lectio: Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Season One

                                                            1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace. The only device you need is the one you use for this blog.

3. Deep Breathing - Open yourself to God’s Presence

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that

you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. Remember God places all our

thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a

community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of people you

know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence. 

4. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me. 

What does revenge mean for you?  It depends on what you are doing it for, as well as why.  What makes it interesting, since it happens in anime a lot, is how the character(s) seeking revenge go about doing that, what happens when they get it, and what that means for them (it's also interesting if it is more than one character out for revenge).  An interesting example of this can be seen in the first season of the anime Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia.

5. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, as well as seeing the anime for yourself since I think that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

A Muslim girl ends up as a slave to a Muslim family with other slaves and they live their lives peacefully until they are captured by Mongolians to serve the Mongol empire.  While hiding with her mistress in a secret room with some of her belongings, they are found by a group of Mongolians led by one of the princes of the Mongol empire.  The Muslim girl's mistress ends up getting killed when protecting her over a book they have that the prince is looking for that one of his wives wants, even though he doesn't get why and she can't read.  When the Muslim girl ends up in the Mongol empire, after a journey there that no one else in the family survives (including the other slaves), she ends up helping the one wife of the prince that stole the book that ended up getting her mistress killed understand the book that she's interested in since the Muslim girl can read.  While she's mad about doing that for obvious reasons, she goes along with doing that in order to figure out to get back at them for doing that.  In the process of figuring this out, which involves her getting the book back, the Muslim girl meets one of the other wives of one of the other princes that's also interested in what the Muslim girl is doing since she was also taken from her homeland.  What they start to do together creates events that lead to the fall of the Mongol empire that will most likely continue in a second season.

6.  Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

What also makes the revenge in Jaadugar interesting is that it could've actually happened, or at least led to events that actually happened. I only know that the Mongol empire did end. I don't know how it ended. I could easily find out how it happened myself, but I think it's more interesting to see what happens based on what could've happened in addition to what did happen. Anyway, it also involves more than one person getting revenge. Of course, why they're getting revenge changes over time, which tends to happen since everything changes over time and what happens during that time, like getting back what you wanted, but this is an opportunity to think about what they really want revenge for.

7. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can understand what we really want revenge for whenever we are looking for it.