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andrea-cliffe · 2 years

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Elements in Witchcraft

There are four concrete elements in modern witchcraft. Earth, air, fire, and water. It is heavily debated if there is a fifth element, spirit. Because of this, I will not include spirit. In this post, I will talk about each element’s correspondences, tools, virtues, astrological signs, and much more.

Earth

Earth is the first element I will write about. This element keeps you grounded and energized. In order to connect with Earth, it is advised to spend more time in nature, garden, keep plants in your home, and practice grounding and meditation.

Direction: North

Time: Midnight

Season: Winter

Colors: Greens, Browns, and Other Earthy Tones

Tools: The Pentacle, Salt, Dirt, Wood, Plants, and Flowers

Crystals/Minerals: Emerald, Tourmaline, Granite, Bedrock, Jasper, Peridot, Amethyst, Iron, and Lead

Herbs/Plants: Cedar, Cypress, Magnolia, Primrose, Sage, Oak, and Ivy

Astrological Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Virtues: Staying Grounded, Patience, Truth, and Reliability

Air

Air will be the second element I talk about. This element helps you to keep a clear mind and find inner wisdom. In order to connect with Air, it is advised you feel the breeze, hang wind chimes, start a creative project, and journal.

Direction: East

Time: Dawn

Season: Spring

Colors: Yellow, Gold, Pink, and Pastels

Tools: Feathers, Wands, Incense, Brooms, and Bells

Crystals/Minerals: Topaz, Amber, Citrine, Agate, Tin, and Copper

Herbs/Plants: Acacia, Anise, Aspen, Clover, Frankincense, Lavender, Lemongrass, Myrrh, and Pine

Astrological Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

Virtues: Intelligence, Practicality, Curiosity, and Creativity

Fire

Fire is the third element I will talk about. This element helps with courage and strength as well as passionate affairs. In order to connect with Fire, it is advised you light candles, exercise, go on adventures, and do things you are scared of or passionate about.

Direction: South

Time: Noon

Season: Summer

Colors: Red, Orange, White, Violet, and Black

Tools: Candles, Athames, Swords, Daggers and Light

Crystals/Minerals: Fire Opal, Ruby, Garnet, Red Jasper, Bloodstone, Tiger’s Eye, and Brass

Herbs/Plants: Allspice, Basil, Cinnamon, Juniper, Cardamom, Onion, Peppers, Thistle, and Poppies

Astrological Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Virtues: Courage, Enthusiasm, Willpower, Action, and Strength

Water

Water is the last element I will write about. This element keeps your intuition sharp and aids in emotional health. In order to connect with Water, it is advised that you take baths, drink teas, visit a large body of water, watch the rain, or go swimming.

Direction: West

Time: Dusk

Season: Fall

Colors: Blue, Silver, Turquoise, Navy, and White

Tools: Shells, Different Types of Water, Seaweed, Hag Stones, Chalices, Cups, and Cauldrons

Crystals/Minerals: Aquamarine, Blue Fluorite, Topaz, Tourmaline, Lapis Lazuli, Pearl, Mercury, Silver, and Sodalite

Herbs/Plants: Aloe, Apple, Chamomile, Gardenia, Jasmine, Lemon, Lily, Lotus, Moss, and Rose

Astrological Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Virtues: Compassion, Love, Flexibility, Forgiveness, and Understanding

#witch #witchcraft #witchblr #witches #grimoire #book of shadows #baby witch #beginner witch #information #element #elements #correspondences #elements as a witch #learn about the elements #elements are important guys #elements :)

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qnewsau · 2 months

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Living Treasures of Queensland: Bill Rutkin

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/living-treasures-of-queensland-bill-rutkin/

Living Treasures of Queensland: Bill Rutkin

There’s a story I’ve told over and over of Bill Rutkin. I’ll keep telling it as long as I have breath in my body because it sums up what’s so special about him.

The early eighties was a great time to be a member of the gay communities. Despite the prejudice and discrimination in places like Queensland, we held out great hope for the future. The love that dared not speak its name had begun to defy convention. Singers serenaded gay lovers, and moviemakers began to document queer lives. Politicians and even religious leaders spoke of gay rights. It seemed things would get better.

But then came AIDS.

All our hopes for a better future evaporated as a disease some predicted would lead to our extinction began to spread through the community. Many of us partied like there was no tomorrow. But some refused to heed the doom and gloom and took up the battle for a better tomorrow.

In Queensland, there seemed little hope. The corrupt, authoritarian and supposedly deeply religious Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen refused health funding for ‘The Gay Plague’. He even stopped the Health Department from passing on federal health funds dedicated by the Labor government to fighting the disease.

But Queensland was not all bigotry and zealots.

Bill Rutkin

Born in Gympie, Bill Rutkin ran a corner store in New Farm, already well established as a gay ghetto in the early eighties. Bill was friends with people like Toye de Wilde and Laurie Deane/ Dame Sybil – pioneering members of Brisbane’s early gay scene who brought members of the community together through innovative social events like the annual Queens Birthday Ball.

Sometimes known as Pearl, the shopkeeper was known to like a party, quick to throw on a costume and dance the night away.

I didn’t know Bill. I ran the drag shows at The Terminus, an early Fortitude Valley gay bar and lived in nearby Spring Hill. It came as a bit of a shock when the Queensland AIDS Council moved in next door. I first became aware when people came to the door bearing competing petitions. The aging gay man who lived on the other side wanted the Council evicted. People had threatened to firebomb any premises that housed the Council, and Ian warned we could all be collateral damage. A nurse counsellor wielded the other petition, assuring us there would be no signage to alert casual passers-by to the nature of the premise. Most of all, she promised, no people with the disease would be on the premises. It was purely an office, and administrative centre.

The AIDS Council stayed

Ian’s petition lost, and the Council stayed. It wasn’t a Friday night without a bomb threat at The Silver Dollar, the venue I worked at prior to The Terminus. Threaten us for our sexuality and you only strengthened our resolve.

But promises are made to be broken, and within weeks, the Council quietly moved in Joe, Brisbane’s first known sufferer. It was either nurse him on a park bench or move him into the one property they had been able to rent.

I found out when I looked out the window at 2 in the morning after coming home from work one Friday night.

Bill Rutkin worked all day in his shop, and volunteered his free time to the Queensland AIDS Council of which he was now president. But volunteers were few and far between in those early days. The Council could not always fill its rosters.

When I looked out the window in the middle of the night, I saw Bill Rutkin carrying Joe to the toilet. I’ve loved him ever since.

Bjelke Petersen

Bill has done much in the years since. His partnership with Catholic nun Sister Angela Mary saw countless lives saved when the pair devised a workaround to get federal health funds into Queensland.

Sister Angela Mary speaks highly of the unlikely partnership.

“I could have done nothing myself without the trust and friendship that bound us together.

“As the key person at QuAC, he stayed the course through very tough times.

“Our mutual respect enabled us to work long and closely together. We were able to plan and bring to fruition the services and supports those men desperately needed.”

In the years since the passing of the AIDS crisis, Bill remained at the forefront of Queensland queer activism. His donation of $50,000 proved crucial in winning YES voters in 2017’s Marriage Equality debate.

But of all the things he’s done, the one I will never forget is him carrying Joe to the loo in the middle of a cold winter’s night.

Bill, Rutkin OAM, Living Treasure of Queensland. ❤️

Toye de Wilde

Laurie Deane, Dame Sybil

Shayne Wilde

Dr Lilian Cooper and Josephine Bedford.

Ted Kelk: forgotten father of gay law reform in Qld.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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starsasunder · 9 months

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DOSSIER: The Starweaver, Astraea

Still heavily under construction; thank you for your patience !

GENERAL INFORMATION

NAME: Astraea NICKNAMES: Astraea, Aster, Stardust TITLES: Azem, The Traveler PRONOUNS: she/they SEXUALITY: demiromantic, demisexual, polyamorous (verse-dependent) DOB: spring equinox CHILDHOOD HOME: Tyre, a city located on the coast. OCCUPATION: Student/Researcher at the Akaedemiya, Azem (verse-dependent). RESIDENCE: Apartment in Amaurot SPECIALTIES: Celestial studies, magics.

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RELATIONS:

MOTHER: Pythia, formerly of the seat of Lahabrea. FATHER: Oleander, a member of the Words of Halmarut.

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ABILITIES: volatile creation magicks, innate clairvoyance / foresight.

CLASSES: A mixture of what citizens of modern etheirys would call black magic and astrology. MAGIC: Her magic is celestial-aspected, and focuses on channeling the energies of stellar creation and destruction. She is far more well-versed in the arts of destruction and summoning than she is in the arts of healing, though she can patch someone up in a pinch.

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APPEARANCE:

HAIR COLOR: Silver with dark undertones. HAIR LENGTH: Waist-length. HAIR STYLE: long and curly, with bangs across her forehead. EYE COLOR: Silver EYE SHAPE: Hooded eyes, rounded. WEIGHT: 120lbs soaking wet. HEIGHT: About 5'4", in modern measurements. BUILD: Thin and lithe, but full-chested. She has always been sickly, so she has just enough muscle-mass to facilitate travel by foot where she must. SCARS: None, as she allows healers to erase them when she receives healing. Her mother insists that her skin remain unblemished. TATTOOS: N/A. NOTICEABLE: Freckles all over her body. The freckles on her cheeks are a lighter shade, like stars smattered across her cheeks. This trait passes on to those sundered reincarnations who are most similar to her.

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PERSONALITY:

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

Much like Inanna, Astraea is soft-spoken by nature. Her parents were proponents of 'children should be seen, not heard,' and it took a long while for her to break free from that mold. As Azem, she has an uncanny ability to disappear into crowds, and often walks among the populace without ever revealing her true identity. According to her, it is far easier to perform her duties without others fawning over her. Thus, she rarely wears her red Convocation mask (a habit which vexes certain colleagues).

Her parentage and gifts are a closely-held secret, one which she does not divulge even to close colleagues and friends. She has no control over her visions. They come upon her suddenly, with little regard to time, place, or circumstance, and can be a great danger to her in battle. This, combined with her physical frailty, means she often calls upon her friends for aide. Thus, those who are closest to her have some understanding of her abilities, even if she does not openly or willingly discuss it with them. This can be a point of contention between her and those closest to her, as she obstinately refuses to share her burdens unless otherwise forced.

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BACKSTORY:

From the very beginning, her parents had high expectations for her. Her mother's bloodline was known for its powerful gift of foresight, and her father's for its deep magical wellspring. Though Pythia and Oleander did hold genuine affection for each other, they chose to marry because they wanted to combine the potential of their two bloodlines. From their union came one child - Astraea: a sickly, small thing whose timid nature was nothing like their own.

Though Astraea's health was a disappointment, her power was not. Pythia soon chose to vacate her seat on the Convocation in order to focus on her child, citing that her mind was too preoccupied on personal matters to meet the needs of the star. Astraea received the full focus of her mother's attentions - all her love, all her hopes and desires for the future, and all of her expectations. Much of her childhood was spent in a sickbed, though even then she was not allowed to rest. Each day was filled with the study of creation magicks, the heavens, the world they lived in, and the strengthening of her understanding of Etheirys's complex political landscape and peoples. In Astraea, Pythia saw her perfect successor, and she was determined to overcome the limitations of Astraea's health.

Astraea inherited the gifts of her maternal line, exactly as Pythia had always hoped. Pythia's power of clairvoyance had served her well as Lahabrea. She could peer into the past with clarity, given a physical focus, and had a limited ability to peer into the future of others given that she was allowed physical contact with them. Her family had long sought after a successor whose gift would allow them to overcome the physical limitations of their gifts.

They found their long-sought-after successor in Astraea. Her gifts shone bright, allowing her to peer with gaze unclouded into the future. She had no need for foci, and could peer far into the future, a talent which had heretofore been near-unheard of. But her gifts were also far more volatile than her mother's. She had no control over the ability. Its targets were completely random - usually people in her vicinity, though not always - and she had no way of knowing when the event that she saw would take place or even if it would. Her gifts allowed her to peer into potential futures, and its seemingly random nature was a source of endless frustration for Pythia.

Vexed by her daughter's seemingly uncontrollable gift, Pythia eventually decided to focus on her magical gifts. The pairing with her father had been successful in one other aspect - Astraea had inherited the deep magical wellspring that Oleander's bloodline had long prided themselves on. Pythia pushed Astraea hard, and gave her little time to enjoy being a child. By the time the girl was of adolescent age, she had advanced to the point where her mother's specialized talents had little else to teach her.

Astraea eventually found freedom in her education. Once she outgrew her mother's tutelage, she was at last allowed out into the world to attend university at the Akaedemiya. She had visited a handful of times before, always sticking close to her father's shadow, but as a student she was finally allowed to flourish on her own. Choosing to do everything she could to put her mother's influence behind her, she threw herself into her studies and her akadaemiya career. She joined student organizations, volunteered, and found work in several different departments. But nothing seemed to suit her in particular, and nothing seemed to stick. And though she enjoyed more freedoms than she ever had at home, Astraea knew she still had not escaped her mother's expectations and her father's watchful eye.

That was the case, at least, until she met Azem. Venat took to Astraea immediately, recognizing in her a kindred spirit, if she just had the freedom to wander as she wanted. Taking the young scholar under her wing, she inducted her into the Words of Azem, and promptly took her as a traveling companion. Astraea spent many years at Venat's side, doing everything she could to assist the Traveler with her work. Though far too soon for Astraea's liking, eventually Venat decided to step down and appoint Astraea her successor.

#[ dossier. ]#[ blog maintenance. ]#[ do not interact. ]#[ muse. ] astraea.

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joneshealthcareservices · 1 year

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Benefits of Hiring a Live-In Caregiver

Taking care of an aging parent can be challenging, especially if you have a family to take care of. Sometimes, hiring help is better than taking on all the caregiving responsibilities yourself. We at Jones Health Care Services can provide home care services in Silver Spring, Maryland, to help lighten your load.

#Personalized Care #Professional Caregivers #Senior Assistance

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bookwyrmbran · 4 years

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May Day

(A sermon delivered today)

The bee is in the lavender, the honey fills the comb. -Jacqueline Carey

This is a day for delight. May Day, Spring Day, Calan Mai, Beltane, a day for celebration after the wild Walpurgis night before. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the sun comes earlier and departs later, and the land is making-merry after a good long rest. Where I’m at, in Northern California, that means coyotes raising puppies somewhere on campus, fawns coming soon, fledglings falling out of nests, and all manner of forests, fields, and ornamental yards engaged in the old, old business of getting it on, with the attendant effects on seasonal allergies.

The honeybees have been busy already with orchards and are moving on to other crops; it may not be quite time yet for lavender, but the honey once more fills the comb. The semester is almost out for the host of those participating in the education system, the weather’s warm enough for beach trips, and local strawberries and cherries are coming aaaaany time now. This is a good time for celebrating spring and all that comes with it, a good time for bonfires and singing and dancing.

And good for more than just the ever-lovelier weather! May Day internationally commemorates communities coming together to advocate for the common good, for justice rolling down like tides. May 1st, 1886, saw hundreds of thousands of workers in the United States walk off the job, demanding less-lethal working conditions: 8 hours a day in safer work environments. That deliberate collective and communal action sparked change in communities across the globe; May 1st is celebrated now as International Workers’ Day in 66 countries. Communities pulling together for safety and health and shaking a world in the doing: this is a day for delight. (pause)

This is a day for delight. Why does it feel more like watching from my window as a ship goes down, like a very different sort of Mayday?

The mayday signal has nothing to do with May 1st or Beltane or International Workers’ Day. It dates later; Frederick Mockford, a London airport radio officer, coined it in 1923. It’s from m’aider, French for “help me.” Mockford thought that it would be easy for pilots and ground control to recognize as an international signal for emergency, and it is still in use today.

Mayday, mayday, mayday: the world is in distress, the nation is in disarray, the ship is going down and we are all in our cabins watching as it does. We are not outside, we are not dancing around bonfires, we are not eating and drinking and singing in company of our friends. We are hiding away, hoping to escape an invisible hunter, hoping that it does not come our way, that it does not settle on our loved ones, does not find or feast at our hearths.

The hunter at the door is worse than any wolf. It relies on our most fundamental human instinct, the desire to gather together in community; it is aided and abetted by forces from within our own society, which would rather see us dead than nonproductive. Our isolation and withdrawal from the busywork of capitalism becomes anti-human rhetoric for eco-fascist propaganda, which renders people as problems and describes humanity as a virus. There are dolphins in the canals! Deer in the cities! Look what good comes of people staying home, of people dying—a silver lining to the plague, surely? And thus are human lives, and not the endless rapacity of late-stage capitalism, described as a problem to be solved by their deaths.

Our heroes are largely hostages, bound to life-threatening work by life-threatening economic controls. Those derided as unskilled, replaceable, and unnecessary have proven to be the foundation on which our communities survive – and for their literally life-saving efforts receive empty praise, exposure to infection, and the threat of starvation and ruin. Those with power and privilege prioritize profit over people, hoarding and praising individual wealth while leaving communities bankrupt.

Amazon’s employees, roughly one million strong, receive no paid sick leave or time off, despite being considered essential employees; meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, already a multi-billionaire has seen his fortune grow by 24 billion dollars during the course of the pandemic alone. The numbers rhyme but that is where the similarity ends: put another way, Bezos has made 24 thousand dollars per employee during the pandemic, yet does not see fit to treat said employees as anything other than economic hostages. This does not begin to touch on grocery workers, nurses, transportation workers, or any of the other people who live in economic uncertainty and have no choice but to put themselves at daily risk, our hostages to uncertainty and ruin. Mayday, mayday, the ship is going down.

Daddy’s at the food store, Mummy’s out of town, She’s working at the hospital since Rhona came to town, Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to town, Hide away, hide away, she’s come to take us down.

Miss Rhona’s at the doorstep, I’ll keep 6 feet away, But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her some today, Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to stay, Hide away, hide away, we can’t come out to play.

But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her some today, And here’s a note from Rhona, she wanted me to say, Hide away, hide away, keep 6 feet away, Hide away, hide away, she took us down today. –jus-tea

A curious thing about humanity: we never do stop singing. At our heart is the desire for the communal fire, the heart’s hearth around which we gather to sing, in good times or bad, in sickness and health. We sing to remind ourselves and each other that we exist, that we are in fact a we, that we are not isolated individuals hiding alone in the dark. We sing to acknowledge pain and hope and life and loss and all manner of things; we sing to remember the joys and the sorrows, the dreams and the fears, for those who are living and those who are not. If we cannot gather close in body then still we reach out how we may, whether in voice or across an empty street or text or video. We raise communal howls in the evening; we write songs for each other online. In a time of plague, we write nursery rhymes: simple things, easy things, that allow us to remember what might otherwise be too painful to speak.

At our best, at our heart, we sing to and for each other, and we refuse to forget each other. We refuse to accept the rhetoric that labels essential workers as heroes without providing for basic economic and medical needs. We refuse to accept eco-fascist language that describes human beings as a cancer, as a pox, that describes pandemic as a necessary corrective for environmental health. We refuse to accept hostages to profit; we refuse to sacrifice humanity at the altar of acceptable loss. The hunter at the door is more dangerous than any wolf, but it cannot strip us of our humanity without our consent. And it is at the common hearth of humanity that we come together to sing remembrance, defiance, and hope.

In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times. -Bertolt Brecht

May Day is a time for community and singing. May Day celebrates the movement from the winter of desolation to the summer of plenty; it heralds growth and renewal, the explosive potential of life. Fertility of land and body and imagination and creation all combine into celebration: here and now are song and dance, laughter and resilience, sweetness of love and life in strawberries and honey-cakes. May Day reminds us that from the slow chill grasp of winter come bursting forth, always and inevitable, the headiness of spring and richness of summer. The earth turns, and we respond—sometimes with delight for sunshine, sometimes with cursing at the trees’ enthusiasm for reproduction—the earth turns, and we, whether in yard or house or apartment, respond.

That response centers, when we are at our best, when we are at our most human, on community. We have been practicing strength and resolve and community for months now, recognizing physical distancing as a difficult but necessary action to keep each other alive. This is not an easy thing; we rely on touch, closeness, companionship, interaction, stimulation, meaningful activity, and access to broader environments in order to thrive. Isolation, whether willing or not (and make no mistake that this is life for many of us, this isolation) takes a traumatic toll. Nonetheless we have as communities largely shouldered the weight of it in order to protect as many as we can—and it has worked. The death toll has been inexcusably high—but our efforts have kept it to the thousands, and not the millions which it would otherwise have been.

And we have not limited our efforts to bearing up under isolation. Today, May Day, is International Workers’ Day, a commemoration of human resolve and compassion and communal effort. This May Day many more thousands of people are exerting communal responsibility and strength, striking from some of the worst offenders in the prioritization of profit over human life. As in 1886, communities today are walking away from companies more interested in profit than in the safety and well-being of the people who work there, from Amazon and Wal-Mart to Target, Instacart, Whole Foods, and FedEx. Too many hostages to unpaid leave and at-will firing have already died: today, as before, people come together in communal action to work for the well-being of the whole.

Mayday, m’aider, help me: the cry that summons aid from every quarter, the cry at the heart and hearth of humanity. We cry for help before ever we have words, trusting that we will be heard; we sing with whatever hands or throats or minds we have, the song rolling on from soul to soul, refusing to forget who we are or where we have been or those we have lost, gathering up every scrap of humanity in our wake. May Day is here and we move towards each other in whichever ways we can, mindful and ultimately scornful of the hunter at the door, of the rhetoric which would render us less than human. May Day is here and we are not dancing at bonfires, but we are still talking to each other, we are still singing to each other, we are sending photos and messages and poetry and videos and songs to each other. From our separation we come still together, here we are: and here is the sweetness of shared food and drink, and here we reach out, each to each, and sing for those we have lost and will lose, and celebrate for each one who is not. May Day is here: and we join together at the hearth of humanity.

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thelonelywitchandthelonelytides · 5 years

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Herb Correspondents Master List Part 2. (E-H)

Enjoy part 2! I hope you find this helpful and are enjoying the series.

Echinacea (Echinacea)

Planet : Mars Zodiac Sign : Scorpio Tarot Card : Temperance

Uses

Useful to increase a spell or charms effectiveness.

Good for offerings.

Spells/Rituals

Strength = Carry a couple flowers in your pocket to provide inner strength during trying times.

Prosperity and Protection = Grow around the house or bring into the house to help draw prosperity into the home and protect the family from poverty.

Eggplant (Solanum Melongena)

Planet : Jupiter

Uses

Use in magickal cooking

Use to attract wealth and prosperity

Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea Lutetiana)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Saturn

Uses

Use for binding, hexing and transformation.

Aids meditation.

Helps to create energy and to draw energy into your life.

Use in spells to balance energies, forces and emotions.

Use to release our potential and find our true will.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera)

Planet : Moon Gods/Goddesses : Diana

Uses

Use to decorate altars for moon ceremonies.

Use in spells to increase luck in finding a new job.

Use in spells in achieving one’s goals.

Spells/Rituals

Inner Beauty = Use the whole plant as a bath tea to make your inner beauty show through and increase your desirably to potential lovers and friends.

Eyebright (Euphrasia Officinalis)

DO NOT CONSUME IF PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING!

Energy : Masculine Planet : Sun Element : Air

Zodiac Sign : Leo Tarot Card : The Tower

Uses

Use in clarity spells or to avoid deception.

Use in spells to rise above difficult situations and to see the silver lining on dark times.

Good for celebrations especially ones that mark an end or beginning.

Spells/Rituals

Sleep and Sight = Place a few drops of infusion of eyebright on your eyelids before sleeping to have prophetic dreams and during the day to see that which is normally unseen.

False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum Racemosum)

ONLY CONSUME IN VERY SMALL AMOUNTS!

Uses

Use to help to get through hard times.

Use to rebuild after your world has come crashing down.

Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare)

Planet : Mercury Element : Air

Uses

Uses seeds in charms and spells to repel those bothering you.

Spells/Rituals

Confidence = Chew fennel before giving a speech to feel more confident and eloquent. Also it’s good to do this when trying to convince someone of something

Focus = Chew fennel while studying will help you maintain focus and retain the information better.

Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Energy : Masculine Planet : Venus Element : Water

Uses

Charm bags

Spells/Rituals

Prevent Accident = Use alone or combine with hyssop and rosemary in a bag to help prevent accidents. Or add to a bath or tea to help break hexes made to cause accidents.

Prevent Illness = Grow outside the home is said to prevent illness from entering.

Pain Relief = Bind the flowers to your wrist to help draw pain out.

Fir (Abies)

CAUTION WHEN USING ON SENSITIVE SKIN!

Planet : Jupiter Element : Earth Symbol : Immortality

Uses

Can be used to seal a spell.

Spells/Rituals

Blessings = Needles of silver fir may be burned for ceremonies to bless mother and baby, or wet them and use them to sprinkle water over mother and baby.

Forget Me Not (Myosotis)

DO NOT CONSUME !

Uses

Use for love spells

Spells/Rituals

Love = Can be worn or carried to keep a lover close to your heart. Or give to someone you would like to keep in your mind.

Foxglove (Digitalis)

WARNING HIGHLY TOXIC!

Planets : Saturn and Venus

Spells/Rituals

Fae = Dew collected from foxgloves can be used in ritual to commune with the fae. Plant foxgloves anywhere you wish to invite the fae. Carry foxglove with you to attract fae energy.

Garlic (Allium Sativum)

Energy : Masculine Planet : Mars Element : Fire

Gods/Goddesses : Hecate Zodiac Sign : Aries

Uses

Use for an aphrodisiac.

Use to strengthen charm bags.

Good for exorcisms.

Good for spell-breaking.

Invokes passion, protection and strength.

Protection against psychic and physical vampirism.

Good offering to Hecate

Spells/Rituals

Love = Place a clove of garlic intersected with 2 crossed pins where he is sure to walk, when the unwanted lover walks over it, they will lose interest.

Good Luck = Hang garlic braids over the door to repel thieves and envious people and to bring good luck.

Love = Hanging garlic over a bedroom door will draw lovers into it.

Geranium (Geranium Maculatum)

Uses

Use to counter love spells when placed in tea.

Use in spells to encourage conception, successful pregnancy and safe childbirth.

Use in sympathetic spells.

Spells/Rituals

Attract Happiness : A bit of the root can be carried as an amulet to attract happiness and prosperity.

Ginger (Zinaiber Officinale)

Element : Fire

Uses

Adds power to magickal activity

Use in spells to “speed things up”

Use in spells to add passion to an existing realtionships

Goldenrod (Solidaga)

CAN CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS! DO NOT CONSUME IN LARGE DOSES!

Energy : Feminine Element : Air Planet : Venus

Symbols : Luck, Money and Prosperity

Uses

Wealth spells

Aids the grieving process

Place in the home to attract wealth and good fortune

Spells/Rituals

Love = Concentrate on finding true love when holding goldenrod in your hand and it will point you in the direction of your true love. Also if it is worn or carried for a day, the next day you should cross paths with your true love.

Enhance = Dried leaves and flowers can be burned to enhance love spells for drawing love and to enhance your intuition when preforming any sort of divination.

Hawthorn (Craaegus)

ALWAYS ASK THE FAE’S PERMISSION BEFORE TAKING ANY OF THIS!

Energy : Masculine Planet : Mars Element : Fire

Gods/Goddesses : Belews, Cardea, Hymen, Maia, Flora and The White Goddess

Uses

Decorating May Poles

Related to love, marriage, health, fertility, chastity, protection and death

Place around doors and windows to prevent people entering in an astral state

Use to prevent spirits entering

Add to amulets to protect from spirits, harmful magick

Trees act as portal to the realm of the fae

Hazel (Corylus Avellana)

CUT WITH FLINT NOT A KNIFE!

Energy : Masculine Planet : Mercury Element : Air

Gods/Goddesses : Hermes, Mercury, Thor, Fionn, Artemis, Diana and Lazdona

Symbol : The Crone, Springs, Wells and Wisdom

Colour : Brown Stones : Band-Red Agate Animal : Salmon

Days : Wednesday Other Names : Coll

Uses

Burn for wisdom

Use for spirit contact

Use in manifestation, protection, wisdom spells

Use in dream work

Use in divination work

Anti - lightning charm

Sleep with hazel for vivid dreams

Contacting the fae

Spells/Rituals

Good Luck and Protection = Bound a couple twigs with gold or red thread to form a solar cross and carry for good luck and protection.

Samhain = Twigs, nuts and branches should be gathered after sunset on samhain for that is when the magickal powers are at its peak.

Heather (Calluna Vulgaris)

Energy : Feminine Planet : Venus Element : Water

Gods/Goddesses : Nechton Mac Labraid, Eupbearer of The Tuatha De Dannon, Guardian of The Sacred Well of Segais and Husband of Boane, Osiris, Venus, Aphrodite

Zodiac Sign : Gemini

Uses

Spells for new beginnings, self - discovery, entrancing physical beauty and bringing a peaceful resolution to conflict.

Used to bring peace

Use to attract friendly spirits, positive energy and good luck

Use to summon spirits and attract faeries

Good to make besoms, add to midsummer fires to ensure fertility

Add to a bridal bouquet to ensure good luck for the couple

Holly (llex)

DO NOT CONSUME! IN SCOTTISH FOLKLORE ITS CONSIDERED UNLUCKY TO BURN!

Energy : Unprickled Leaves (Masculine)

Prickled leaves (Feminine)

Planet : Saturn and Mars Element : Fire

Uses

Use in consecrations

Use in spells for revenge, beauty, luck, protection and dream magick

Use in rituals for death and rebirth

Use for fire festivals

Place in holy water for protection

Branches can be used to ward against evil

Spells/ Rituals

Banishing and Commanding = Holly wood can be used to banish unwanted entities and command evoked spirits.

Protection = Plant near the home to repel poison and protect from any witchcraft.

Yule = Use Holly at Yule to invite the fae folk but then burn at imbolc to ensure the fae don’t stick around all year.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera)

TOXIC IN LARGE DOSES!

Planet : Mercury and Venus Element : Earth

Zodiac Sign : Cancer

Uses

Use in honey jars

Use in spells to discover true worth

Use to clear the mind

Use to stimulate psychic powers and generosity

Use to sharpen intuition

Use to encourage psychic dreams and psychic abilities

Burn honeysuckle to aid money drawing

Grow honeysuckle near your home to attract love and wealth and to dispel negative energy

Spells/Rituals

Love = Bind the vines of the honeysuckle plant together to symbolise the two lovers being bound to each other and to ensure fidelity and desire.

Hyssop (Hyssopus Officinalis)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Energy : Masculine Planet : Jupiter Element : Fire

Uses

Use for purification and protection

Use in ritual baths

Aids breaking hexes and curses

Aids interactions with dragons

Spells/Rituals

Protection and Cleansing = Use branches to sprinkle water as a part of protective rituals. Also sprinkle the water around your home for cleansing rituals

Protection = Infuse hyssop into wash water to cleanse your floors, windows and door jams to clean away negative energy, curses and to prevent negativity from entering.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed part 2. Blessed be!

#wiccamagic #wiccan #wicca #wicca for beginners #witchcraft #witchlife #witch #pagan witch #eclectic witch #pagan wicca #pagancommunity #ecletic pagan #pagan #witchblr #baby witch #witchythings #wiccawoman #wiccapedia #paganpride

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anne-lister-adventures · 4 years

Text

Sunday, 16 February 1840

7 40/’’

12 35/’’

i.e. 7 40/’’ by the clocks here by which time we must now go – Trying to read the Russian Affiche over my door – The price of wines, &c. Donskoi at 4/- the bottle – Very fine sunny morning – Breakfast at 9 50/’’ George said when I called him at 9 to see about a Traineau that it was Reaumur -25º out of doors – Breakfast in an hour –

Out at 11 1/2 – The Traineau not quite ready but came to us at the Kremlin at 11 3/4 – Went into the 1st church – Could not see much – Full of poor people came away – Got into our Traineau and drove to the Convent des Femmes where is the famous Vierge de Kazan – The superior not at home ∴[therefore] could not see the summer church of large, handsome exterior but went into the winter church where the richly coiffed Vierge sojourns during this season –

The Bogoroditsky Monastery where Anne and Ann saw the Mother of God of Kazan. Lithograph by Professor Edward Turnerelli.

Her every day coiffure = 60,000/- but her dress one = ten times that sum one diamond in it is worth 60,000/- - All this in the Trésor which we may see on application to the supérieure – The church not very lofty but well proportioned and handsome – The vaulted ceiling of the nave painted (dark blue outline) in square panels with a patera in the centre of each –

Copy of the Mother of God of Kazan. The original was allegedly stolen and destroyed.

One arcade parted off for the vestibule – 4 arcades over which a balustraded gallery for the nuns in the nave; and then the handsome dome springing from 4 large arches and close beyond this dome the iconostase and apparently the same length as the nave and vestibule, i.e. 5 arcades length, taken up by the préstole (altar) and its appurtenances – the space left all in one – Not divided as in general into 3, the middle for the altar, and the 2 rooms, one on each side, for the priests, - A sort of vestry –

Gave the nun who civilly shewed us the Virgin a ten S.[Silver] Kopek piece which seemed to be enough for the little she had done – The exterior of the wall that encloses this convent is strikingly tartar and picturesque

the curtain between each pair of broad pilasters has a pointed Equilateral Triangular battlement with a double round topped loop-hole recess under each apex i.e.

there is one recess within another – Each of about 6 in.[inches] deep – Brick work white washed – The effect of these Tartar walls and buildings depends much up these brick work recesses and mouldings, and plasterwork, and paint –

There seems to be not much left that was here in Tartar Times except an old Tower and some other building near to it that George said was a Tartar Mosque and Fort – The tower is brick – In decay – In 5 or 6 retiring grades crowned with a pyramid, very picturesque –

The Söyembikä Tower is likely the building Anne described, which is presented here in a lithograph by Professor Edward Turnerelli.

We then drove to a Mosque – Open – Service – Went in for a minute or 2 – Only the people – The priest not arrived – Plain and carpeted – Much the same as at Moscow, but the exterior arabesque i.e. ornamented à la Tatar – A square on arches, and mouldings about the windows and a picturesque looking building but rather cracking and seeming to want some repairs –

The Apanaeev Mosque, here seen in a lithograph by Professor Turnerelli, was one of the mosques in Kazan at the time Anne and Ann visited the city. The style is similar to what Anne describes, though it’s possible that this wasn’t the mosque they visited.

Then drove along the Tartar Town along the Kasanka river, and pursued its bed and drove all round that side of the Town in the bed of river for some distance – Drove under the modern square Tower built on the spot where the breach was made when the Russians took the town from the Tartars in 1552 – Interesting –

Came back to the Town up one of the deep clefts in the high sand-rock on which the Town and fort-walls are here built – Then when on the hill, turned left a little way and passed under the curves gateway to the Great Road to Perm and Siberia – Nearly opposite this gateway at a little distance is the handsome large pile of building, the military hospital, and not far off on the same side as the Siberia Gate is a church and the large cemetery of the Town – Drove a little way on this great road – But on this high ground the wind so piercing that we turned back – Nothing to be seen forwards towards Siberia but one wide plain with hardly any wood upon it –

On our return drove to the Raskolmick church a small rather Russian Greek like church of no great appearance situated in a court, and not far from the Boutanka Canal – Passed the back, the observatory part, and the long line of handsome front of the university in returning – It is a long line with a 12 columned pediment in the middle and terminated by a 6 columned pediment at each end – The street in which is the University seems long and handsome (the handsomest in the Town?) and the other good streets seem to run parallel with it –

The Kazan University in 1832.

The General Governor’s House is in the University Street – But it seems Professor Eversmann’s house is somewhere near the Siberia Gate – And Madame Lapteff’s somewhere near the Convent des Femmes?

Home at 2 55/’’ – A little benumbed with the cold, against which my head not being sufficiently guaranteed, I had to hold tight the satin wadded bonnet every now and then which benumbed my hands –

Amused? With the style of countess A[Alexandrine] Panin’s letter to her cousin and copied it see the other end this book her manner of mentioning us is not the nicest? She calls A[Ann] my companion but she deserves this ssince she would not be pleased to be thought my niece the fact is she has sso little that is taking about her that they know not what to make of her especially as she is no relation princess RRadziwil once asked why I had such a person so unsuited but I passed it over and she had too much tact ever to repeat the observation I said I could not do without her she kept house for me not everyone would travel about with me and I must have someone –

At 4 1/2 sent by George Mr. Boutourline’s letter

M.[Monsieur] B-[Boutourline] À Son Excellence, Monsieur le Général, Strekeleff Aide de Camp General de S.[Sa] M.[Majesté] L’Empereur, Gouverneur Militaire de Kazan &c. &c. à Kazan.

Mr. Fischer. À Momnsieur le Professeur, d’Eversmann, à Casan. De la part, de G. Fischer.

Countess A.[Alexandrine] Panin Madame, Madame de Lapteff, à Kazan.

This letter being unsealed put it under sealed cover with A-‘s[Ann’s] card and my own – And sent A-‘s[Ann’s] and my own also chez le General Gouverneur – But merely the letter to the Professor –

Then changed my dress and had my hair done – Dinner at 5 1/4 – A diner complet Russe, pour une personne just enough for us two = 2/50 and had a bottle of Donskoi wine 4/- to drink the happy returns of the 10th inst. –

The véritable sixth anniversary we dined chez le General Gouverneur of and at Nijeni – Drank health to A-‘s[Ann’s] sister and her family and her Aunt, and Marian – And all our friends round the Wrekin – Our friends at Nijney and Prince George of Georgia – Our friends at Moscow and La Charmante Princess R-[Radziwil] our own Queen, and the Emperor and Empress and Imperial Family –The wine good – The champagne? They have given us at every dinner?

Then till now 10 1/2 (tea at 8 in about 1/2 hour) wrote the whole of today – Sat up looking at Map of Russia and the few notes I have brought – Unluckily I have left behind at Moscow all my notes from Lord Royston cum multis aliis!!! It is useless to give myself the trouble of making notes for a journey if I thus leave them –

[in the margin of the page:] Picturesque wall

Page References: SH:7/ML/E/24/0016 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0017

#anne lister code breaker #anne lister #ann walker #moscow to baku 1840

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joneshealthcareservices · 1 year

Text

Looking after a loved one with dementia poses many challenges. Individuals diagnosed with dementia have a progressive brain disorder that will make it harder for them to think, remember things, and communicate over time. Hence, many families rely on home aides to help take care of their evolving needs at home.

#Reliable Provider #Senior Assistance #Senior Companion

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sian22redux · 5 years

Text

Field of Dreams

Here we go! No 2 in the fics I owe @nomadicpixel and @theycallmebecca. Nomad asked for Steve and a relationship that is new and my brain said how about a little enemies to lovers everyone? Not to worry it all works out in spectacularly happy fashion--but before that Y/N has a PR disaster to sort out and really, he’s a hard guy to forget, even if he is a little stubborn about Brooklyn. ^_^

Part 1 of 2. And obviously the tweets I’ve made and embedded here are not real, do not belong to any real account.

---------

“Y/N have you seen this?”

Your harried Media VP, Stephanie, uncharacteristically dressed in a rumpled suit and no make-up, barges into your office, trailed by your harried looking PA. It’s 7 am, mid-morning in LA, and you are jet-lagged; bleary eyed and something that passes for awake after two precious weeks at your New York research labs. They were heaven, but now it’s back to routine, back to the long days that keep Fleur in Bloomberg’s list of Ones to Watch.

“What is it?” you ask, setting your latte down and rising to your feet just as the pair screech to a halt just before your desk.

From the look of things ‘routine’ will not be today’s best adjective. Steph, a night-owl through and through, is never here this early. Her face is flushed and her eyes red as she waves a piece of paper covered with a screen print in your direction. “It’s a mess is what it is. And how you should respond I have no idea.”

No idea?

Steph can finagle her way out of PR jams that reduce grown men to tears. “Respond to what?” With a sense of doom you take the paper from her outstretched hand and quickly scan the contents.

‘Not shoot O’Malley twice? What the ever-loving hell?!

Steve Rogers—THE Steve Rogers—finally gets a twitter account and the first tweet he sends six months later trashes the Dodgers baseball team?!

Your Dodgers.

“Why is he @CapRogers?” you ask, more than a little stunned as Steph looks on.

Her face is pale and her fingers shake. No coffee yet this morning. Mary, your brilliantly practical PA, settles on priorities and quickly hands her a steaming cup. “Captain America was already taken.”

Of course. It’s his first ever tweet and the one he’s pinned and everyone has already followed him. No way any soul on Planet Earth has missed this missile. You scan a few of the 50,000 comments. They range from the politely encouraging <welcome Cap!> to the crassly supportive <F*ckin A!> to the downright militant <Get your own team pal>

Oh god. What a perfectly shitty time for this. Fleur’s new board are well pleased that its initial public offering has gone viral but are still a little wary. Six months of thirty-six hour days and you are secure beyond your wildest dreams: number 25 on Forbes’s Top Thirty under Thirty; lauded in all the trade reports for your business acumen; working hard to turn your chemistry degree to more ground-breaking organic lines.

It’s been tough but satisfying.

Buying the Los Angeles Dodgers has been your one gift to yourself.

It has not been without its bumps. A women in Major League Baseball’s old boys club has ruffled feathers amongst the owners and grey-haired stodgy boardrooms around the world. You’ve heard it all. The back-biting and the snide sideswipes. The outright misogyny. The threatened egos. What does she think she’s doing? What does she know about baseball? Who does she think she is?

Oddly, the one group that hasn’t groused about the change has been the Dodger’s staff. You’ve kept their pennant chasing front house crew. Let the manager and coaching staff stay undisturbed. Got to know the players and their families. You love them. And they are beginning to cautiously love you back. The team is your baby and while your instinct is to not let anyone give them stick, some battles aren’t worth taking on. Especially from a national icon.

“We didn’t move them, perhaps we don’t need to be too direct,” you point out, hopefully passing the paper back.

“No way,” Steph shakes her auburn head. “You are Fleur and Fleur is you. It’s too critical a time. Besides, if you don’t publically speak out the team might take it as a slight and the True Blue sure will. He’s too visible a figure. You’ll have to respond and support LA, show that you are in their corner.”

You groan. She has a point. TrueBlue are the diehard LA fans--a colourful and vocal lot—southern California through and through, and they are proud to have a woman owner. You owe it to them.

Well then. You smooth your skirt and sit back down again, flip up your Macbook lid, hurriedly type a few pithy lines. Steph comes around the back of your desk and scans them over your shoulder, bites her lip while reading. “You sure it’s what you want, the pointed ref…?” but you nod firmly. She said direct and this is that.

“Ok…”

There’s a satisfying whoosh as it flies out into the Twittersphere.

Two weeks and a lifetime in business later you pause to smooth down your red evening dress, set your shoulders back and stride forward into the barrage of cameras as you reach to shake the President’s outstretched hand.

It is her inaugural formal State Dinner. Like the rest of your homeland you are pleased and proud she chose Justin Trudeau of Canada to be the first. He is confident and always on point, a neighbour with an aligned agenda and you incline your head, almost as thrilled to meet him as her. The handshake is brief. He jokingly asks in French if you will have the Canadien’s hockey game up on your phone as it isn’t even Spring Training yet (he has read his briefing book), and you laugh, saying that Los Angeles is your home now. The Kings are King.

The resulting laughing group photos are snapped and Steph, you’re certain, will be wildly pleased.

After half an hour of polite chat with several CEO’s you know, a quiet gong sounds and you, like the other luminaries, search for your seating card along the white expanse of silver and china-decked dinner table.

Mme. Y/N Y/N is written in gold on elegant white card. Right next to a name that makes your stomach plummet through the floor.

Captain S. Rogers

Of course the White House has invited prominent expat Canadians. Of course it has invited Americans Justin would like to meet.

Oh god.

You reach for your water glass just as the gold lattice chair pulls out.

“Miss Y/N.”

A pair of inhumanely blue eyes wait for some acknowledgement and you nod, just a fraction, wondering how in the world you will navigate this. Was it a joke by the President’s Chief of Staff? Some kind of not so subtle message? Or, more worrying, a comment that your pointed retort was not officially appreciated?

“Captain.”

The medal-garnished superhuman in a dress Army uniform takes off his cap and sits down. Blushes faintly. Runs a hand through perfectly trimmed blond hair and awkwardly clears his throat, making a blandly positive comment about the weather and décor.

The flowers? Really? Who thought this was a good idea?

You do your best: asking after the Avengers’ latest escapade, the health of Agent Hawkeye who is known to have been banged up, the adjustment of his friend. You are CEO of a multinational beauty empire, formal events with strangers go with the turf, and so you are relieved to note the pleased surprise in Captain Rogers’ eyes. Not everyone supports James Barnes’ parole. You’d have thought that that will break the ice but as soon as the appetizer plates are whisked away he turns to his left and engages Canada’s Junior Minister for Defense in a discussion about NATO that lasts until dessert.

What the?

Beside you, the US Consel for Montreal looks suitably embarrassed, but there is nothing either of you can do. You pound back a few flutes of champagne and another quite good Whiskey Sour as the speeches arrive with coffee and dessert. By the time the music starts up and the room applauds Justin’s smooth waltz with the President you are ready to make an escape, get something out of this mildly disastrous night by pigeonholing the head of Lauder for a little competitors chat, when a fresh-faced aide with Maple Leaf pin taps your silk-clad shoulder.

“Madame..”

“-oiselle,” you correct automatically.

“Le Premier-Ministre serait honoré d'avoir une danse. »

Of course you will. You rise and follow the young man onto the dance floor, accept Justin’s outstretched hand and proceed spend a delightful ten minutes flirting with one of the handsomer and more chatty leaders in the world. Thank heaven. As the cameras click you banter back and forth, relieved you took so much time on your wardrobe. A sleek but stylish chignon. Marcasite studs. Louboutin heels and fall of red silk slashed to just above your knee. You look good. Tomorrow’s morning tweet of you both will likely get thousands of views you think, when a low voice comes off from your left.

“May I cut in?”

“Of course, Captain.” Justin bows and drops your hand and you are swept up into the arms of the last person you thought would dance.

“Captain Rogers?” My word his chest is broad. You take a deep breath and dare to look up into those eyes. They look a little pained but hopeful. “Are you---?”

“Apologizing. Yes.” He quickly nods his head. “Look, I’m new at this. Never tried the social media thing before and I kinda..forgot..about the bigger repercussions.”

“Evidently.” You take a breath, watching his brow furrow and quickly thinking of what to say. “You are of course entitled to your opinion but blanket statements of where things belong are unfair to the players today. As their owner I have a duty to support them.”

“I know. Look I didn’t mean to be hard on those guys.”

The blue eyes droop. He looks abashed and a little like a puppy taking an expected scolding and so you relent, search for something positive to say. “They’ll recover. If LA is good at anything is it definitely bouncing back, Captain.“

“Call me Steve.”

“Steve.” He’s nodding, looking a little more confident. As he leads you (surprisingly smoothly for one so big) around the floor you start to relax a little. Chat about dancing as a lost art. Admire the cut of his uniform and the straight line of his jaw. He is, if anything, more handsome up close and personal, although there is just the faintest twinge of anxiety still in his face. A Man of Out of Time. Yes..and still adjusting to the world he’s landed in.

Maybe you could be generous and try an olive branch.

“Brooklyn are still as famous today as they were then,” you say, squeezing the hand that holds onto yours. The other at your waist is warm. “The first team to break the colour barrier. Nine World Series titles. Cy Young pitchers and All Star MVPS. You can be proud of all that they did. ”

A sunshine smile warms his handsome face. “I am! Of course I am. Jeez, they were so much a part of our life Buck and I scrimped and saved every penny we could just to get into the nose-bleed seats. 75 cents was lunch for a week. If we couldn’t find it, we listened on the radio. Everyone did. Young and old, rich and poor. They played their games on Sundays so that working stiffs like me could go. It was the only day we had off: a ticket and beer money was a treat.”

You’re seriously starting to enjoy yourself, listening to him reminisce. This is a veritable soliloquay. “Ebbet’s might have been shaped like a bandbox but it was a right-handed slugger’s dream. McPhail was a genius. Ladies’ Days for ten cents. Half price if the temps’ got too high. I miss it so. Hot wood slats and popcorn and warm beer.”

“The best.” You grew up with baseball too. The crazy cement white elephant that was The Big O where the Expos played. Gary Carter and Bill "The Spaceman" Lee. Hot, steamy summer nights near Montreal’s broad lazy river.

But you’ve made the switch—LA are your boys now.

“Dodger stadium is baseball’s beautiful showplace now,” you explain. “We have tried to honour Brooklyn’s spirit—playing to win always and keeping the park accessible. There is even a pop-up museum to them.”

He stills and you fall just slightly behind the beat. “A pop-up museum?”

“Yes. It has old jerseys and ticket stubs and photos of the team. It will run until the fall.”

Steve looks far from impressed. “That’s all? Nothing permanent? No one’s set up a display to stay?”

You stiffen a little in his big hands, beginning to be a little frustrated. “We do own the trademark. There are statues to Jackie Robinson and "P. W." Reese where the Brooklyn Cyclones play today.”

He snorts derisively. “Heck that’s mnor league. And Coney Island. Doesn’t count. Ebbets Field and Flatbush were their heart and that’s all gone. They’re an ugly old apartment complex now.”

A frustrated silence falls. Some how you’ve fallen into it again and you can feel your ire rising. He isn’t the only fan who’s had a team be traded. Business is business. A team has to have support at the gate or it isn’t sustainable. Some, like Brooklyn, move to greener pastures. And some are forced to fold.

You stop on the edge of the dance floor and pull back, looking him squarely in the face. There’s a muscle jumping in his cheek and annoyance deepens the french flavour in your accent. American icon or no, you’ve had enough with his pity party.

“I miss the Expos just as much as you do Brooklyn. My team was traded, too. But I do try to be more balanced about reality. I don’t go round trashing the Nats or complaining that Washington has no memorial for them. At least your Dodgers kept their name!”

Steve blinks and a press camera clicks.

You both drop hands when the music ends and retreat--him to the bar, and you to ladies room.

Insufferable. Stubborn. (Gorgeous) Man.

You try to put the experience behind you, get on with work and cheering on your team, but of course the world conspires to interfere.

LA clinches their pennant run but the photo of you and Captain America looking daggers at each other tops the front page of every newspaper the next day.

#Field of Dreams #sian22redux #writes #Steve Rogers

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currentlymovingaccounts · 5 years

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🌷 Tulips 🌷

Scientific Name: Tulipa

Care: 🌷 Tulips prefer a site with full or afternoon sun. In Zones 7 and 8, choose a shady site or one with morning sun only. 🌷 Soil must be well-draining, neutral to slightly acidic, fertile, and dry or sandy. All tulips dislike areas with excessive moisture. 🌷 Tall varieties should be sheltered from strong winds.

🌷 You’ll want to space bulbs 4 to 6 inches apart, so choose a large enough planting site. 🌷 Plant tulip bulbs in the fall, 6 to 8 weeks before a hard frost is expected and when soils are below 60 degrees F. This is usually during September or October in the north, and November or December in the south. 🌷 Nature never intended for bulbs to loll about above ground, so don’t delay planting the bulbs after purchase. 🌷 In southern climates with mild winters, plant bulbs in late November or December. The bulbs will need to be chilled in the refrigerator for about 12 weeks before planting. (Bulb suppliers often offer pre-chilled bulbs for sale, too.) 🌷 Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost. 🌷 Plant bulbs deep—at least 8 inches, measuring from the base of the bulb. And that means digging even deeper, to loosen the soil and allow for drainage, or creating raised beds. Remember, the bigger the bulb, the deeper the hole it needs.

🌷 Set the bulb in the hole with the pointy end up. Cover with soil and press soil firmly. 🌷 Water bulbs right after planting. Although they can’t bear wet feet, bulbs need water to trigger growth. 🌷 If you’re planning to raise perennial tulips, feed them a balanced fertilizer when you plant them in the fall. Bulbs are their own complete storage system and contain all of the nutrients they need for one year. Use organic material, compost, or a balanced time-release bulb food. 🌷 To deter mice and moles—if they have been a problem—put holly or any other thorny leaves in the planting holes. Some gardeners use kitty litter or crushed gravel. If ravenous voles and rodents are a real problem, you may need to take stronger measures, such as planting bulbs in buried wire cages. 🌷 If it rains weekly, do not water. However, if there is a dry spell and it does not rain, you must water the bulbs weekly until the ground freezes. 🌷 Rainy summers, irrigation systems, and wet soil are death to tulips. Never deliberately water a bulb bed unless in a drought. Wet soil leads to fungus and disease and can rot bulbs. Add shredded pine bark, sand, or any other rough material to the soil to foster swift drainage. 🌷 Apply compost annually to provide nutrients needed for future blooms. 🌷 In the spring, when leaves emerge, feed your tulip the same bulb food or bone meal which you used at planting time. Water well. 🌷 Deadhead tulips as soon as they go by, but do not remove the leaves! 🌷 Allow the leaves to remain on the plants for about 6 weeks after flowering. The tulips need their foliage to gather energy for next year’s blooms. After the foliage turns yellow and dies back, it can be pruned off. 🌷 Large varieties may need replanting every few years; small types usually multiply and spread on their own.

Magickal Properties: Protection, love, happiness, prosperity, abundance Correspondences: Venus (planet), Earth (element), Feminine (gender) 🌷 Love is one of the strongest properties of tulips. They can be used to increase desire, build relationships, and open the heart. 🌷 Can be used in magic regarding gratitude, simplicity, happiness, beauty, and prosperity. 🌷 Different colored variations of tulips can aid in different types of magick. 🌷 Sometimes associated with dream work and fame. 🌷 Use as a centerpiece to increase the sensory appreciation of a meal or gathering. 🌷 Sweep your aura with a few stems to shroud yourself in a veil of magnetism and desirability. 🌷 Use to assist with grounding- if you're feeling anxious, plant tulips, spend time with them, or take a few drops of tulip flower essence under your tongue. (I very quickly tried to double check if this is safe or could have any health side effects, but I couldn't find anything. I'll have to take time to look into it further. If anyone here knows, feel free to share your knowledge!) The tulip's substantial bulb and alignment with the physical world helps with that grounding energy. 🌷 A poultice made of tulip flowers can treat and soothe rashes, stings, scratches, and minor burns. 🌷 Tulip oil can be used as a house freshener or added to baths and massage oils to uplift vibrations. 🌷 A tulip bulb on your altar will help you attract as well as keep a lover. 🌷 Helps with connecting with love intentions and letting go of fear. 🌷 Because they regrow every year, tulips can be associated with renewal/rebirth and a new perspective. 🌷 Because tulips rise as the sun rises and go down as the sun sets, they are believed to be very in tune with it, making them perfect for any association with the sun. 🌷 Resonates with the heart chakra. If your heart, physical or emotional, could use strengthening, add a few drops of the flower essence to your drinking water or bath. (Again, is this stuff safe to drink or not?) 🌷 As tulips share qualities with love goddesses, they're great additions to love goddess altars or rituals (goddesses like Hathor, Aphrodite, Venus, or Parvati). 🌷 Because they vary in color, some crystals that go best as a duo with tulips are aura quartz, fluorite, opal, and rainbow quartz. 🌷 Solar Charm: At dawn, gather a tulip that's just opening as you recite this incantation, "At sunrise let my mind be keen, alert, and wise; at sunset, put the spell to rest." Carry the flower with you until sunset, then bury the petals in the earth for a good night's sleep. 🌷 Prosperity Spell: Gather a handful of tulips seeds and scatter all but two to a southerly wind saying, "Silver and gold, silver and gold, one to have and one to hold. To the winds fly, fall, and free, bring to me prosperity!". Put the last two seeds in your wallet or purse to attract money. 🌷 Carry tulips or having them on you brings good luck. 🌷 Growing tulips brings peace to a home. 🌷 Can be worn for protection and prosperity. 🌷 It is said that pixies and fae love to live in them.

Other Info: 🌷 Tulips are probably one of the first flowers cultivated solely for their beauty and designs of these flowers can be found on pottery jars dated from 2200 to 1600 B.C. Tulips were also found on the border of a 19th century Byzantine fabric. Though they must have been known to them, tulips were not mentioned at all by Greek or Roman writers. 🌷 European explorers and traders first encountered tulips in the gardens of Turkish sultans in the early 1500's. In 1554 the Austrian ambassador, Ghislain de Busbecq, bought some of the bulbs for a great price and brought them back to Vienna. They were given to Charles de Lecluse, a Flemish botanist, which lead to the beginning of the love of tulips in Holland. After about 20 years, de Lecluse started teaching in the Netherlands and took some of the seeds and bulbs of tulips there. Though he had been meaning to sell them to make a little extra money, the bulbs were stolen and soon tulips were growing throughout the country. 🌷 By 1634 Holland was hit with tulipmania and the price per pound was often more than that of precious metal. When interested in the solid-colored flowers began to wane, breeders began producing unusual blossoms because striped, feathered, and marbled varieties brought higher prices. 🌷 Stripes and some other color variations are actually caused by a virus and not a mutation, making it impossible to get the same coloration from seed. These must be bred from an offshoot of the parent bulb. 🌷 In 1637 traders and dealers began to realize that bulb prices were artificially high and did not reflect the actual value of the bulbs. As the tulip market toppled, the result was economic depression and true hunger and poverty in many areas. Especially hard hit were the many farmers who, hoping for a quick fortune, had begun to grow tulips instead of food. 🌷 Learning from mistakes made by the Dutch, the Turkish government passed strict laws during the "Age of Tulips" in Turkey between 1703 and 1730. Bulbs could be bought and sold only in the capital city, and punishment for breaking this law was exile. 🌷 The government also kept careful records, and at one time these records indicated that the Turks had over 1,5550 varieties of tulips. 🌷 One story is told of an English trader who received a shipment of cloth from Turkey. Along with the cloth was what he thought were onions. He ate some of them and enjoyed them so much he asked his gardener to plant them in the vegetable garden. Imagine his surprise when he found the glorious tulip blossoms growing among the vegetables the next spring. 🌷 Tulip bulbs are quite edible and some even call then tasty. They can be substituted in any recipe for onions. One recipe for tulip-tomato sauce calls for sauteing two minced tulip bulbs with parsley and garlic, then adding four cups of chopped tomatoes and simmering for one hour. The stamens and ovaries, sauteed in butter, are supposedly quite good, tasting something like asparagus. 🌷 Tulips were first brought to America by the Dutch colonists who settled in the northeastern part of the country. The popularity of these flowers in those communities is obvious from the prevalence of the tulip in Pennsylvania Dutch designs from that period. 🌷 The name tulip is derived from the name for the Turkish hat, turban. When traders and visitors came to Turkey to see the famous gardens, the gardeners kept pointing out that tulip blossoms resembles upside-down turbans, or tulibands, as the Turkish called them. Soon visitors began to refer to these flowers as tulibamds, and this was eventually changed to tulip. 🌷 A Persian legend tells of the origin of tulips. A young man, Farhad, was in love with a beautiful woman, Sharin. One day Farhad received news that his lover was dead. In his grief, he jumped off a high cliff, and where his body landed, there the tulips began to grow. The saddest part was that the message was sent by a jealous rival, and Sharin was actually still alive. 🌷 Tulips are indigenous to the northern temperate zones from the Mediterranean coast east to Japan. T. sharonensis, or the Sharon tulip, is thought to be the "rose of Sharon" mentioned in the Song of Solomon in the Bible. The Sharon tulip grows on the Plain of Sharon, found between Carmel and Jaffa. 🌷 Tulips are considered the symbol of perfect love, and the Turks used them as a love potion. If a tulip was given to a girl, the color of the petals determined the meaning of the flower. Red petals meant a declaration of love. Yellow petals meant hopeless love, and variegated petals meant beautiful eyes. A black center meant a heart burned with love.

Tulip Varieties and Uses

Queen of the Night: - A deep purple, so dark it can be mistaken for black. - Good for moon rituals, power and ambition spells, and banishing spells.

Princess Irene: - Standard variety comes in shades of orange and red. - Red flowers are good for love magick. - Orange flowers are good for attraction and encouragement.

Leen Van Der Mark: - Comes in yellows and reds. - Plant yellow ones near your front door and under windowsills to protect your home and its inhabitants from those who would cause harm.

Pim Fortuyn Triumph: - White in color. - Good for any rituals having to do with purity or cleansing. - Place cut Pims in vases around your house each spring to bring a fresh and clean feeling to your entire home.

Tulip Poultice

To treat and soothe rashes, stings, scratches, and minor burns.

To create a poultice, warm 2-4 flowers in hot water. Dip a towel into hot water and place the petals within the towel. Lightly crush the petals and apply them to the affected area. Hold in place for 10 minutes using the warm towel. Petals can also be combined with castor oil, especially when treating burns and insect bites.

#witchcraft #witch #wicca #green witch #flowers #floral witch #tulips #reference #witchblr #eclectic witch

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lhs3020b · 5 years

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Some notes on recent polling developments (long, fairly depressing)...

The YouGov MRP figures came out last night. This is notable because in 2017, the multilevel-regression approach was the sole one that spotted the possibility of a hung parliament. We all ridiculed it at the time - I'll confess that I side-eyed it too. And then - well, we all know what happened to Theresa May, don't we? So, the MRP thing deserves to be taken seriously. And unfortunately, this year, it's looking grim for us. Briefly, the MRP is forecasting a Tory majority. They're also predicting that all opposition parties (bar the SNP, who only stand in Scotland) will lose seats. Labour in particular look in the danger-zone for a collapse, and contrary to their bullish predictions, the Liberal Democrats are also forecast to lose seats. (Note that this is with respect to their current strength - technically, the MRP result gives them a gain of 2 seats on where they were on the 9th of June. They currently have 19, due to defections from various other parties.)

I'll admit that I don't want to believe the MRP results, but this has never been a data-denialist blog, and I don't intend to start on that road today.

One caveat is that the reporting on the MRP results has ben remarkably-bad. The actual YouGov page is here: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/11/27/yougov-mrp-conservatives-359-labour-211-snp-43-ld- Buried a long way down the page, they say this: "Taking into account the margins of error, our model puts the number of Conservative seats at between 328 and 385, meaning that while we can be confident that the Conservatives would currently get a majority, it could range from a modest one to a landslide." As far as I can tell, the "majority of 68" figure is derived by treating 317 as a working majority and assuming that the Tory vote lands right at the upper end of their confidence-interval. This is poor statistical practice for a variety of reasons. It's also a bit questionable in terms of parliamentary arithmetic - the "working majority" thing depends on how many Sinn Fein MPs Northern Ireland elects (they don't take their seats, so count toward neither Government nor Opposition tallies). And we won't necessarily know how many that is until, well, December the 13th.

(Also, a further health-warning is that apparently the model isn't able to fully-represent some local phenomena, such as independent candidates, and the effect of the Brexit Party's partial stand-down is also apparently somewhat-unclear. The last caveat is that the analysis assumes data that has already been collected - that is, if public opinion changes between now and polling day, then obviously existing projections could become obsolete. This will still be a possible source of error even if the MRP sample is statistically-unbiased and the underlying theory/analysis is all sound.)

However, even the best-case scenario for us gives the Tories 328 seats, which is both a working and a (very small) absolute majority.

Obviously, this is not a good situation for us.

While not quite a landslide, nonetheless an inflated Tory majority will be devastating for this country. The stuff they'll do will be awful. Brexit will happen. There'll be a bus crash late next year, when the transition period ends. (No, they will have no plan for this - they won't feel they need one, as they'll be secure in power until 2024.) There'll be a Windrush for resident EU citizens. They'll trash the economy. They'll probably crash the NHS - the only question there is whether they do it through accidental negligence or through deliberate malice (say, an ideologically-driven trade "deal" that gives President Trump everything he wants on a silver platter). Nothing will be done about the country’s escalating housing crisis. They'll double down on all the maddest of the madcap "law-n-order" stuff - expect an explosion in jailable offences, accompanied by lengthy minimum-sentence tariffs and further restrictions on legal aid. They'll also resuscitate their plans to manipulate the parliamentary boundaries, and change electoral laws in their favour. The media? Expect no surprises from them. The newspapers are largely already Conservative Pravdas. The BBC - nervous about its precious Royal Charter - seems to be in the process of declaring itself for the Tories too.

Bluntly, if the Tories get re-elected this year, they'll gerrymander things so you have little chance of getting rid of them in 2024.

Perhaps this is the key thing to understand about Boris Johnson: really, he's less Britain's Trump, and more Britain's Victor Orban. He'll leave just enough vestigial democracy intact to make what he's doing plausibly-deniable, but he'll busily rearrange the furniture to favour himself and his friends. If he gets re-elected this December, you can expect to be seeing his face into the 2030s. The only reason I put the cut-off as early as that is that I expect the coming climate-crisis will wreak havoc with the Tories' internal coalition. (Oh you've built all your luxury millionaire mansions by the seaside? How nice for you, especially now that the sea is literally in your parlour. Umm, whoops.)

What can be done? Well, the first thing is to reiterate some discussions I've seen on Twitter recently. The TL;DR of them is that hope doesn't have to be something you feel - it can be something you do. (And that's just as well, because I'll admit that 2019 has destroyed what traces of social optimism I was clinging to. I'm dreading the bad end that's coming to us next month, but I also fully-expect it.)

So, my advice remains as it has been: on December the 12th, turn up, and vote for whoever you judge most likely to beat the Tory.

Remember, the MRP approach is fallible. "Mortal, finite, temporary" is absolutely in play here; no model is any better than the data that went into it. Or, indeed, the date when it was calculated. And at the end of the day, the only poll that genuinely-matters is the one on December the 12th, and that hasn't actually happened yet. (Though admittedly, given the storm-surge of pre-emptive grief that's flooding Twitter today, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.)

As for the horrible mess that are our opposition parties, I'll repeat what I said in 2017: it's OK to vote for a least-worst option. You're not perjuring yourself or committing any moral sin, rather you're trying to be a grown-up. Part of the package of being an adult is making the best of bad situations.

It absolutely does suck - believe me, this is one of the most soul-destroying election campaigns I've ever seen. Every single party has clown-show'd itself. All of them have done things that are ridiculous, inept or otherwise ghastly. (Well, maybe not the Greens - I haven't heard of any specific scandals surrounding them - but their cardinal sin is that they have no plausible prospect of winning the election.) But even then, the barrel we're going to have to stare down is going and voting for them anyway.

(As a related case-in-point, one factor that seems to have helped the Tories win their unexpected 2015 majority was that a contingent of left-wing voters simply stayed at home on the day. While it's hard to find concrete statistics on, nonetheless anecdotally, this absolutely was a thing. A lot of people were demotivated by Labour's confused and incoherent campaign, left cold by all the bothering about fiscal rules, and alienated by things like the mug with "controls on immigration" on it. All of those are 100% valid criticisms. Except, except, except ... it helped an even worse party back into office. The theory of "if the choices are bad, sit it out" has been tested to destruction. It turns out that looking the other way is also a choice, and not necessarily the best one.)

I would add that there are also real questions to be asked about the utter vacuum of political strategy of people nominally on the anti-Tory side - it seems the Opposition spent the summer fixated on the minutiae of House procedures, while never stopping to ask why they were on this battlefield to begin with. Meanwhile the Tories largely-ignored Commons process, and instead sent a political appeal straight to Leave voters. It lost them a lot of individual legislative battles (and I'm not minimising their defeats - they were important!), but it put them in a good strategic place to win an election. And in the long run, it turns out that was what mattered.

It's hard not to feel bitter while thinking about the events of spring and summer. Perhaps if Jo Swinson had been less blinkered about Jeremy Corbyn, perhaps if Labour could have had the minimum sense to call a Vote of No Confidence when BoJo was vulnerable, perhaps if the collective Opposition had been able to recognise the huge wave of unharnessed political energy washing through the country during the petition back in March, perhaps if Change UK had managed to be something other than an unfunny joke, maybe if Corbyn had taken the anti-semitism problem seriously in 2018 and had actually done something instead of sitting on his hands and letting it metastasize to the point where it derailed his election campaign ... but, no. That's for some other, better timeline, not the one we live in. We seem to live in the world that resolutely and firmly chooses the wrong fork in every road. I don't know whether our timeline quite qualifies as the Bad Place, but it's certainly a place full of bad choices.

In a weird sort of way, though, this brings us back to the key theme. Whatever you might think of what's happening in this election - and goodness knows I'm as appalled as anyone else - nonetheless, your vote matters. Use it. As we're seeing, this is the ultimate limitation on their power, and the one chance we have of stopping them.

So once more, let me reiterate: turn up. Vote against the Tory. Do it as a hopeful action, even if you don't feel hopeful. If nothing else, do it so that when the bad things happen, at least you can say you tried to stop it. I wish I had something less bleak to offer here, but this is where we are.

#UK internal politics #diary of a disaster #needed to get that wail of despair out of my system really #still feeling quite despairing though

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sky-whale-creations · 6 years

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A well rounded, fleshed out Poseidon

I always thought Poseidon didn’t fit right

-We knew very little about his wife compared to Hera or Persephone

-We knew basically nothing about where he lived

-Compared to Zeus and Hades huge importance, we didn’t really know why Poseidon mattered on the same level as them

-And nothing about his court

So I hoped to fill in those gaps! Mind you this is from a fiction point of view, but I did my best using existing ideas and gods

Domain

The sea, where all roads and water eventually leads. The beating heart at the center of all life. A vast domain with many moving parts, it’s a fully realized ecosystem that can never be slowed downed or poisoned with pollution, treachery, etc

Upon landing into the primordial body of Oceanus he pushed him back to the edge of the world, creating his own domain. As a treaty and sign of good faith, his daughter was to marry him. The Queen of the Nymphs, Amphitrite, the Pearl of the Ocean.

Amphitrite

Queen Amphitrite is a spitfire, moreso than even Persephone. Compared to the Golden and Iron Queens, she is the Queen of Pearls. Whereas Hera has attitude/admiration and Persephone authority/respect, Ampitrite has adoration and purity. She lacks Poseidon’s temper but counters it in sheer ability to not give a single fuck, unphased or amused at best by even the worst storms. In that she is the most whimsical and care free of the 3 Queens, almost to an Eris like point of refusing to do what anyone wants.

Goddess of loyalty, generosity, trade, rejuvenation, health, birth control, and purity. A goddess of calm waters, of bays and harbors to Poseidon’s storms and tides. Whereas Poseidon primarily rules the seas, she rules the Nymphs, a massive force of sea, river, well, and spring spirits. She is the eyes and ears of his kingdom and she won’t hesitate to call a tsunami in at disrespect

;D love ya

;) but don’t test me

As goddess of purity, humans can not get her pregnant, but she has other means of creating demigods if she wishes. The nymphs are known for wild sex acts and as queen she definitely partakes. She is a matriarch to all half nymphs

She and Poseidon are like the tides, they will always return to each other without shame

Court

Triton: Poseidon’s son and herald. God of trade routes, communications, and shepard of sailors. “Secretary of the sea” and responsible for communication of the court seeing as how they can be across vast distances.

Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea: god of opportunity and change, of adventure and wanderlust. A trickster shapeshifter sort of god who keeps the sea well worth it. Sunken treasure, keeper of legendary islands, perpetrator of rumors, etc

Achelous: god of freshwaters, shores, vitality, and bathing. He oversees the barriers between water and land and ensures they stay well kept. He is a cerberus like figure, guarding the way to Poseidon as well as ensuring the seas inhabitants remain loyal. Definition of watchful protector and paranoid bully

Ceto: goddess of the deep and keeper of monsters. Tamer of Scylla, Charybdis, etc. She is the Enforcer of the sea, punishing insolence and disrespect for natural law. She is the one that keeps mankind on land, lest they venture too far and overstay their welcome

Pontus: Son of Oceanus and father of all sea life. A tinkering sort of god who maintains the health of the ecosystem as well as concocts new and wondrous sea creatures. His wife, Ceto, makes sure his monsters stay well fed and taken care of

Home

In the distant sea of Thalassa there lies Neropoli, the home of Poseidon. The Shining City.

Near the edge of the world, where the great seas turn into the world encircling ocean, there is a city that spans islands. Upon the sharp cliffs there are docks and upon that shore lies sprawling structures. From atop the glistening waves the buildings descend into the depths, further and further, all the way down to the ocean’s floor. Spires and towers and great halls lie below the waves. Buildings of stone and silver, great halls carved from pearl, and statues made of sapphire and emerald.

Here resides the king and queen of the sea and with them all manners of spirits and creatures. The 3,000 naiads, the 3,000 potomoi, merfolk, the Hippocampi, and more

Notably non-sea folk are the Cyclops. The Elder Cyclops, the 3 brothers freed from Tartarus, were instrumental in the gods defeating the Titans. Each of the brothers offered their kind a reward to thank them for their aid.

Zeus offered them splendor on Olympus, where they may feast with the gods and craft with the lord of the forge, Hephaestus.

Hades, impunity. Never will a cyclops set foot in Tartarus again. They may also enter the Underworld freely if given prior notice.

Poseidon, filial honors. All would be as if his own blood. They may stay in his home as long as they like for they are all his kin.

The Great Well

A bronze well in Neropoli that goes to the bottom of the ocean, dredging up the cleanest, purest water. It can heal the sick, grant incredible powers, and raise the dead, but at a price. The power of the deep will pull down upon you, such is the law of the sea, there is always an exchange. A sacrifice must be made. The sick may find that their doctor has perished. The dead may find they can never return to land. There is always a curse to accompany the blessing.

- - -

I hope you enjoyed!

#poseidon #Greek Mythology #greek gods #percy jackson #rick riordan #the ocean #the sea #mythology

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elastigirl72 · 5 years

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And so it was, a Greek Oddity

May 13: on the plane to Istanbul

And so it is. Clearwell>Athens. Done!

Not to dwell too much on Athens, but I loved it. What a city. I’ll be spending more time there in future. In fact, maybe the way forward is to fly there, buy a scooter and ride home along the route I’ve just done, taking in more of each place I visited...there’s a thought ☺️

Today, the buckle I’m doing up is my seatbelt and not my rucksack on a plane to Istanbul. I’ll be reflecting on this adventure for some time. It’s the longest by double, and my third unsupported. But sitting here waiting for the plane to lift off, and looking at the flight map, the plane is pointing directly at the route I’ve just travelled. To fly home, I’d cross two time zones, 3 seas, 11 countries and by air, would take 4-5 hours plus time to and from airports, let’s say in all, 9 hours each way. Flying would definitely be easier and quicker. A colleague of mine who has other interests doesn’t get it. Isn’t it obsessive? Boring even? What are you trying to prove? Let’s say you flew to Athens, you wouldn’t see, feel, hear, smell, sense in minuscule detail every metre that passed. You wouldn’t feel the elation of an unexpected mountain vista or the terror of a chasing pack of wild dogs. How could you see the vibrancy in millions of poppies coming into bloom alongside parched, arid fields? What chance would you have of seeing a snake poised to strike and 500 metres later, bright green Geckos just hanging out getting warm?

You wouldn’t have the opportunity of just getting through each day, eating for the miles you’ve either flown through or battled against, or met the people who will either leave a positive impact on your memory or something you’d rather forget. You wouldn’t wake up each morning trying to figure out where you are and what is happening that day, and whether in fact, you can actually stand, let alone move forward. Neither would you find out what you’re made of, both physically and mentally; what happens to the body when you put it under stress day after day? How does the mind deal with pain, stress, the unknown? How does your heart respond to something it’s never done before?

How do I feel today now I’m flying to work in Istanbul? With a day of rest, I could keep going. If I ever found myself in a situation where I’d lost my job or did not need to work anymore, right now, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d be off as soon as I’d packed my gear, and work my way around the globe, probably in a westerly direction, simply because I’ve now done one continent.

Have I learned anything on this trip? I guess that will take me a while to realise. But I’ll start with a few things.

Flexibility really works. It takes the pressure off if that’s what is needed but in order to have flexibility, there needs to be flex room built in. When I originally planned this trip, I’d booked all accommodation from Calais to the Alps. If I’d stuck with that, flexibility would be gone and I would have an unbending, rigid timeline for mileage each day. Going into the trip, I was undertrained, which I was prepared for. What I hadn’t prepared for was how strong the headwinds I would face for the first 10 days. And then the rain and headwinds for an overlapping period which made for 17 days of tough conditions. If I had stuck with the original plan of prebooked stops, I would have struggled with both fitness and motivation more than I already did. In my head, I’d already mentally prepared that snow might be a real showstopper in the Alps, and painful as it was, to take a train from Zurich to Bellinzona (the crossing point was always flexible due to weather conditions and I was annexed whichever way I went), it was a lot easier to accept knowing it was a possibility. The total mileage was more than a direct route to Athens even with one leg train journey and this is how I consoled the decision.

When it’s possible to rigidly plan, then rigidly plan. After losing a day in Venice, after reaching Trieste, the weather, whilst far from perfect, was better. I had only one contingency day, and feeling rested and confident in Trieste, I booked the next 5 nights accommodation down the Dalmatian Coast. That got me to Herceg Novi on schedule to then decide whether I wanted to go mountains or coast to Athens, depending on energy and weather.

From Herceg Novi onwards, I freestyled all the way to Athens, sometimes just pitching up at hotels and asking if they had a room. On balance, there was only one stop that I wouldn’t stop at again, and felt liberated travelling this way.

I still trust too much. Two occasions, I got myself into sticky situations because I look for the best in people. One day I will learn, but with it I will become cynical and suspicious...which doesn’t fill me with happy anticipation. Tricky.

You really don’t need much stuff to get by. By the end of my trip, I had a couple of shampoo sachets, cheap travel toothbrush, toothpaste, sun cream, antihistamine medication, my glasses and contacts, razor, two pairs of knickers, a bra, zip-trouser/shorts, t-shirt, hairbrush and other than the cycle gear I wore, camera and phone, that was it.

I really found it difficult to digest as much food as I needed to eat each day, but paying attention to fuelling the next day’s ride I truly believe this was the key to success. I am sure I have as much of a belly as I had before I left! But i never once ran out of energy. Nuts and dried fruit are a better moving food choice than M&Ms but the latter are just such a guilty pleasure and great for motivation! 😆

The next thing that was affirmed (I knew this already from many other endeavours) is that even if people aren’t physically on the road with you, it’s ok to “shout” for support. I actively did this, and a whole community of helpers materialised. Even when I didn’t actively look for support, it was always there...and love it or hate it, for me, it’s one of the blessings of social media. The reality is that only very close people will be thinking of you occasionally as you pedal along. But those are important, and those that are kind enough to take time to respond and give you a little boost, regardless of how big or small, it’s like a triple espresso when you need it most. I thank every single one, whether avidly following me and with me vicariously, or just the occasional like or comment.

My heart is strong, but so is my head. I’ve never felt so switched on and alive for so long. If you take a 4 week period in life, it’s never going to be a non-stop bed of roses and quadruple rainbows, where the sun always shines, birds always sing and everyone loves each other. Being on this trip has of course highlighted this, but it’s also reminded me again how bloody good cyclists are at literally pedalling on and leaving negative stuff behind them and looking forward. I don’t believe you can be a happy cyclist unless you can do this.

Movement and motion become autonomic when your heart controls movement, so regardless of how tired you are, just mount your bike, look forward and just keep rolling...

I 100% acknowledge how fortunate I am, both in life circumstances and in health to have this incredible opportunity. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not possible for everyone, even if it’s a dream. I’ve no doubt hacked a few people off with my continuous stream of progress, photos and observations. But I hope in equal measure or possibly tipping the scales more towards somehow the positive: that a group of oldies in Canada might visualise and anticipate each post, that a sibling or child can think that they can do this, and along the road, like the two Albanian girls I saw watching in fascination as I regrouped after border control, when I grow up, I’d like to have a go at that. She looks cool and friendly and that looks like a lot of fun. Whatever you do and however you do it, you’ll come across people who will want to shoot you down. I’m glad I’m not wasting my energy worrying about it and doing it anyway.

How do I feel about achieving my goal? It’s hard to answer right now. There are people out in the world doing great and brave things, sometimes because they have to and sometimes because they chose to, like me. My achievement, compared to many others is really insignificant in the scale of the globe and time. And it’s hard for me to ignore that. I guess how I feel is that despite pain, danger, risk, weather, and unexpected behaviour, I’ve not let it stop me, and for that I feel stronger than I thought I was. I am better at being alone than I thought I would be, and probably more obvious to other people than to myself until this journey, I’m pretty stubborn and persistent - not always great qualities! But I feel happy, there is an element of emotion just tinkering away in the background there, and I’m not done yet.

So, what’s next? I had to sell my Time Trial bike to get my head around this trip and focus. It’s clear that I am a distance junkie, whether it’s competing or adventure. I think I have to wait for the dust to settle before I can see that horizon. At 46, whilst I’m no spring chicken, there’s miles in me yet. Just where, when, how, why, who knows?

Things that make me happy on the road:

The first sign for the destination I’m heading for that day

A washing machine

Fabric softener

Hair conditioner

Moisturiser

Bread before started arrives

When Google gives the direction “Stay on this road for 24km”

Good pillows

Home made breakfast, namely my porridge

A friendly welcome

Generosity

A quiet road

A surprise vista

As I do, I have several tracks that have defined this, my most epic two-wheeled adventure to date. Some cheesy, some emotional, but definitely the soundtrack to my transcontinental European two-wheeled road trip....

Moving: SuperGrass

Silver Lining (again): First Aid Kit

Arrival of the Birds: The Cinematic Orchestra

Re:member: Olafur Arnalds

Higher Love: Steve Windwood

Big Log: Robert Plant

Broken Land: The Adventures

No Surprises: Radiohead

Crazy: Seal

Titanium: David Gueta

Hibernate: Celine Cairo

Jingle: Tash Sultana

Last night as I was drifting off to my final Greek land of sleep, I received a call from someone called Nikos. I was reluctant to accept a call from someone I didn’t know, but did anyway...

“Hello, this is Nikos from Hotel *****, why did you give me a bad review?”...[click]

As we land, the plane flight video shows the land below and the shadow of the plane. You can see the contours on the ground but not the details all passing at high speed: pretty much summarises in Technicolour the difference between flying and what my adventure means to the rest of the world, and what my Odyssey meant to me....

Thank you for being with me on this journey. I hope it’s not my last, but if it is, it was an absolute blast 🤩. Enjoy your next adventure!

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mtntopbakery · 5 years

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HERBAL COLD CARE for KIDS

I’m NOT a doctor! I’m just a crunchy mom but want to share MY HERBAL ARSENAL! Several people have contacted me that my remedies helped them tremendously so I decided it was time to finally lay it all out in a post to share.

Once you have these on hand you can use one dose here or there, optionally when they have huge exposures like birthday parties, swim class, or travel for maintenance but you won’t use the whole bottles at a time! I want to emphasize this because I know most health care plans do not cover herbs/supplements and these high quality super foods are not cheap but I still champion them as the best possible heath care you can provide for your children. This investment will be your herbal first aid kit & they have very very long shelf lives. Follow directions for keeping and storing.

WHY COLDS IN SPRING?!

It’s always cold & flu season when people don’t stay home! I can never get over how many sick people I encounter in the world and have heard my own relatives tell me they are trying to pretend they are not sick when they are 🤣 Guys. Let’s stop this! Self-care isn’t only important for your longevity & mental health, but staying home is an act of love & consideration for your community.

Here are the old-fashioned remedies we use in our house to keep the kiddos healthy! They don’t have as much exposures as kids being sent to school with other sick kids because they are home with me, but they have definitely had long exposures to sick kids at play dates or have started to show symptoms and we have always been able to quickly win the battle with these natural remedies. The kids now only get sick about once a year and only for a few days. We have never used antibiotics or any pharmaceutical products on them.

Sometimes kids don’t realize they are getting sick & we can look for some symptoms as clues that it’s time to start herbs and rest: you discovered someone you were with was sick, crankiness after a busy week, pulling on ears, ANY nasal discharge (do not assume it’s “teething” as I have never even experienced my kids having any runny noses during teething, but I have had moms tell me their kids snot was from teething at play dates only to have my kids come down with a cold shortly after), red eyes, puffy eyes, voice changes (hoarseness), mild fever.

At this point it’s time to keep your child home. Cancel your plans! Ever heard of JOMO? The Joy of Missing Out is the new FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). If you ever needed an excuse for self-care or nurturing your little ones, now is the time. I have really found activating all the parent powers & herbal remedies full force at the onset of symptoms can have your babies feeling better in just a few short days instead of days of fever or weeks of lingering cough. Once you get into that territory you’re heading into emergency antibiotic treatment & steroids which should be avoid at all costs. The idea is to work with the immune system instead of suppressing the symptoms, and facilitate a total cleanse of the body at once to eliminate the bacteria or virus which has made your child ill.

When fevers arise I monitor them closely by taking temperatures every hour (or more) & make adjustments to clothing and room temperature to help make the child more comfortable, but I do not use fever reducers. When the body has completed the elimination of the bacteria or virus, the fever will subside on its own and I have found my children able to do this in about 4-8 hours. Reducing the fever artificially essentially keeps the body temp low aka hospitable for these new and unwanted pathogens consequently prolonging the presence of the pathogen. Therefore, ancient wisdoms agree fevers are constructive when your child is under care and close observation. A full recuperation, even after symptoms subside should generally be a week of rest and relaxation to avoid a secondary infection.

Don’t worry about feeding your child regular meal portions. The body is focusing on healing and will often self-regulate appetite in order to focus energy on healing & detoxing.

When one family member goes down, I start to administer herbs to the whole family as a precaution. Avoid tickling, rowdy play & dairy especially because it creates mucus in the body. Replace calcium sources with vegan options such as nuts, seeds, beans, kale smoothies, tofu and oranges.

We do the following things every two hours/daily for 24-48 hours as needed to clear sickness.

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

1. Change bed & bath linens repeatedly

2. Wash hands as much as possible with basic natural soap & warm water (antibiotic soaps can cause thyroid issues please avoid)

3. Give child tissue box to encourage them blowing their noses & offer a small trash bag to contain their used tissues that you can take out a few times a day or use saline spray & Nosa Frida every two hours for baby

4. Herbal hand sanitizer can help with a very tired child who is taking less hand washing trips to the bathroom

5. Essential oil diffuser with oils like lavender, eucalyptus, Tea tree or “thieves oil” cleanse air & help set the scene for relaxation (you can also boil onions to help reduce airborne germs)

6. With a dry cough, especially in winter or high altitudes, a humidifier can help make the cough more productive

EVERY TWO HOURS

1. Elderberry syrup: Mix into small amount of water for your child to drink if it’s too sweet or thick by itself

2. Loquat syrup: Phenomenal blend of ancient Chinese herbs KIDS LOVE IT! So yummy

3. Echinacea Tincture: 1 drop per every 5 lbs body weight or 1 drop per every 2 lbs of body weight for more serious cold mixed with water or use a throat spray

4. Essential oils (tea tree/eucalyptus/oregano/peppermint/lavender): Blend with almond or coconut oil and rub on feet and ribs. An herbal petroleum-free chest salve is also fantastic for this

5. Sweet potato & fruit popsicles (no sugar added/organic): Help keep your unhapppy kid hydrated and acts as a vitamin C / vitamin A supplement

6. Cold care tea: Hot or cold this is delicious. Check the box and get one with yarrow & hyssop. Steep one bag for kids & two bags for adults

7. Vitamin D drops

ONCE A DAY

1. Probiotics: child powder or drops mixed into cold tea, juice or elderberry water

2. Colloidal silver drops: Clear & flavorless yet POWERFUL antibacterial/antimicrobial

3. Garlic-Mullen ear drops: Just one drop in each ear is fine when infection isn’t present. This will introduce garlic, a natural antibiotic, to the ear nose and throat areas immediately staving off nasty complications from ear infections (the ears are more prone then one would think to be the access point for germs, because they lack the normal heathy bacteria you produce in your mouth for example.)

4. Eucalyptus bath: especially with the addition of Epsom salt for the older kids

5. Pillows under mattress under the pillow area will help breathing & create more productive nasal drainage & cough

6. Zinc spray: these often come flavored or with added herbs for immunity and are so easy to administer to kids or to mix into a bottle

7. Multi vitamin: if your kid isn’t taking one daily already, now is a good time to cover any bases for nutritional gaps

For deep seated coughs in children over one, encourage child to eat one finely minced clove of garlic in honey. Follow with orange juice, carrot juice or sugar free organic popsicle. Here is a great video to share with your kids!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDavvGuwoRE

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For deep coughs Onion Poultice is HIGHLY EFFECTIVE video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-J4mXTyLqk

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If cough is keeping child from sleeping at night try lemon balm tincture in water or tea, a drop of CBD oil between the eyebrows, or mix a drop of CBD oil with massage oil or herbal chest salve and apply to chest and ribs. Alternatively older kids can take 1/4 tsp brandy with lemon and honey can be taken to help relax coughing muscles for sleep.

Consult medical care if fever doesn’t go down, redness in skin occurs, child complains of pain or stiffness. In an emergency, stay with your child. Hospitals may tell you it is their policy to not allow parents, but a policy is not a law. Your presence will bring comfort, safety and continuity in care your child very much needs. You also need to be present to monitor all potential interventions or procedures related to your child’s care.

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needlenailed-blog · 6 years

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<~Forgive and Forget~>

Your silver lantern split the dark. Our hopes made manifest You wove into the earth to build eternal Hallownest - Yet just as any lantern’s glow must end, and shadows thrive, Beyond the cliffs, your blessings die, and no mind may survive. -from Elegy for Hallownest, by Monomon the Teacher

Hornet wonders again why she still has all her memories, as she closes her journal - really just a sheaf of paper from the strange contraption someone has set up in the apartment’s common space, bound together with some of that flimsy plant-fiber yarn - to take her rest. She is a bug of Hallownest, born and raised there, and it was always said that the minds of bugs of Hallownest were sustained by the power of the Pale King alone. To leave Hallownest’s borders was to return to a lower form, renouncing one’s memories and sapient identity for the base instincts of eons past.

Yet here she is, and still she is Hornet of Hallownest, not a word of recollection out of place. There must be some form of Wyrmlight here, or she would be less than no one.

No time for that now, though. The Sun, that which she still suspects is of the pestilent Radiance that decimated her home, will be back in the sky soon. She’d much prefer to be asleep when that occurs.

---

Hornet Deepweaver jolts awake with a start, fully clothed in her bed with no memory of having gotten there. Damn, she must have been really out of it last night. Shoes kicked off on the floor, chair askew, writing journal still open on her desk...and yes, her last recollection is of passing out with her head on the table at five in the morning. It is now 12:07 pm, according to her phone, meaning she has about five minutes to get downstairs and down the block or else she’ll miss the 12:15 bus to the university, and if she misses the 12:15 she misses lunch. Which is more often “breakfast,” for her.

“Sometimes I abhor my sleep schedule,” she grumbles to herself, doing up her hair in two sloppy French braids and stuffing books haphazardly into her bag. Right before she sweeps out of the room, she pauses to pick up her journal and take a glance at what she was writing last night.

...Now what’s this snatch of verse supposed to be about? Looks like she was trying to quote someone called Monomon the Teacher, probably some fictional author cooked up in her sleep-deprived fever dream.

Whatever. She’ll write something that makes more sense for her poetry seminar tomorrow, whenever she has a spare moment.

{ Hornet is now a young human woman named Hornet Deepweaver, the illegitimate daughter of the owner of the White Palace casino in Golden. She grew up with her mother Herrah, who insisted that she learn two things as a child: how to sew, which was what earned Herrah her pay nowadays, and how to defend herself. Hornet has been taking mixed martial arts continuously since second grade; she’s mastered unarmed combat and has been working on her quarterstaff skills. Herrah kept no secrets from her regarding her family, including that she’d been born out of wedlock - the casino owner was married to someone else, while Herrah was single - and that she had several half-siblings.

When Hornet was a senior in high school, a lot happened all at once. The casino owner’s divorced first wife, a proud and vengeful woman named Helena Vlatka (stage name Radiance), dug up some serious dirt on his shady business practice and used it to sue him for all he was worth, making the casino business go down in flames. Herrah lost her job there as the costume designer on call, around the same time that she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. With her mom unemployed and in poor health, unable to actively take care of her anymore, Hornet was pushed headfirst into the adult world. Her grades in spring semester suffered, thanks to her two part-time jobs leaving her with little time to study, but she squeaked by with a pass in all her classes and graduated on time.

Now she’s a perpetually tired and broke sophomore at Spirale University, rooming in Golden Ward with people she hardly knows to save on rent. Herrah died not long ago, after having been hospitalized for months and not recognizing Hornet for longer than that. She’s double-majoring in English and outdoor education and works at a coffee shop, enjoying the fact that she can sneak a free cup every now and then. Her hobbies are kind of all over the place, especially for someone with so little free time, but she likes rock-climbing (the focus of her outdoor ed major), poetry, entomology, studying the various types of magic found in Spirale, and sewing in class. She has trouble sitting still, a very wacky and near-nocturnal sleep schedule aided and abetted by her total lack of morning classes, and two half-siblings named Ghost and Hollow who sometimes sleep on her crappy apartment couch.

Her mother made her that old red poncho, so long ago that it’s a little small for her now, despite her being exactly five feet tall. She has never heard of a place called Hallownest. }

#o—> no shadow will haunt me { subversion part i }#o—> something of monomon's { my writing }#{ yes i wrote a hollow knight fan poem in iambic septameter for this event wut u want }#{ way-too-long ooc details under the cut }#{ yet again nerd proves that she cannot shut up }

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