#and Strega content in general

[gio-cosmo]

man what the FUCK is my leader on 😑

[senblades]

Who are your fav persona 3 people!!!

[cracks knuckles] I'm glad you asked

So! I don't actively /dislike/ anyone in the p3 cast, but some of them definitely speak to me more than others:

First things first: Ryoji. Love that guy. He's so silly. And so tragic. And he makes me sad. (Like holy SHIT I wasn't expecting a reprise of his song in the stage play on December 31st but it TOOK ME OUT) (also Ryomina my love)

The whole Shinji, Ken, and Akihiko trio ALSO lives in my head rent free... two idiots and their son. love them. I've been desperately scouring for Akishinji content and between that, Ryomina, and Shuake, I've come to realise that my shipping habits seem to boil down to "doomed yaoi" HAHA

More on Ken, I have a LOT of thoughts about how he and Akechi would interact and (likely) get along. Whether that be in the p5 era or a situation a la Throw Away Your Mask. (Or, something I've yet to find: Akechi with no time travel shenanigins getting in on the p3 plot. You can bet THAT'S a longfic idea I've got rattling around) (Also the half-brothers headcanon is super fun. Especially when combined with Futago siblings. Congratulations, Shido! All your kids are persona users, and they all hate you! :D)

Aigis! She's just. Infinitely charming. She'll say something that will absolutely take me out and then turn around and say something devestating HAHA. I also think that her and Ryoji's social link and linked episodes respectively do a LOT of thematic work in the story. Death himself and the girl that can't die, both trying to figure out how to live (y'all that shit's METAL)

Strega are so interesting to me... I don't think they're perfect villains- I think their motivation is underexplored and a bit choppy, but ASIDE from that, I really like all three of them as characters. Idk why Jin is so funny to me LMAO he's so in love with Takaya and Takaya's just like "k. met your quota yet?" (But, also, some of Takaya's lines definitely imply that he cares about Jin too, but doesn't let himself acknowledge that at all due to his whole "attachments are weakness" shtick, another thematic point to contest his ideology, as he is actively denying himself happiness in pursuit of some idea of salvation)

Chidori- I like her well enough. Some of her lines really did make me smile, but I think she's another case of "underdeveloped" (I actually read Throw Away Your Mask before I played p3r, so that fic did a lot of the heavy lifting for my like of Chidori (and, by extension, Jundori) i think)

Which leads nicely into: Junpei! He's da man. Nuff' said. HAHA if you can't tell, I love Junpei. Awkward dudebro stuff aside (though it's occasionally part of his charm), I really love his development and personality in general. I really love how all the "bro" characters across the modern three persona games, while fulfilling the same archetype, are all distinct in personality and motivation and I love them ALL

Mitsuru is quite interesting to me, but I think she might be a case of "I wish her social link was about something else". Personal preference of course, but I kind of wish that it focused more on this intense guilt she seems to have for things that a) weren't her fault, and b) happened when she was 7 or younger. THAT is a super interesting mindset to explore, imo, though I did find her social ineptitude charming haha

Yukari... I think that she might grow on me more later. I can feel it in my bones. I suppose I'll find out with The Answer dlc! I know broadly what happens in it, but I haven't actually seem a playthrough of it, nor do I really know what happens to all the characters. I think my opinion of Yukari might have been tainted slightly by everyone having such strong opinions HAHA- I definitely like her, but I don't think she's clicked just yet. (I did really like her social link, though!) (also Yukamitsu I love Yukamitsu. The lesbians aren't doomed! Good for them)

Okay this is going to upset some people probably but Koromaru isn't really much of a character and I keep forgetting about him LMAO. uh. he's a good boy?

Fuuka... I really think that she's just underdeveloped. Her social link didn't really do her any favours in my eyes (I'm SO glad that atlus cut the "girl learns to cook" social link in p5 HAHA i really didn't like it with Yukiko either) Her social link obviously isn't just the cooking shenanigins, but it overshadows the bits of character growth that happen intermittently. I think that her SL really would have benefitted from being more about her love of electronics, if anything, since that isn't explored AT ALL and is more a plot device than a character trait. (Plus, the root of all her self-esteem issues go unadressed, which I think would have been a good character beat otherwise) (In saying this I think Fuuka/Natsuki is very cute. The lesbians stay winning in p3)

Makoto/Minato! Honestly, I was pretty neutral towards him from the majority of the fics I had read before playing p3r. I really like his characterisation in Throw Away Your Mask and The Twilight Wants Him Back, but those had been outliers in my mind. I started liking him more and more after playing p3r, and NOW, after having watched 1/4 of the p3 movies- oh boy. boy oh boy. I really like him now HAHA. Having his apathy actually effect his realtionships with SEES early on is super interesting and I love when it's done. (plus, I think Yukari hating him at first really strengthens their friendship later on)

Uh this post is already super long so for all the other plot-relavant characters and confidants I'm just gonna say "it's a secret" and melt into a bush or something

(tysm for the ask! You can tell I was waiting for an excuse to talk about this HAHA)

(btw y'all shoud read the fics I mentioned in this- they're excellent)

[tohrmew-nyadachi]

hi idk how 2 use tumblr, I literally just got it to vote on a poll for my friend.

But I wanted to make an introduction post or smthin //_^

📺 Ciel. He/it. 18+ 🌼˚ˎˊ˗

I’m mostly going to use this as a place 2 repost and interact with persona content, but I might most some of my own shit once in a while. I don’t expect much to come of making a tumblr blog but I thought an introduction post wouldn’t hurt lol.

My favorite persona game is Persona 4 Golden but I’m a big fan of Persona 3, 4 and 5 in general. My favorite characters are Tohru Adachi , Yusuke Kitagawa , Kasumi Yoshizawa , Takuto Maruki, Ryotaro Dojima, Yu Narukami, Shinjiro Aragaki, STREGA & Junpei Iori sooo.. gonna be mostly posting abt them. Though I feel like it is worth mention that Adachi is my ultimate favorite ever. So expect a shit ton of him. It’s kind of hard picking favorite characters to mention when almost all of the persona characters make me want to throw myself down multiple flights of stairs.

This will not be a spoiler free blog, just in case someone is unfortunate to end up here it’s worth disclaiming.

It would b pretty cool to make some mutuals .. but again, I have literally never used tumblr before in my 19 years on earth so I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.

I’m not gonna write a whole dni thing but like just the typical shit & don’t be a dick and don’t interact if ur like 12 or smthin LMAO😭

[frauleinandry]

a persona 3 reload review

uuuuuuh so i was meant to post this like... two weeks ago, but then real life hit me in the head like a frying pan. now that i've had the time to edit this though, here are my thoughts on p3re! this is also a minato route review, as i played kotone's in P3P (i know it's not his canon name, but i don't want to use makoto due to P5 confusion).

on the whole, reload is a fantastic game. the gameplay easily rivals P5R, and surpasses it in some aspects. the new content is typically great. i also enjoyed minato as a character (well, as much of a character as persona protagonists are anyway), though that leads me to the main gripe i had with reload...

... and that's the lack of kotone's social links. to be precise, two of her social links, the absence of which greatly hurts the overall story.

don't get me wrong, i'd still rank reload a solid 8/10, but it could have been a 10/10 with the addition of those two links (plus one other spoiler thing), and I think that's a shame.

my in depth analysis is under the cut - note, it's very much not spoiler free.

okay, so, i'm gonna split this into 3.5 segments - the good, the mixed, and the bad (you'll find out what the 0.5 is later).

1. the good:

minato - while i'm still a kotone girlie at heart, he's not a bad protagonist at all! his dialogue options have a very distinct personality to them unlike joker and yu, and his character arc is one of the best of all of the persona main leads. an aloof, apathetic boy who learns to love the world/his friends so much he's willing to die for them... it's good!

koromaru - minor, but worth mentioning. you can pat him, and it's so cute. in fact, everything about him is perfect. from his all-out attack screen, to his animations, to... well, everything. no joke, if I needed to sell this game to a non-persona fan, i'd use him as the main draw.

hangout events - while I think being able to chat to everyone in the dorm already made SEES one of the more developed casts, having additional scenes really helped flesh out the party members who are less prominent in the plot (fuuka, pre-january aigis, ken). more things to do at night is also great, given there was nothing to do in the evening after maxing your social stats in the older versions. the perks they give you are great too, but i'll talk about that more later.

voice acting - not gonna lie, i generally don't like the persona dubs, and normally always play with the JP audio. given reload features some of my favourite voice actors though and was basically fully voiced, i decided to give it a chance this time. and i don't regret it! while some actors are definitely stronger than others, none of them were actively jarring, and quite frankly, they hard carried a lot of the social links. kudos to the cast!

strega - while they could have gone a bit further with it (jin needed a linked episode for sure), takaya finally got the development he sorely needed, and his and jin's final battles were actually interesting, instead of being annoying distractions from nyx. in fact, i'd say takaya's new content is easily the best of the new reload exclusive material. in portable, he made no impression on me whatsoever, but now, he finally gets to be the anti!minato he deserves to be.

1.5. the tartarus (aka good part 2, electric boogaloo):

i have so many things to gush about in terms of the new combat/exploration system, i decided it needed its own section! the glow-up tartarus got was massive. i was pretty disappointed when i heard they were keeping it randomly generated, but somehow, atlus pulled it off! i'll talk about individual things below.

collectables/monad doors - one issue with OG tartarus is that it's monotonous. breakable collectables make it much more entertaining to romp through though, as smashing things is Fun. the monad doors interspersed throughout are another good addition - if you want a break from roaming, you can challenge them, but if not, that's fine!

floor layout - another thing that makes tartatus more fresh to explore is that the HD graphics really make the differences between the blocks pop out. the generally smaller floors with more unique layouts really helps too.

shifting - it's baton pass, though without the ridiculous power/sp bonuses that made baton pass a little bit too gamebreaking in persona 5. in other words, perfect!

theurgy - out of all the battle-specific improvements, theurgy and the personality traits have got to be my favourites. showtimes were fun, but too random/gimmicky to be that useful, and ultimate skills tended to fluctuate between being absolutely gamebreaking or too SP intensive to be worth using. blending them into one feature with a content-specific gauge fixes all the problems with them while keeping everything that made showtimes/ultimate skills good.

ambush mechanics - this was one of the things i was most worried about before playing reload. ambushing in P5 is fun, but ambushing in the other persona games...? not so much. reload manages to fix this though by making the shadows less sensitive, which makes the early game a lot better, and but introducing dash-ambushes once the floors get bigger. if the persona 6 ambush system works like this, i'll be happy.

navigator skills - fuuka being retooled to work more like a playable character was an A+++ decision. making her skills player-activated but with an SP cost is so much more immersive than randomly getting a stat boost/enemy info.

unfortunately, while i think most of the tartarus additions were great, there were a few new mechanics which weren't... dreadful, per say, but could have been implemented better.

great clocks - they're better than nothing, but quite frankly, i would have preferred it if benched units got 50% exp instead. they incentivise you to drop two units for a period of time, which is annoying, given i want to use everyone on my first playthrough. late game, great clocks are also a pain to summon, for reasons i'll talk about below.

twilight fragments - i think they're a neat idea in theory, but they need to be easier/more reliable to farm. once you finish off the bulk of your social links/elizabeth's requests, replenishing them becomes a nightmare, which is annoying because you need them for great clocks.

2. the mixed:

while reload did a lot of things right, as per above, there were some things that didn't quite hit the mark.

linked episodes - i'm gonna be blunt. anyone who thinks these are better than social links is smoking something. one thing i like about party member social links is that it gives them a subplot outside of the main story, focusing more on their mundane struggles as opposed to their supernatural ones. half of the linked episodes just develop the main plot more though (and really should have just been included in it), meaning the linked episode exclusive subplots are underbaked.

another problem is that some of the linked episodes are just... kinda badly written. ryoji's completely lacks his existential dread, akihiko's comes off as a poor attempt to make his arena behaviour less OOC, while shinjiro's... it feels like persona 5 writing, in the worst way possible. it's like atlus completely forgot that subtext is a thing that's Good, actually.

while I have been fairly critical of them so far though, there are a couple of linked episodes i liked. koromaru's actually worked with the format, given he's a dog, but the real winner here was takaya. i loved all of his. if linked episodes appear again, i'd rather they be locked to antagonists like him.

art direction- i'll say right now - the UI is fabulous, the model shaders are great, and tartarus looks fantastic. the environmental design on the whole though is a bit iffy - a lot of the environments didn't translate to the super HD very well, and the lighting sucks in general. i needed to turn down the brightness it was so eye-searing. the animation of the 2D cutscenes is also pretty mediocre, and while the 3D cutscenes tend to look better, they're held back by some of the character models looking a bit goofy (mitsuru's is probably the biggest offender). i also think they were too scared of making the sprites 'ugly', and therefore on the whole they're slightly less emotive than the ones in the older versions of the game, which is a pity.

3. the bad:

minato's social links - the vast majority of the minato-exclusive social links are just flat-out not great. serious props to the voice actors here, since they hard carried them. quite frankly, they're just... bland, except for maya's and suemitsu's, which. uh. have problems. on the topic of social links, while i'm happy the romance isn't mandatory anymore, i don't like how half the girls explicitly confess to you. i much prefer the more subtle vibes of the P5/P4 romantic options, as yeah, most of them can lead naturally into romance, but they don't make the MC feel like a harem anime protagonist (derogatory). it kinda brings to mind this twitter post; sometimes, subtlety is simply better.

the absence of shinji and ryoji's social links - i can live without saori, rio, and most of the new and improved SEES member social links, but this is where i draw the line. while shinji dying is better storytelling, just like with chidori, having the option to save him is also important. lock it behind new game plus, yes... but keep it. also, him priming kotone to support akihiko one he's gone is far better than him just flat-out telling minato that he's dying. ryoji's missing social link though is infinitely worse. where is his slowly mounting horror as he starts poking holes in his backstory? his desperation to validate that he's actually real? that he exists?! like yeah, it's nice that the linked episode doubled down on his bisexuality, but i'd rather keep the psychological breakdown aspects of it, y'know?

the difficulty - i started playing reload normal - the level i'd typically use for a blind run of a persona game - aaaaand swapped to hard the second i unlocked theurgy. even then though, the game was a cakewalk until january hit. while i love theurgy, the game is absolutely not scaled around it, especially since you can charge/concentrate them. doing that, you can easily rack up thousands of damage without even going ham with fusion. unfortunately, reload is just... really easy.

the plot's too faithful to the original - while reload added new content, it pretty much left the story untouched outside of the beach scene. that's... not good, as persona 3's narrative had some pretty big problems. the biggest issue is the unchanged pacing - the strega storyline really needed to start a month earlier, and ryoji needed an extra month to integrate with the characters due to his lack of social link. this is one of the things i'm explicitly docking a point for - reload still doesn't kick off until the yakushima arc, which is well over a third into the game.

despite my criticisms, i do want to note that my experience with reload was predominately positive. it's (extremely) sad that you still need to play portable to experience the full persona 3 story, but p3re is still a fantastic game, and has a lot of gameplay features i'd be delighted to see in persona 6.

that's all i've got to say for now - until next time!

[rabbitcruiser]

National Liqueur Day

Today we celebrate and imbibe liqueur, a distilled alcoholic beverage that is sweetened or blended with herbs, spices, flowers, nuts, cream, or fruits. The alcohol content of liqueur generally ranges from between 24 percent and 60 percent (48-120 U.S. proof) and is usually lower than that of liquor (spirits). Usually, the base spirit used to make liqueur is brandy. Liqueurs are not aged for very long, although their base spirit may be. But, there may be a resting stage to allow the flavors to blend together properly. In the United States, liqueurs are sometimes called cordials or schnapps. Technically, in the United States, the name schnapps only applies to brandies distilled from fermented fruits. Usually syrupy and sweet, liqueurs are used to make after-dinner drinks or are mixed with coffee. They may be drunk straight, poured over ice, or mixed. They are also commonly used to flavor desserts.

By 400 BC, fortified spirits were being made by the distillation of wine by the Egyptians and Greeks, who sweetened them with cinnamon and honey. These spirits were similar to today's liqueur and used ingredients that now are used to make mead. During the thirteenth century, European monks and alchemists improved upon the distillation process and created what we now would recognize as a liqueur. At the time it was mainly used for medical purposes. Today there are both generic liqueurs and proprietary liqueurs—those made by individual producers, often with a secret formula, with registered brand names. The following are some of the most common:

Generic:

Advocaat: cream liqueur.

Amaretto: almond flavor.

Apricot.

Crème d'ananas: flavored with pineapple.

Crème de cacao: flavored with cocoa and vanilla beans.

Crème de framboises: made with raspberries.

Crème de menthe: flavored with mint.

Crème de noyaux: almond-flavored; made with fruit pits; similar to amaretto.

Crème de violette: also known as parfait amour; contains oils from both violets and vanilla beans.

Kümmel: flavored with caraway seed.

Limoncello (Italy): lemon-flavored.

Sloe gin: flavored from the fruit of the blackthorn bush.

Triple sec: orange-flavored; colorless Curaçao.

Proprietary:

Baileys Irish Cream (Ireland): Irish whiskey and cream.

Bénédictine (France): first made in 1510; closely-guarded formula.

Campari (Italy): herbs and fruit.

Chartreuse (France): formula was developed in 1607; contains green and yellow plant liqueurs; spicy and aromatic flavors.

Cherry Heering (Denmark): cherry flavored.

Cointreau (France): proprietary blend of triple sec.

Crème Yvette (United States): violet flavor and color.

Curaçao: flavored from the dried peels of the green oranges from the island of Curaçao, located in the Caribbean Sea.

Danziger Goldwasser: spicy; contains tiny gold specks.

Drambuie (Britain/Scotland): Scotch whisky base; flavored with heather honey and herbs; made with a French formula that was brought to Scotland in 1745.

Forbidden Fruit (United States): brandy and grapefruit.

Grand Marnier (France): orange liqueur with cognac base; created in 1880; one of the most famous liqueurs of all time; Escoffier used it to make Crêpes Suzette; César Ritz was a fan of it and used it at his hotels.

Irish Mist (Ireland): made with Irish whiskey and honey; spicy.

Jägermeister (Germany).

Kahlúa (Mexico): coffee-flavored.

Liquore Galliano (Italy).

Midori (Japan): flavored with melon.

Sambuca (Italy): anise-flavored.

Strega (Italy).

Tia Maria (Jamaica): rum as base spirit; coffee-flavored.

Van der Hum (South Africa): spicy; aromatic.

How to Observe National Liqueur Day

Celebrate the day drinking liqueur. Use it to make an after-dinner drink, enjoy it straight, or pour it over ice. There are a countless amount of liqueurs and recipes that go with them that you could try. You could also use liqueurs to make a dessert. You could even use the day to learn how to make your own liqueurs. If you don't drink, you could still make or bake a dessert with liqueur for someone else, or try your hand at making homemade liqueur for a friend to try.

Source

[shadowtarot]

So some clever folks dug around the Persona 3 Reload website and managed to find an unrevealed battle theme. It sounds and feels VERY specific.

I've stated before that I don’t want to discuss P3's plot outside of readmores during the hype cycle due to my desire to keep new fans unspoiled, so as such I'll share my guess (and the general guess of those who have heard it) below.

If you only care about the song, then here you go

Otherwise follow me down.

Everyone has a theory that this is a Strega battle theme, specifically the battle you have on the train.

I've always thought personally that Unavoidable Battle felt a bit too weak of a song for what's meant to be serious encounters.

It definitely fits SMT but that's it. Maybe you have a different opinion than me, and if so that's fine.

Now why I personally think that this song is a Strega song is, the cords. Even though this song has a different BPM, I can definitely hear the same progression at times as with UB. And if this is just the Strega theme outright then having these harsh instrumentals with Lotus Juice's lyrics almost feels like a battle in of itself.

I can't quite pick out the lyrics as of now, but given that the vocalists for every Persona game tend to sing from the perspective of the Party and rarely for antagonistic forces, it's an easy association.

Now uh...as stupid as this might sound I have a second out of left field theory.

Ever stop to question why Persona 4 Arena Ultimax got a port not too long ago?

Ever wondered if Persona 3 Reload might have new content?

If you understand my implications then good.

[cosmicangst]

tags you're it

personal blathering space ft. mostly psycho-pass, joseimuke, (j)rpgs, and video games, theatre, lit, vibes, and some misc romance-adjacent stuff. maybe writing and some art. 

i don’t tag everything but i will tag content/trigger warnings so drop me a line. i also collect tropes/themes:

#god’s not dead; she’s just very tired. catch-all religion, spirituality, and mythology

#they used to shout my name; now they whisper it. prophets, martyrs, and made heroes

#après moi le déluge. witch grandma à la strega nona and/or neighbor who communes with goats and that old dead guy who lives in your cupboard

#those who do and those who don’t. cyberpunk, machines who dreamed themselves into sentience, (non)binary states.

#upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand. decaying empires, beasts slouching towards bethlehem, and crumbling concrete in the backstreets of the city

#tragedy is clean. it’s restful. it’s certain. the ontology of tragedies, loop storytelling, doomed endings, and good old-fashioned classics

#half daughter / half apology. kind of an ‘about me’ tag— mixture of queer-ing, gender-ing with monster theory and being slightly off from that mental illness luv <3

#diaspora blues. soul-weary homesickness when home doesn’t resemble home anymore

#whatever walked there walked alone. ghosts, hauntology, places that are born rather than built.

#romance blogging. i know where all the good shit is. also generally featuring romance novels that i’ve recently read

#💌. future love letters for me and you <33333

#growth. revisit and repeat

#provocations. other food for thot

#footnotes. arbitrary to-read list, mostly history or critical theory/activist texts

fandom-specific things:

#secondhand smoke. tsunemori akane and kougami shinya from psycho-pass (this is THE blog essentially)

#hawya. my fic, “here, and where you are”, a shinkane pride and prejudice/regency au

#pp. psycho-pass meta, memes, discussion, etc.

#sims. my long lifespan sims 4 playthrough ft. shinkane and their descendants

#one single thread of gold. artem wing and rosa/mc (named “elle finch” in-game) from tears of themis

#got your six. shepard and garrus vakarian from the mass effect series because no universe exists where one is without the other

#shepard. my mass effect oc, augustine jane shepard. she’s a pinay earthborn sole survivor with a paragade streak.

#if he is not the word of god. god never spoke. tomas ortega and marcus keane from the exorcist

#please picture me in the weeds. five and viktor from the umbrella academy, and the loving oroborous of the apocalypse that is their family.

#there was the poetry. a dot ham and a dot burr from hamilton. yeah i know

other:

#jm. catch-all liveblogs/notes for all my joseimuke playthroughs

#🌙. my book, the moon eaters, which is magical realism set in contemporary los angeles with elements of filipino mythology! really love this novel, hope to write it someday

#for a rainy day., #drafts. prompts, ideas, fic fodder/memes, and works-in-progress

#notes., #fic rec. media reviews, notes, and recs

#weekly reads. my round-up/reviews for what i read the past week

#audio. mostly showtunes, my middle school emo phase, etc. that i downloaded from limewire

#🇵🇭. philippines and filipino diaspora-related art/text

#gif., #edit. non-fic/art related things i’ve made

#reply. answered asks/replies

[grinoir]

Religious Medievalism: “Stregheria”, Wicca and History - part 1

[TN: This article will break the Introduction to Stregoneria series for a second, but I believe it’s important to set things into perspective about both Witchcraft and this blog. My goal is to put out content, translated or redacted by me, in order to give people the correct historical information. I see a lot people on TikTok messing with things they don’t know, appropriating and distorting practices and cultures and profiting off of it. The only focus of this blog is the practice and the history behind it, I don’t want to “put people down”, I want to make the information available so you won’t hurt yourselves.

Also, I do not support fa***sm, na**sm or any other movement/ideology that oppresses and discriminates people. I’m specifiying this because I’ve received an anonymous ask about it and it kind of hurt just reading it. I hope this will clarify things and make whoever asked me that more confortable with my blog and my content. I’m a history nerd Strega, nothing more.

This article will be a translation, synthesis and re-elaboration of the following articles

https://tradizioneitaliana.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/medievalismo-religioso-stregheria-wicca-e-storia/

https://medievaleggiando.it/la-legittimazione-storica-della-wicca-margaret-murray-e-la-manipolazione-delle-fonti/

https://medievaleggiando.it/il-vangelo-delle-streghe-e-linizio-della-wicca-il-fascino-di-un-falso-storico/

The first being a rectification of the two that follow.

This article will be divided in two parts because it’s way too long to read and to translate, i’m drained af]

THE DEBUNKING OF MURRAY

Margaret Alice Murray (1863-1963) was a British Anthropologist and Egyptologist, well known in the academic environment for her contributions in the studies of folklore. Even if she was very criticized and her reputation as an historian was poor, her work became popular bestsellers from 1940 onward.

The most well-known and controversial one is “The Witch-Cult in the Western Europe” published in 1921. In this book, Murray alleges that there was some sort of secret model of pagan resistance to Christianity spreaded all across Europe, and that the witches’ hunt and the proof presented to the trials were an attempt to eliminate a rival cult.

This book was clearly influenced by “Satanism and Witchcraft” by Jules Michelet, that alleged that Medieval Witchcraft was an act of popular rebellion against the oppression of feudalism and the Roman Catholic church, that took the form of a secret religion inspired by paganism and organized mainly by women.

To support her narrative, Murray chooses to analyze some of the trials that took place during the great hunt and employs 15 primary sources, mostly British or Scottish (not paneuropean, or sources from the european continent), that describe famous trials. Murray’s analysis of the Somerset Trials in 1664 offer a good example of her work ethics; quoting the testimony of Elizabeth Styles:

“At their meeting they have usually Wine or good Beer, Cakes, Meat or the like. They eat and drink really when they meet in their bodies, dance also and have Musick. The Man in black sits at the higher end, and Anne Bishop usually next him. He useth some words before meat, and none after, his voice is audible, but very low.”

Murray conveniently seems to “forget” to quote the immediately preceding phrase:

”That at every meeting before the Spirit vanisheth away, he appoints the next meeting place and time, and at his departure there is a foul smell.”

Other details offered by Styles are omitted, like when she alleges that the Devil presented to her in the shape of a dog or a cat or a fly, that the Devil offered her followers an oinment to use on their heads and wrists that made it possible to move them from a place to another. Or that sometimes the reunion involved only the spirits of the witches, while their bodies stayed at home.

Murray was fully aware of the fantasy element in the testimonies she included in her books, but she was able, by deliberately manipulating historical sources, to make people believe the fake narrative that a Medieval religion of witches with covens, rites and their own beliefs that relentlessy opposed Christianity really existed.

In her “The God of the Witches”, published in 1933 and clearly written for a commercial audience, she further broadened the scope of her claims on the witches’ cult. In this book, she alleges that until the C17th BCE the there was a religion, older than Christianity, that kept existing in all of Western Europe. Said religion, was focused on the worship of a two-faced horned god, known to the Romans ad Diano; this god presided the witches’ gathering and was mistaken by the Inquisition of the Devil, conclusion that made them associate witchcraft with a satanic cult.

Murray claims the existence of a *specific* non-christian organized cult spread all across Europe that worshipped Diano and relentlessly opposed the Roman Catholic church, but the sources she quotes are late and recount the flattening of the various “pagan” cults to the assimilation with the christian Devil, operated by the Church.

In fact, the Devil that the trials report on, depending on the religion, overlapped with different figures: in British and Scottish traditions the Devil was the result of the demonization of the King of Elphame. In the Basque country, the Devil substituted Mari. In Northern Italy it overlapped with the Donna del Buon Gioco. This means that the “Northern Italian Devil” is different from the “British Devil” and the “Basque Devil”.

This “Devil” is a figure that flattens everything and overlapped and substituted so many different figures, depending on the religion and the figure it ended up overlapping with.

Therefore, Murray’s narrative of a paneuropean cult of the Horned God stems from the analysis of late sources and to the false equivalence of the Devil that presided the Ludus (Sabba) in Scotland (where he masks the King of Elphame) and the Devil of other countries (where he masks other entities).

Since the Devil isn’t the same entity in all of Europe, the narrative of a counter-christianity organized paneuropean cult of prehistoric origin falls too. Instead, what we’re dealing with are Medieval, non-christian rielaborations of different remainders of the Religions of the Gentiles that survived in the Christian age and were absorbed in the legend of the Faery Procession/Procession of the Dominae Nocturnae first, and the legend of the Ludus (Sabba) later.

The following quote by Ronald Hutton, English historian who specialises in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism and professor at the University of Bristol, confirms this:

“Over a quarter of a century ago, I adopted the expression “Pagan survivals” to describe elements of ancient Pagan culture that had persisted in later Christian societies. In doing so, I was drawing a distinction between such survivals, of which there seemed to be many, and “surviving Paganism”; that is the continued self-conscious practice of the older religions, of which there seemed to be none. This point was worth making because even in the 1980s, there was a persisting belief, based on outdated academic texts, that Paganism had survived as a living force among the common people in much of medieval Europe: it was widespread in other scholarly disciplines than history, let alone among the general public. My formula and approach was adopted by other authors in the 1990s. During that decade, however, a reaction set in against it among historians who preferred to stress the comprehensive Christianization of medieval European societies and to relegate elements that had hither to been identifed as of pagan origin to categories of religiously neutral folklore or of lay Christianity. Some emphasized that the undoubted tendency of some Christians at the time to condemn such beliefs and practices as pagan was a hallmark of a highly atypical, reforming, intolerant and evangelical strain of churchman. Michael’s system of classification, in this volume, may be said to take its place in this, apparently now dominant, set of scholarly attitudes. Revisiting the issue myself, I am inclined to meet it halfway. I am startingto agree that to speak of aspects of medieval culture as “Pagan” might indeed be misleading and inadequate. Moreover, it would be especially inappropriate to characterize fgures such as the lady of the night rides, the fairy queen or the Cailleach as “Pagan survivals” when they seem like medieval or post-medieval creations. However, I have equal diffculty in describing them simply and straightforwardly as “Christian” because of their total lack of reference to any aspect of Christianity, including theology, cosmology, scripture and liturgy; all of them would indeed fit far more comfortably into a Pagan world-picture. […] It may be that the old polarized labels are becoming inadequate to describe a medieval and early modern religious and quasi-religious world that is coming to seem even more complex, exciting and interesting than it had seemed to be before.”

Also Michael Ostling, religious studies scholar focusing on the history, historiography, and representation of witches and witchcraft, confirms this in Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: “Small Gods” at the Margin of Christendom, published in 2018.

“Christians encompass aspects of their prior paganism both by inversion and revaluation. But where traditional spirits remain salient to a Christianized culture in encompassed or inverted form, their ongoing reality ought not to be counted by scholars as a pagan survival—though it is likely to be so construed by Christians themselves. Such “surviving” spirits are not just marginalized or diabolized pagan remnants, they are continually re-performed, recreated through Christian ritual and Christian discourse. We find such re-creation of the small gods throughout Christian history, and throughout this volume: when the Urapmin drive out the motobil by the power of the Holy Spirit, when Andean people frame their propitiation of the yawlu with devotion to the Christian God, when Mami Water appears primarily as a trope of Pentecostal deliverance ministry, when thirteenth-century Frenchwomen see, in an unoffcial Christian saint, their best hope of negotiating the return of their stolen babies from the follets, when the brownie and Robin Goodfellow appear in prayers of protection against them, in assertions of their diabolical status, or in tolerant mention of superstitious old wives who stillbelieve in such “harmless devils,” when cunningwomen insist that they only use “good devils” or that the fairies who facilitate their divination have no fear of the cross, this is because the beings involved have succeeded in taking up a niche within Christian discourse. The “good people” have not departed, have not been driven out by the sound of church-bells or the smell of gasoline. There are no pagan survivals: small gods are Christian creations with which to think the limits of Christianity.”

In essence, Murray’s version of events that describes Paganism as an anti-church, anti-society isn’t backed by any historical evidence.

Sources:

https://tradizioneitaliana.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/medievalismo-religioso-stregheria-wicca-e-storia/

https://medievaleggiando.it/la-legittimazione-storica-della-wicca-margaret-murray-e-la-manipolazione-delle-fonti/

https://medievaleggiando.it/il-vangelo-delle-streghe-e-linizio-della-wicca-il-fascino-di-un-falso-storico/

Michael Ostling. Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: ‘Small Gods’ at the Margins of Christendom. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

[alexandrite-dragoness]

Small Rant Post / What I've Been Up To...

To who it may concern—

I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for enjoying my content as of lately :)

No this isn't a goodbye lol, far from it

But you see I've been in the slumps lately. I haven't been too motivated to do much progress, even I feel like my drawing have been slacking since the whole break up with my friend.

Losing ppl is hard, and I now understand that.

But sometimes I gotta let those know that, hey, it's not working out. I'm sorry. But to only have that person turn the other cheek like "I expected as much" really put a strain of emotion within me that I can't seem to get rid of for quite sometime now.

But all the same I was more than glad to say something. I was being tired of being treated like I'm not doing good enough for them, like whatever I do that pissed them off ruins the whole day for the both of us, and only for my small mistake to bite me in the ass two weeks later. And for them to have another friend to talk to like I was just replaced for them only hurts more.

But I digress— while I may had some moments where it feels like I don't matter to those anymore, I knew I gotta do my own thing. I got three ppl who talk to me in each social media– Twitter, here on Tumblr, and Amino. And they all have a similar aspect: They all talk about themselves and sometimes themselves only.

But I never got the guts to tell them to hear me out, or say to end things here because I don't want to ruin their happiness.

But therefore... It's time for me to be selfish.

Basically chances are I won't be talking to them anytime soon, but I do want to focus on my happiness for the time being. At least until I feel better about myself.

And one way to do that is focus on my story I've been brewing for quite sometime now. Or basically anything regarding the Strega works I've been doing. Tho it may only mostly be writing, but I have been so excited on starting writing out the chapters now while half of my time in general are my first job and my side home job. So if my ex friend continues working on their fanfic I've heard 100k+ words about before our separation, then I'll be working on mine and nothing else.

So I'm starting my Gekkoukan!Strega story, for realsies. Tho I'd hate to drag anyone else into my obsession, so I'd only post it out in here and on AO3 to give everyone the freedom to read it as they please. Probably means no beta read either, but I will try to have my story be in present tense as the flashbacks be past tense.

I've been having some eyes on my story idea as is, and that what keeps motivating me more and more and hope everyone will enjoy it as much as I will writing it out. The story will take some elements of Shadow Cry, so expect a new character in the fic (Izumi). This story will more or less be a rehash of the P3 plot, but I will be focusing on the differences in scenes as Strega would be part of the SEES group. It will have multiple chapters, each chapter being each month of the full moon operation along with some slice of life stuff on the side.

I'll try to keep everyone posted on how's it going, I should have another flackback scene here sooommeettimmmee this month? Maybe?

Again thanks to those to keep up with my ramblings, I appreciate all the Strega enthusiasts checking out my blog along with my art blog ♥️

[imoofishes]

introduction post

copying strega because i honestly forgot to do this. it probably won’t be very long considering that imoo keeps to themself for the most part but i’m putting it under a readmore anyway :>

Would your OC know Imoo?

Not personally, and it’s honestly a long shot that they’d really know about him much at all. Imoo was briefly on the news for his catching of the Satsuma Mullet, an abnormally sized mullet that was legend among fishermen and marine biology enthusiasts in Kyushu for years. It was certainly a story, but not one that was focused on for very long - mostly because there just wasn’t a lot to follow. Imoo donated the fish to an aquarium in Osaka, and no one’s heard from him since. It’s rumored that he’s been working closely with the staff of said aquarium on helping with their research, as well as with several fishing corporations, but no one’s really sure. 

If your OC lives in the Kyushu area, though, they might know a little more. Imoo lives in a tiny fishing village by the shore with his grandmother and older brother. His grandma’s actually a staple at the local market, where she sells fish - many of which are caught by Imoo himself. 

General Information?

There’s not all that much known about him aside from what’s on the news, but a few more facts about the fisherman have emerged over time:

They attended a local public high school prior to their acceptance to Hope’s Peak Academy, but due to the fact that it’s a very small school, not much information is publicly available.

His brother is currently attending Waseda University as a business major. He appeared a few times in features about the Satsuma Mullet, but has been away since then.

Imoo specializes in typical fishing-rod catches, but also knows how to go crabbing and fish for clams. These practices take a backseat to more traditional fishing, though, since they require less attention.

They always carry their fishing rod with them in their backpack. 

Shipping

I think this is the very first time where I’m actually open to shipping my rp characters - in the past they’ve always been dating someone outside of the game, oops. I’m 100% open to shipping both ic and ooc! Imoo’s a bit of an odd duck who doesn’t easily develop romantic feelings for others, and if anything he’s pretty oblivious to others’ advances towards him. That, or he notices and just doesn’t really feel like doing anything. He’s a tough nut to crack, but he’s definitely shippable. Imoo doesn’t lean any particular way in terms of sexuality, but I’d prefer to ship with chem.

Mun + Etc

Howdy, it’s Mae (she/they). This isn’t my first rodeo (if you recognize me it’s probably from Conundrum Estate/Rewound Circuit/Heart Attack, i used to go by Sou), but I’m really excited to be here anyway! Jokey content about Imoo is 100% okay and if anything I encourage it. I’m also absolutely open to fanart, you don’t need to ask if you want to draw them! All i ask is that they not be involved in any nsfw content because they’re only 16 and that’s gross. that should be all!

[ciaoyoga]

Ashtanga: gli otto rami dello yoga

Ciao yogi in questo breve post vi lascio la traduzione di un brano che ultimamente ascolto e lascio suonare anche molto spesso durante le mie classi di yoga. Il genere musicale può non piacere ma a mio avviso il testo regala una visione chiara e completa dei famosi otto anga ( membra, rami o tappe) di cui ci parla Patanjali nei suoi Yoga Sutra. 

Non voglio e non posso aggiungere altro fuorché buon ascolto e buona comprensione! 

Namasté

Eight Limbs  (Otto Rami)

The 8 limbs of yoga, are called Ashtanga

Gli otto rami dello yoga si chiamano Ashtanga

The first limb - is the five disciplines of Yama

Il primo ramo riguarda le cinque discipline di Yama 

The very first yama is called Ahimsa,

Il primissimo Yama è chiamato Ahimsa,

the science of kindness or nonviolence positions.

la scienza della gentilezza e della pratica della non violenza.

The second Yama, is no dishonesty - Satya,

Il secondo Yama, è la non disonestà - Satya

which means truth in thoughts, words, indeed.

che intende concretamente la verità in pensieri e parole.

The third Yama of Ashtanga is called Asteya,

Il terzo Yama dell’Ashtanga si chiama Asteya,

which means not stealing or taken from your neighbor.

che significa non rubare o togliere al tuo prossimo.

The fourth limb - Brahmacharya,

Il quarto ramo - Brahmacharya

means self astray, ponesing our seeds so it wouldn't go to waste.

intende l’autocontrollo, posare i nostri semi in modo che non vadano sprecati.

The Fifth Yama is also important it's called a Aparigraha or

Il quinto Yama è anche molto importante ed è chiamato Aparigraha o

non-covet Aparigraha - concrecy,

non desiderare, concretamente Aparigraha consiste

not acquiring the things that we don't really need.

nel non procurarsi cose di cui non abbiamo veramente bisogno. 

Yama is the first branch of the tree,

Yama è il primo ramo dell’albero,

next to the Niyama, so let us proceed.

accanto ci sono Niyama, quindi procediamo. 

The Niyamas, like the Yamas,

I Niyamas, come gli Yamas,

are the code of ethics, yogis practice this to become perfective.

sono codici di etica, che gli yogi praticano per raggiungere la compiutezza.

The first Niyama - Saucha means purity,

Il primo Niyama - Saucha significa purezza, 

remembering to keep the mind and body clean.

ricorda di mantenere la mente e il corpo puliti. 

The second Niyama is called Samtosa or contentment,

Il secondo Nyama è chiamato Samtosa o appagamento,

an essential element of yoga,

un elemento essenziale dello yoga, 

remember to appreciate what we have,

ricorda di apprezzare ciò che abbiamo, 

seeing the perfection of where we act.

comprendendo la perfezione di dove agiamo. 

The third Niyama of Ashtanga is called Tapas for

Il terzo Niyama dell’Ashtanga è chiamato Tapas per

any of us to practice which burns the way to trust

ognuno di noi che pratica è ciò che brucia, la via per avere fede

Tapas is the arc which thought the way

Tapas �� l’arco che mostra la via 

to go the sacrifice that purifies the soul.

per accedere al sacrificio che purifica l’anima. 

The fifth Niyama - Svadhyaya means self observation studying itself

Il quinto Niyama - Svadhyaya significa auto osservazione, studiare se stessi

in list of evolation studying scriptures, gently

in un’ottica di evoluzione, studiare le scritture, in un pacato 

contemplations these are all forms of self examination.

raccoglimento tutte queste sono forme di auto esame. 

The fifth Niyama is Isvara Pranidhana, surrender to a higher power,

Il quinto Niyama è Isvara Pranidhana, arrendersi ad un potere più elevato, 

so we no longer suffer from our own mental conditions 

in maniera tale da non soffrire più per i nostri limiti mentali

and next limb in yoga is the yoga position.

e il quinto ramo in yoga è la posizione yoga. 

The third limb in ancient science

Il terzo ramo nell’antica scienza

of Ashtanga is the yoga posture known as Asana,

dell’Ashtanga è la postura yoga conosciuta come Asana, 

Asana or yoga pose many people think it means touching the toes,

Asana o posizione yoga molte persone credono che consista nel toccarsi la punta dei piedi, 

but asana is more about touching the soul

ma asana consiste per lo più nel toccarsi lo spirito,

learning to be steel in the middle of it all.

imparando a rimanere imperturbati nel mezzo del tutto.

The word "Asana" literally means "Sit" 

La parola “Asana” letteralmente significa “Sedere”

it's not like a sport when you trying to compete.

non è come uno sport in cui si cerca di competere.

A regular practice can generate health so

Una pratica regolare può generare salute così

that we can pursue the knowledge of the ourself.

che si può perseguire nella conoscenza di noi stessi. 

The forth limb in the yoga of Ashtanga 

Il quarto ramo nello yoga dell’Ashtanga

is conscious breathing or Pranayama.

è il respiro consapevole o Pranayama. 

Prana is the energy inside the breath

Prana è l’energia dentro al respiro,

when we master prana then we conquer death.

controllando il prana possiamo sconfiggere la morte. 

Pranayama expands our mental energy

Il Pranayama estende la nostra energia mentale

so then we can have clarity and vitality.

in modo da raggiungere chiarezza e vitalità. 

The fifth limb of Ashtanga is Pratyahara 

Il quarto ramo dell’Ashtanga è Pratyahara

rejoin the senses pulling back from samsara 

ritirare i sensi per arrivare al samsara

moving inward away from the external pulling in 

spostandosi verso l’interno, allontanandosi dall’esterno

like a turtle moving towards the internal.

come una tartaruga che si ritira al suo interno

Six limb.

Sesto ramo.

The six limb of Ashtanga is called

Il sesto ramo dell’Ashtanga si chiama 

Dharana, concentrating the mind so let it grows stronger.

Dharana, allenare la mente in maniera da farla crescere più forte.

Dharana is known as deep concentration

Dharana è considerata come una profonda concentrazione

unbroken it becomes Dhyana Meditation.

ininterotta diventa meditazione in Dhyana.

Seven limb.

Settimo ramo. 

Meditation is the seven limb and this is where the real inner journey begins

La Meditazione è il settimo ramo é da qui che inizia il vero viaggio interno, 

when the mind flows like a river into the sea

quando la mente scorre come un fiume verso il mare

emerges with the being which is Known as Samadhi.

emerge con quello stato dell’essere che è noto come Samadhi. 

Samadhi is the eight limb in a state of grace where we can swim

Samadhi è l’ottavo ramo in uno stato di grazia nel quale possiamo nuotare 

in the ocean of bliss feeling freedom and moksha

in un oceano di benedizione, percependo la libertà e moksha

can find the liberation which is the goal of yoga.

possiamo trovare la liberazione che è l’obiettivo dello yoga. 

To be one with everything as it is to experience truth,

Essere uno con il tutto così come fare esperienza della verità, 

consciousness and bliss this is under kind 

della coscienza e della beatitudine questo è unire 

unifying all things a love without any gaining, universe in.

con gentilezza tutte le cose sotto un unico amore senza interessi, e con tutto l’universo dentro.  

[gio-cosmo]

No Strega in the dancing games, no Strega dlc, no Strega merchandise in a majority of the collabs, no Strega spin-off, no Strega mention in the arena games (they could’ve made it work I know it in my heart and soul), extreme difficulty finding Strega content in general, super limited screentime, no Strega nui’s, this is so heinous and diabolical and devastating and miserable I need a cigarette and a beer and a nap and a cry-session and an ibuprofen and a coffee and a heart shaped pancake topped with powdered sugar and berries and syrup with a side of bacon.

[themadsorceressgrimoires]

🪩🪞ᴅᴇʟᴇᴛᴇ ᴘᴄᴏꜱ ɪɴꜰʟᴜᴇɴᴄᴇʀꜱ+—- —————————- Currently, we do not have an effective, safe, and inclusive system in place to even exalt anyone to a position of authority for PCOS. — Remember, in today’s world, social media is set up in a way that influencers must continously create “content” to generate a following. From there, they can create courses to sell to their followers. This is how influencers make a living off of social media. —- PCOS is an under-researched condition, which makes it MARKETABLE. —- It enables Healers *of all types of backgrounds* to target us [ people with PCOS ], and exploit our condition while we desperately try to seek answers. — But they are just influencers and strangers. How do we know they are safe, inclusive, and really are who they say they are? Do they make space for everyone in the community without a voice? Do they even have PCOS to speak on it? Why are their courses over-priced, and what gives them that right to price them that way? — Take back your own power, and delete influencers. — #pcos #pcosinfluencer #pcosawareness #pcoscommunity #healingjourney #strega #inneralchemy #pcosalchemy #animist #madsorceressgrimoires (at York, England) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClmdLV8rP4U/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[pangeanews]

Quando Anthony Burgess stroncava (con malizia) Umberto Eco: “leggetelo, saprete tutto sui monasteri italiani del XIV secolo…”

L’arguzia, salace e salata, di Anthony Burgess è un insegnamento giornalistico doc. Nel 1983 Burgess – che morirà dieci anni dopo, e quanto ci manca il suo salutare cinismo – è una autorità. Ha pubblicato i libri maggiori, compreso, da poco, il suo capolavoro, Gli strumenti delle tenebre, edito nel 1980. Nello stesso anno, in Italia, Bompiani pubblica Il nome della Rosa, il romanzo storico di un insigne intellettuale, Umberto Eco, che l’anno dopo vincerà il Premio Strega. Il romanzo, si sa, diventa un bestseller internazionale: in quel 1983 esce in Inghilterra, per la traduzione di William Weaver (che in inglese ha tradotto tutto Calvino, di tutto, da Gadda a Primo Levi, da Moravia alla Fallaci e che da allora sarà il traduttore di un bel tot di libri di Eco). Giornalista dalla penna irritante, Burgess distilla veleno dal miele: non si produce in una ‘stroncatura’ – genere ‘urlato’ a lui poco confacente in ambito libresco – ma disseziona con malizioso garbo il corpo del Nome della Rosa. Sostanzialmente, ritiene Eco un capace seguace di Conan Doyle – ma G. K. Chesterton, a suo avviso, è inafferrabile – e lo intruppa nella più becera narrativa ‘di genere’ insieme ad Arthur Hailey e a James Albert Michener, ora misconosciuti ma all’epoca autori di polpettoni-bestseller (così, Burgess bacchettandone uno, ne piglia altri due nel mazzo). L’articolo, tradotto in parte, è stato pubblicato nel 1983 ed è ora uno dei pezzi forti di The Ink Trade, libro appena stampato da Carcanet che raduna una antologia di articoli editi tra il 1961 e il 1993. Pare che Eco abbia chiesto a Burgess di supervisionare l’adattamento cinematografico del suo libro (oggetto del film di Jean-Jacques Annaud uscito nel 1986, con Sean Connery): lo scrittore declinò l’invito. Va riscoperta, per altro, l’attività di sceneggiatore di Burgess (non del tutto convinto della forma cinematografica che Stanley Kubrick preferì per Arancia meccanica), che non si limita al – bruttino – Gesù di Nazareth di Zeffirelli: la penna di Burgess si scopre in una serie di fiction per la tivù – sovente di argomento storico, su Amundsen, Attila, Ciro il Grande, Freud e… Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, nel 1980 – e nel film televisivo Mosè (1974), diretto da Giancarlo De Bosio, con un cast formidabile, che contava Burt Lancaster, Ingrid Thulin, Mariangela Melato, Michele Placido. In quel contesto, Burgess scrisse la sceneggiatura con Bernardino Zapponi, mitico autore di Fellini (firma, tra l’altro, I clowns, Roma, La città delle donne). Giocando con le allusioni e i miraggi, Fellini amava Burgess, ne elogiava, ricorda Tullio Kezich, “il sapere enciclopedico” tanto che “insieme a lui avrebbe voluto scrivere un film ambientato nell’antica Grecia”. Burgess e Fellini… Il progetto resta nel libro dei sogni, nel regno del sarebbe bello. (d.b.)

***

Quando leggiamo il nome, Guglielmo di Baskerville, siamo presi dal sospetto che si tratti di una incarnazione di Sherlock Holmes, specialmente quando costui inizia a investigare intorno a una serie di crimini commessi nell’abbazia. In sostanza, ci pare di assistere a una specie di ‘scherzo’, la trasposizione dell’investigatore di Baker Street nell’Italia medioevale, proprio come ci è parso uno ‘scherzo’ leggere – cosa che Eco probabilmente non ha fatto – la biografia di Conan Doyle firmata da Owen Dudley Edward, in cui l’autore espone le prove evidenti che dimostrerebbero come Sherlock Holmes sia il prodotto di una educazione gesuita. Ovviamente, i Gesuiti non esistevano all’epoca di Guglielmo di Baskerville, ma – edotto dall’Aquinate e da Aristotele e addestrato da Bacone intorno alla ricerca empirica – Guglielmo avrebbe potuto essere un ottimo gesuita inglese. Benché gli manchi la rotondità, l’arte wildiana del paradosso e la compassione di Padre Brown, certamente Eco conosce il nostro Chesterton. Teologia e criminalità, chissà perché, vanno spesso d’accordo.

Come i lettori sapranno, questo romanzo è diventato un bestseller in ogni paese dove è stato tradotto. Davvero, è strano, sfogliando il New York Times, leggere che questo romanzo, nella lista dei bestseller, appaia poco dopo John Le Carré, Morris West, Norman Mailer, Jackie Collins. Ciò, indipendentemente dalla popolarità del suo autore. Il dottor Eco è uno studioso di semiotica e un discepolo di Joyce; ciò che conosco di lui è affare eminentemente accademico; nessuno si sarebbe atteso un romanzo, divenuto così rapidamente un bestseller.

Ogni cosa, nel libro, pare lottare contro la possibilità di una vasta platea di lettori. Il romanzo è erudito, pieno di latinismi e di curiosità teologiche, irto di parole difficili, quasi del tutto privo di interessi sessuali. Esso racconta, con dettagli piuttosto specifici, la vita in una società medioevale, chiusa, con pochissimi contatti con la nostra, permissiva e positivista. Probabilmente, il puro e semplice accumulo di dettagli ne ha sancito il successo. La gente legge Arthur Hailey e James Michener per conoscere qualcosa riguardo alla gestione degli aeroporti e, in forma di romanzo, indottrinarsi in merito alla storia patria. Beh, leggete questo libro e non avrete più nulla da imparare su come funzioni un monastero italiano nel XIV secolo.

Anthony Burgess

L'articolo Quando Anthony Burgess stroncava (con malizia) Umberto Eco: “leggetelo, saprete tutto sui monasteri italiani del XIV secolo…” proviene da Pangea.

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Descriptions of Several Paths of Wicca

Cantrell, Gary. Wiccan Beliefs & Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries & Covens. 2001. Llewellyn Publications, 2013.

The material presented in this table was initially inspired by Raymond Buckland’s book Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, as well as by conversations with others in the Craft. While the material presented here is obviously not meant to give the reader a complete description of each Tradition listed, it should at least yield enough information to determine if a particular Tradition merits further investigation or study.

     As noted before, this is only a sampling of some of Wicca’s major Traditions, with their arrangement in this table being purely alphabetical. There is no superiority or inferiority either expressed or implied by the order of appearance, or by the lack of appearance, of a Tradition or Path.

1. Alexandrian

This is one of the Traditions generally grouped under the heading of a “Brit Trad” or British Traditional form of Wicca. This Tradition was originated in England by Alex Sanders in the early 1960s, with its rituals being essentially a modification of Gardnerian Wicca. A structured degree system of First through Third Degree is used for advancement within the Coven. Alexandrian Wicca is an initiatory Tradition and is therefore not open to Solitaries.

2. British Traditional Witch (BTW)

This Tradition is essentially derived from Gardnerian principles and has a strong Celtic component. This is a highly structured Tradition with specific educational and training requirements that need to be met for advancement within a Coven through a degree process. This is an initiatory Tradition where an initiation is done only by an approved Elder, and the initiates can typically trace their lineage back to the original Coven of Gerald Gardner; thus, BTW is not a Tradition open to the Solitary practitioner. Some BTW Covens still tend to defend militantly the use of the word witch. They believe this word is properly applied only to initiated members of this Tradition.

3. Celtic

This Tradition is a mix of the Kitchen Witch Path with the very early Celtic pantheons of Scot, Irish, and Welsh, and even having some Druid flavors. Anglo-Roman influences can also be present in some Paths of Celtic Wicca. The emphasis is on nature veneration and the elements identified as the Ancient Ones or Old Ones, and it stresses the magickal properties of trees and plants. Celtic Wicca does not, however, have the firm connection to specific and holy groves, springs, or trees, as does the Druid Tradition, and is easily adaptable for Solitaries. The basic ritual structure and content of Celtic Wicca can generally be found, to some degree, in most Traditions. This may be one of the oldest Wiccan Traditions because of its broad influence across the entire Wiccan format.

4. Dianic

Developed by Margaret Murray in 1921, this Tradition is typically identified as a feminist Tradition. The focus of many Dianic Covens can be totally on the Goddess to the exclusion of the male God component, with all emphasis on “wimmin” or “womyn” only. This is generally an initiatory Tradition, but many individuals practice its tenets as Solitaries. Almost any Pagan Tradition can support a Dianic Path.

5. Eclectic

This Tradition is essentially a mix of various Paths wherein the worshipper selects what are considered to be the best parts of several Paths and combines them into a new whole, without following any specific or single Tradition or magickal practice. It is easily adaptable to the Solitary practitioner, but the downside to being totally eclectic is the obvious end result of developing a new concept of worship, one so new or different that it may no longer be considered Wiccan.

6. Gardnerian

This Tradition was founded by Gerald Gardner in the middle 1950s and is generally considered to be the starting Tradition of the modern witchcraft revival movement. Gardnerian Wicca is another of the British Traditionals and is highly structured, with firm requirements in both time and skills that have to be met for advancement through the various degrees. Self-initiation is not possible in Gardnerian Wicca; thus, it is not a viable Path for Solitaries.

7. Hereditary

This is a highly restrictive Tradition, since you must be able to trace your Wiccan ancestry back several generations in your genealogy. Teachings and initiations are done only by a living relative who was similarly instructed and initiated, and outsiders or nonfamily members are not considered for participation. It is ideal for Solitaries if you can meet these qualifications.

8. Kitchen Witch

This Tradition is devoted essentially to the practical or working end of the Old Religion, with emphasis on the use of plants and spells for such things as protection and healing. This Tradition may come closest to the generally understood meaning of what a witch is and does, and it was apparently practiced by the Neolithic inhabitants of most of Western Europe. This is also one of the Traditions most easily practiced by Solitaries, since the required education can be obtained from either self-teaching or can be learned from others.

9. Seax-Wica

This Tradition was founded by Raymond Buckland in the early 1970s as an offshoot of Gardnerian Wicca. Seax-Wica (that is the correct spelling of this Path) differs from Gardnerian primarily in its ability to accommodate the Solitary practitioner. There are no degrees in Seax-Wica, but emphasis is placed on skills learned either through instruction or self-instruction, and one can self-initiate.

10. Strega

This is an Italian Tradition, dating from about the middle of the fourteenth century A.D., that emphasizes worship of the Goddess in Her form of Aradia, daughter of Diana. Some of the Sabbat names in Strega may differ from those used in other Traditions of Wicca, although many of the same rites and festivals are celebrated.

11. Teutonic or Nordic

This Tradition is probably just as ancient a form of Wicca as the Celtic form, but it has its base in the Nordic countries of Europe, with emphasis on the Nordic pantheon more than on the British Isles or Celtic deities. This Tradition is typically more prevalent among some of the Germanic-speaking peoples such as the Dutch, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, and Germans. 

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National Liqueur Day

Today we celebrate and imbibe liqueur, a distilled alcoholic beverage that is sweetened or blended with herbs, spices, flowers, nuts, cream, or fruits. The alcohol content of liqueur generally ranges from between 24 percent and 60 percent (48-120 U.S. proof) and is usually lower than that of liquor (spirits). Usually, the base spirit used to make liqueur is brandy. Liqueurs are not aged for very long, although their base spirit may be. But, there may be a resting stage to allow the flavors to blend together properly. In the United States, liqueurs are sometimes called cordials or schnapps. Technically, in the United States, the name schnapps only applies to brandies distilled from fermented fruits. Usually syrupy and sweet, liqueurs are used to make after-dinner drinks or are mixed with coffee. They may be drunk straight, poured over ice, or mixed. They are also commonly used to flavor desserts.

By 400 BC, fortified spirits were being made by the distillation of wine by the Egyptians and Greeks, who sweetened them with cinnamon and honey. These spirits were similar to today's liqueur and used ingredients that now are used to make mead. During the thirteenth century, European monks and alchemists improved upon the distillation process and created what we now would recognize as a liqueur. At the time it was mainly used for medical purposes. Today there are both generic liqueurs and proprietary liqueurs—those made by individual producers, often with a secret formula, with registered brand names. The following are some of the most common:

Generic:

Advocaat: cream liqueur.

Amaretto: almond flavor.

Apricot.

Crème d'ananas: flavored with pineapple.

Crème de cacao: flavored with cocoa and vanilla beans.

Crème de framboises: made with raspberries.

Crème de menthe: flavored with mint.

Crème de noyaux: almond-flavored; made with fruit pits; similar to amaretto.

Crème de violette: also known as parfait amour; contains oils from both violets and vanilla beans.

Kümmel: flavored with caraway seed.

Limoncello (Italy): lemon-flavored.

Sloe gin: flavored from the fruit of the blackthorn bush.

Triple sec: orange-flavored; colorless Curaçao.

Proprietary:

Baileys Irish Cream (Ireland): Irish whiskey and cream.

Bénédictine (France): first made in 1510; closely-guarded formula.

Campari (Italy): herbs and fruit.

Chartreuse (France): formula was developed in 1607; contains green and yellow plant liqueurs; spicy and aromatic flavors.

Cherry Heering (Denmark): cherry flavored.

Cointreau (France): proprietary blend of triple sec.

Crème Yvette (United States): violet flavor and color.

Curaçao: flavored from the dried peels of the green oranges from the island of Curaçao, located in the Caribbean Sea.

Danziger Goldwasser: spicy; contains tiny gold specks.

Drambuie (Britain/Scotland): Scotch whisky base; flavored with heather honey and herbs; made with a French formula that was brought to Scotland in 1745.

Forbidden Fruit (United States): brandy and grapefruit.

Grand Marnier (France): orange liqueur with cognac base; created in 1880; one of the most famous liqueurs of all time; Escoffier used it to make Crêpes Suzette; César Ritz was a fan of it and used it at his hotels.

Irish Mist (Ireland): made with Irish whiskey and honey; spicy.

Jägermeister (Germany).

Kahlúa (Mexico): coffee-flavored.

Liquore Galliano (Italy).

Midori (Japan): flavored with melon.

Sambuca (Italy): anise-flavored.

Strega (Italy).

Tia Maria (Jamaica): rum as base spirit; coffee-flavored.

Van der Hum (South Africa): spicy; aromatic.

How to Observe National Liqueur Day

Celebrate the day drinking liqueur. Use it to make an after-dinner drink, enjoy it straight, or pour it over ice. There are a countless amount of liqueurs and recipes that go with them that you could try. You could also use liqueurs to make a dessert. You could even use the day to learn how to make your own liqueurs. If you don't drink, you could still make or bake a dessert with liqueur for someone else, or try your hand at making homemade liqueur for a friend to try.

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