#dead leaf of a sick branch of a rotting tree

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘a dead leaf of a sick branch of a rotting tree’.

[text id: i am running out of metaphors / to hide this sickness in]

[fatimaamerbilal]

Really miss your posts. Please come back.

[learnplants]

Our next plant is called "Taxus Baccata" or commonly referred to as the yew tree or common yew or English yew! It's commonly found growing in southern England as part of churchyard hedging! It also makes up the understory of beech woodland, which is a plant we'll talk about in the future! If conditions are perfect, then a yew tree will grow as large as 20 metres or 65 feet and 7 inches! It's also thought to be one of the longest living plants in northern Europe!

Now for a description! The bark of the yew is reddish-brown with a tinting of purple, and also looks like it's peeling away! It has needle-like leafs and is an evergreen, meaning it's leafs don't drop in winter months! They grow on a central vein in two rows and are dark green in colour!

Yew trees are dioecious, which is a fancy term meaning male flowers grow in one tree and female flowers will grow on a different yew! They're visible predominantly in march and april, the males looking like small globes that are white-yellow in colour, whilst the female flowers scaly and bud-like but mature into brown acorn shapes!

Now, yew trees are conifers, which would mean they're fruits are cones, right? Wrong! The yew likes to do things differently! It develops red berry-like fruits called an aril! It looks similar to a berry but it has a great big hole on the end of it! Imagine an olive but red!

When a yew is growing and being trained to be a hedge, it'll grow to be a very dense cluster of branches and leafs, which in turn creates amazing habitat for goldcrest and firecrest birds, who will be able to nest in and around them! The fruit gets eaten by a variety of birds, such as the blackbird, as well as many small mammals, such as squirrels and dormice! The leafs also provide food for the satin beauty moth caterpillars!

Now for some history! Yew trees have been used by churches for many hundreds of years, because it was thought that yew trees could 'purify the dead', so they were planted with plague victims to try and halt the spread! It's also poisonous to cattle, and was used to stop "commoners" from letting their cattle graze on church land! Yew has a mixed view in history, often being associated with death but also immortality! The Romans even thought that yew trees came from hell!

Yew wood has been used for many hundreds of thousands of years, in fact it's such a strong and durable wood, that wooden artifacts from ancient times have been fairly consistently made of yew wood! Also, some compounds found within yew leafs are used in modern medicine, because they've been developed into anti-cancer medications! But don't go and eat yew leafs, it has to be developed properly to be an effective medication! Without that, eating them just causes extreme sickness!

Now, this is where I would talk about their disease risks... But yew doesn't have any! It's practically indestructible! The only thing that can affect it, like almost every single plant in the world, is root rot, predominantly from too much water!

Overall, Taxus Baccata is an amazing plant and very deserving of your respect! Filled with history, these trees truly stand the test of time, and so without further pause, here's what the common yew looks like!

[treesunlimitedllc]

How Do I Recognize When A Tree Is Sick? What Are The Signs?

Have you ever wondered what a tree looks like when it gets sick? Trees are a lot like low maintenance pets. Because trees live fifty to hundreds of years, most people don’t really think about their general health once they have matured. But there are a lot of things that can make trees sick and a sick tree is a dangerous tree.

Here’s what you need to know about sick trees and how to care for them:

Why Do Trees Get Sick?

Environmental changes and physical damage are by far the most common problems that cause tree disease. And since most people aren’t inspecting their trees regularly for illness, these issues can become severe.

Tree Bark Abnormalities

Discolored, moist, flaking, or weeping bark can indicate that a tree is sick. The bark is the outer shell of a tree that affords protection. When it is unable to do its job, the rest of the tree suffers too. Therefore, damage to the outside of a tree can be more dangerous than it seems. Significant damage across the outside of a tree can kill it entirely.

Dead and Weak Branches

If branches are drooping, cracking, or dry, it could mean that the tree is severely damaged. You can test whether a branch is dying by snapping it. If it snaps and is bone dry, the branch is already dead.

Having a tree with dead or weakened branches is extremely dangerous to your safety. These types of branches on a large tree can drop suddenly and without warning. Remove dead or weak branches from a tree immediately. Have a tree care specialist inspect the rest of the tree for disease or weaknesses.

Wilted or Dying Leaves

Noticing this issue is helpful in saving a tree from disease and pests. It’s important to try to remedy the problem as quickly as possible with guidance from a professional.

Insect Attacks on Trees

Spotted Lanternfly cause oozing sap, wilting, leaf curling, and tree dieback. In addition to tree damage, when spotted lanternflies feed, they excrete a sugary substance, called honeydew. Honeydew encourages the growth of black sooty mold that also harms trees.

The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive insect that takes over by laying its eggs inside the bark of trees. Larvae then eats the tree from the inside out for years until they reach adulthood. This beetle has destroyed tens of millions of Ash trees throughout the United States.

Decay and Mold

Sometimes trees simply get too much water. If they are in a muddy or boggy area, it’s possible that decay, mold, and rot can set in. When trees start to rot, it can be very difficult to manage. The rot must be cut away immediately or it will take over the entire tree.

Mold can be an indicator that a tree is rotting from within. It can also happen for a variety of other reasons, such as too much moisture on its bark.

How Do You Prevent Your Tree from Becoming Sick?

What Do You Do If a Tree is Sick?

It’s incredibly important to address a sick tree. A sick tree can fall and easily damage surrounding structures, cars, or people. It also depreciates your property value.

The best way to find out whether your tree is sick is to call a professional. Your tree may be treatable depending on how severely sick or injured it is. Some trees may need to be braced while they recover or have branches cut away or splinted.

If you’re worried that your tree might be ill, it’s time to call the professionals. Contact Trees Unlimited NJ for complete tree services in Wayne NJ. You can rely on us!

Originally Published at https://treesunlimitednj.com/

[423treeservice]

How to Identify Sick Trees: A Complete Guide for Homeowners

Identifying Sick Trees: Essential Tree Care Advice for Johnson City Homeowners

A healthy tree condition is vital for maintaining property beauty while ensuring safety and increasing real estate value. The strongest trees are susceptible to diseases as well as pests and environmental stress. Early detection of sick trees in Johnson City real estate properties helps homeowners protect their landscaped areas and avoid dangerous conditions while saving money. At 423 Tree Service, we specialize in helping property owners with professional tree care in Johnson City, offering everything from disease diagnosis to complete treatment plans.

This guide provides information about recognizing tree illness symptoms as well as probable origins and appropriate response steps if a problem arises. Let’s get started!

Why Tree Health Matters

Trees in good condition increase property value and provide oxygen detection as well as attract buyers because of their shade-giving capabilities and visual appeal. Trees in poor health or near death create substantial dangers for everyone. Weak trees create high risks for storm-related limb breakage or complete collapse that may result in safety threats and damage to property.

That's why regular inspections and proper maintenance are so important. If you need expert help, 423 Tree Service offers a full range of tree care services in Johnson City, providing accurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

Common Signs Your Tree Might Be Sick

Identifying the right signs helps significantly in maintaining tree health. The following list includes essential symptoms to identify:

1. Discolored or Wilting Leaves

The first indicator of tree health problems appears as alterations in leaf appearance and color. Plants display yellowing combined with brown or blackened leaves during normal periods of green foliage. The tree shows signs of wilting or drooping although you provide enough water.

Common causes:

Fungal infections

Root rot

Nutrient deficiencies

Pest infestations

2. Abnormal Leaf Drop

The normal fall leaf shedding process in trees does not align with excessive leaf loss occurring during spring or summer. This signifies a potential problem. The premature loss of leaves signals underlying health problems or stress and disease.

3. Cracks and Splits in the Bark

The protective layer of bark around trees functions in a similar way as the human skin protects the body. A tree becomes exposed to diseases and pests when it develops cracks or deep splits or shows peeling bark.

Look for:

Vertical splits

Oozing sap

Bark falling off without new growth underneath

If you spot bark damage or structural issues, professional tree services in Johnson City can help you address the problem quickly.

4. Presence of Fungi or Mushrooms

Identical growth of mushrooms and fungi near the tree base indicates that decay is occurring inside the trunk. Certain fungi create no harm but other strains signal root rot or wood decay which make tree structures weak.

5. Dead or Falling Branches

Dead tree branches pose two-fold risks as they create both aesthetic problems and safety hazards. A tree dropping large branches indicates its natural process of discarding weak or dying parts to save energy.

The appearance of deadwood or falling tree limbs indicates you need to contact 423 Tree Service for a professional assessment.

We also offer emergency tree services in Johnson City for hazardous trees that need immediate attention.

6. Unusual Growth Patterns

Several signs indicate internal problems including deformed branches and growth issues as well as the formation of dense branch clusters known as "witches’ broom." Internal malfunctions leading to these patterns develop from infections as well as pests and environmental stress.

Common Tree Diseases in Johnson City, TN

Living in the Appalachian Mountain foothills requires specific challenges for proper tree maintenance. The humid climate of Johnson City provides perfect conditions for specific tree diseases to develop.

1. Anthracnose

A fungal disease results in dark sunken lesions that appear on plant leaves and stems and fruits. The fungal disease commonly occurs after spring seasons with excessive rainfall.

2. Powdery Mildew

The white powdery fungal growth on leaves surfaces weakens young trees when left untreated.

3. Root Rot

Root rot develops when trees lack sufficient oxygen because of poor drainage and wet conditions thus causing death from below.

If root problems are severe, you may need professional removal. Learn about our safe tree removal services in Johnson City if your tree cannot be saved.

4. Canker Diseases

Cankers are sunken areas of dead bark, usually due to fungal or bacterial infection. They will girdle branches or trunks and cut off the flow of nutrients.

What Causes Trees to Get Sick?

It is therefore important to understand the cause of the problem so as to avoid them in future. There are various causes of tree diseases in Johnson City as follows;

Poor Soil Quality: Lack of nutrients or poor drainage can stress trees.

Compacted Soil: Especially in urban areas, compacted ground limits root growth.

Improper Planting: Trees planted too deeply or too shallowly often struggle.

Pest Infestations: Boring insects, aphids, and beetles can introduce diseases.

Weather Stress: The natural disasters such as storm, drought or flooding can put the tree’s immune system on the low.

It is important to note that proper care such as pruning, mulching and watering of the tree can do a lot in preventing the tree from getting sick. We recommend scheduling seasonal tree maintenance in Johnson City to catch problems early and promote healthy growth.

How to Respond if You Suspect a Sick Tree

If you notice any warning signs, early action is key. Here’s what to do:

1. Conduct a Simple Inspection

Walk around your tree and take note of:

Leaf color and condition

Bark texture and integrity

Presence of fungi, insects, or odd growths

Branch strength (do they snap easily?)

2. Call a Certified Arborist

It is recommended that one hires an arborist to come and evaluate the tree and advise on what should be done to treat it. When it comes to tree service in Johnson City, there is only one name to know, and that is 423 Tree Service. We can easily assess tree conditions and give recommendations on what should be done. Learn more about our arborist services in Johnson City.

Call us today at (423) 427-4933 or visit 423treeservice.com to schedule a consultation!

3. Start Treatment Quickly

As for the tree diseases, some of them can be treated with fungicides, changes in the soil, or by pruning. Some may need to attend more assertive treatments. At times, it may be necessary to remove a tree so as to protect other healthy trees or to avoid any physical harm.

Tree Care Tips for Prevention

As the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The following basic guidelines will support the wellness of your trees throughout the entire year:

Mulch Properly: Mulching the soil base surrounding the trunk will help control temperature while maintaining moisture levels.

Water Wisely: Water deeply but infrequently to encourage strong root systems.

Prune Regularly: Dead or weak branches should be removed because this action prevents disease transmission while promoting the development of healthy plant growth.

Fertilize as Needed: Test your soil and amend it if necessary to provide essential nutrients.

Monitor for Pests: Catching infestations early can prevent long-term damage.

If you're unsure about how to care for your trees, remember that 423 Tree Service provides expert tree trimming services in Johnson City, helping you maintain healthy, attractive trees all year long.

Why Choose 423 Tree Service?

When it comes to protecting your trees, you want a team you can trust. Here's why homeowners throughout Johnson City, TN turn to us:

Certified Arborists: Knowledgeable and experienced in all aspects of tree health.

Local Expertise: We understand the unique challenges and diseases common in our region.

Comprehensive Services: From inspections to treatments and removals, we handle it all.

Customer First Approach: We believe in honest advice, fair pricing, and outstanding service.

When you partner with 423 Tree Service, you're investing in the long-term beauty, safety, and health of your property.

📢 Worried About Your Trees? Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late!

🌳 423 Tree Service is Johnson City’s trusted team for expert tree care and disease diagnosis. ✅ Certified Arborists ✅ Fast, Reliable Service ✅ Free Consultations Available

📞��Call Us Today: (423) 427-4933 🌐 Visit: 423treeservice.com

👉 Schedule Your Tree Inspection Now!

📍 Serving Johnson City, TN and surrounding areas

[cuntyrunwayprince]

Owl in the lemon tree

-Why does my health need to be moralised?

-How is my sickness my own self made demise?When I tell you I'm sick all the time you tell me you've been sick all your life and if I had a dime.

-For all the blaming,compering and naming,I'd have a law firm name their price and demand the money of the years of damage I'd sue you for,millions in dimes.

-Well at least that's what I like to imagen.

-But I only swallow the anger you lash me with and get whiplash when the distance between us gets longer and it doesn't make my heart grow fonder.

-And in all of this,I'm behind my minds eye in a green field by a lemon tree looking at the blue sky.

-I don't hear you there,the wind whists your voice away and the grass brings me comfort greater than our home and the lemon tree makes me feel less alone.

-As the corpse of an owl rots in it’s leafs,branches piercing it’s broken wing and bones that don't differ from the wood.

-I know the scent of lemon flowers only masks the putred smell of a body,that's decaying of an owl long dead,but there is nowhere else to take fruit or shade.

-Even if it's bitter.You're bitter,and make me bitter.

-As my body falls apart all you do is mock my heart,it's soft and it's falling in parts.Now I'm not sure you want me alive,since I'm such a burden in your life and you don't see how I'm barely holding onto mine.

-And so I find myself by the lemon tree again.In a green field with blue skies and a feather in my hand,the owl dead still in the tree.

[mountain-lion-gremlin]

i wanna share something that I wrote while I was m-shifting. I honestly think that its super cool, and is such a good way to become more aware on how you can feel m-shifted, and understand it for yourself.

(Hey there's blood, guts, dead animals, killing animals, and it talks of animal sickness in here. Wouldnt recommend reading if these trigger you in any way.)

The cougar watched the rain drip through the stone of her small hideaway. She had curled up for the morning in this small crevice, and water dripping from the trees above had awoken her from a dreamless darkness. The leaf litter was cool on her paws, surprisingly dry under her. Rain overcame her sense of sound, but she could still hear past and deeper into the trees, where the bushes rustled and tiny paws skittered across the stone and moss. Squirrels, foxes, birds. The tiny heartbeat of a mouse, tucked deep into the stones around her pounded and pounded on. The air was wet and was full of the smell of herself, and the rain. A draft of a passing transient and deer tickled her nostrils.

Stretching with a curved back, paws out and clawing at the bark on her territory, small scent glands between her toes caught on the tree, and the smell of herself covered the base of the tree. Rain slid down her coarse fur and back. It smelt of continuing storms, and the foggy air around her kept her locked safely away from others seeing her. Wind blew her scent behind her, a cloak of a warning to anything that was near.

But she wasnt hungry for small rodents, or fox, or carrion. Her kill had spoiled, and a bear had chased her off. But she had hid it so well, and was very careful to move it each time, perhaps the rain had rotted its meat and the stench. Her smell and the forest floor wasnt enough to hide it. She would just have to find more.

The cougar started at a slow pace, paws barely dragging in the leaf litter and bare dirt as she wound her way through the warm trunks around her. The fog helped both her to hide, but also her prey to hide. She had to rely on smell alone. The wind had shifted slowly, and the smell became stronger, much, much stronger. One was close. She could start to hear its breathing, and her mouth started to water already. An image of it lain dead before her, just like any other kill before, flashed across her mind. The rain beat harder into the earth, and she quickly ducked under a single bush. Running water filled her senses, and she found herself on the edge of a small stream. She was struck by an odd feeling, a feeling of wrongness watching the deer drink in the stream. Closer than before, she could smell it. Sunken eyes and flesh, she could see how sharply the doe's chest caved inwards between the hind bones and the long teeth. (hips and ribs)

Her soul yearned to make the kill, but her instincts told her the truth. The doe was sick. Its head dragged, its eyes milky, missing fur and stumbling. Dangerous. She would die to eat the deer. She had to return it to the earth. She stalked slowly forward, picking up her feet perfectly so no branch nor twig was disturbed. Her whiskers pushed forward, tail lifted, ears pricked and her senses attuned to everything around her. She could hear its breathing, and could sense the heat permiating the air around it. It turned away, hind legs splashing into the stream and stumbling, so she took her chance and lept for its hind. It was only an instant, but it was the most exhilerating and anxious time of the kill. Her instincts took her right to the neck, and her teeth inserted between the skull and disk right below it. Claws dug deep into its shoulder, they were falling together. The cougar's canines cut through the connection between it, and at that same time hit the ground, trapping her tail beneath it. Pain shot up her tail, and she hissed, looking around with her ears back until her eyes rested on her tail, trapped beneath the doe. She grabbed it by its scruff, and started to pull it out of the stream so the earth could accept the doe once again. Her fur was soaked now, and once pulled out of the stream she set to cleaning her fur. She was always driven to cover herself with the scent of her kill after she took it down, but this time it wasnt to eat, and she was too wet to continue on.

The rain had started to quiet, but the fog persisted as time went on. She had ripped open the kill, careful to avoid disease. She cleaned herself a second time, feeling the sickness waft onto her fur. She stood, and bounded off into the woods, following a long worn path of the animals. She needed to eat. A feeling rested upon her body, but was soon gone once she came across a herd of deer. It was quick, and soon she had a young buck beneath her, ears clipping on the antlers as she took it down. It was running for a ledge, faster and faster. She grabbed the back of its skull in her jaws, and with a sharp yank she heard a crack in its disks and its body collapsed. She was lucky to catch this kill - the inside of her chest was eating itself, and she dug in without any hesitation. Warmth brushed across her face once she ripped it open, and she quickly removed the grass snakes within the deer. They were organs, looked like organs, but they did not give nutrition to her, so they were removed quickly and dragged away from the deer. A fox, or something else would find it later and feast. Next was the grass pouch, same as the grass snakes - and finally she found the thick slab of organ that was darker, and was the only organ she ever looked for first. Humans called it "liver", but all she could focus on was her chest eating itself, and how she had to stop it.

Blood dripped down her whiskers and was covering her fur, and finally her chest stopped its consuming. She pulled the buck for a long time away from the ledge, until her teeth hurt and she could no longer see the ledge. Her paws then scooped up the forest litter, and she went to covering the kill from other animals. She yawned, and walked a little bit away, watching its resting place as she cleaned herself of both her scent and the blood on her fur. Darkness had overtaken the sky, and the clouds parted, the air dry but still smelling of rain, distant rain. She wanted to rest. She clawed her way into a tree, and settled on a large branch. She could feel her body relaxing and the flesh within her chest filling her body and making her warm. This was her home, and she would never leave this place. Darkness overtook her senses, and they faded away from her as her eyes drooped closed. She was drifting aimlessly in the darkness, and knew nothing more.

I donno, I just wanted to share that lol

[treedoctorusasworld]

Expert Tree Health Checkup: Key Indicators to Watch

Trees, like humans, are living beings. Trees can get sick and die if you do not provide proper care to them. As a result, regular monitoring of the tree’s health becomes crucial. If you love your tree, then observe the condition of your tree from time to time. When you do so, you will notice many unfavorable changes in the tree, which indicates deteriorating tree health.

You may have to deal with a tree problem at some point in your life, such as diagnosing tree diseases or retaining health after a pest attack. In any case, trees are an essential part of your life, and you must ensure that they are healthy all the time. A sick tree will show signs of illness that are easy to spot if you know what to look for. Trees that are not in good health frequently have leaves that are not as vibrant and healthy as they should be. They can turn yellow or brown and even fall off too soon. You can take help from the expert for the accurate sick trees treatment, and free your tree from all stress and invasions.

Signs You Need To Lookout For Tree Health Inspection

1. Leaf and Canopy Thinning

Is the crown of the tree thinning? Your tree may be sick due to pest infestations or the spread of the diseases. Usually, unwanted invasions and attacks of disease block the transmission of nutrients and supplements in trees. This will cause leaf loss. It will be more evident on larger and matured trees as they have a lush canopy.

2. Tainted Leaves

The color of the tree’s leaves can reveal a lot about it. Leaves are an essential component of your tree. They aid in the conversion of solar energy into nutrients. They contain chlorophyll, which is essential for photosynthesis and turns leaves green.

Yellow or brown leaves, as well as leaves that fall prematurely, are indications that you should investigate further. When you notice the size of the leaves is not in proper shape or the color is yellow, suddenly take action. It is only due to the deficiency of micro and macro nutrients and other stresses. These deficiencies can occur due to waterlogging or some soil compaction.

3. Crown Regrowth

Like a small baby, the branches of the tree will grow every year. But whenever you realize that the size of your tree is not growing properly, immediately take some precautions or expert help. It is a sign that your tree’s entire branches are going to die.

4. Flaking Or Dead Bark

The bark shields the tree from different external stresses affecting health and vigor, such as storms, pests, insects, and diseases. Whenever you find some kind of sappy-like liquid oozing coming out from the trunk or stem of your tree, it indicates issues in the tissues. It is a prominent sign of bacterial or fungal infection. At times, you will even notice the spots of bleeding. Bark Beetles and Boring Insects enter the trunks, causing damage to the tissues.

5. Trunk Health

The trunk is one of the vital parts of the tree because it gives support to all branches of the tree. Also, it is responsible for several functions like water and nutrient transportation. It helps the tree maintain its shape and sturdiness by supporting the crown. The trunk is responsible for water transportation from root to branches of the tree. So, you have to keep an eye for cracks, wounds, cavities, bulges, etc., on the tree. However, all these signs indicate the structural damage of the trunk, and you need to call professionals for tree health management programs.

6. Roots Are Starting To Rot

If your roots are exposed and appear damaged, it is often one of the biggest signs a plant is vulnerable. Tree roots are essential as they anchor the tree to the ground and allow it to absorb nutrients, grow, and maintain health. The lifted ground or roots in severe conditions may disrupt trees’ delicate feeding system.

How To Identify Symptoms Of Unhealthy Trees

Everyone can’t diagnose the symptoms of the sick tree as the troubles at an early stage of a tree is found from the root of the tree, and it usually goes unnoticed to untrained eyes.

If you notice any of the following symptoms, call a certified tree health specialist right away to prevent an unhealthy tree from becoming dangerous. If nothing else, knowing that a professional has assessed your tree for potential hazards will put your mind at ease when the next storm arrives. Let’s discuss the symptoms of a diseased tree:

Examination Of Broken Branches

In the winter season, it can be tricky for you to check the tree’s health. An excessive number of broken branches is one observable sign. In the winter winds and ice, all trees will lose some branches. Trees that are suffering from health issues face branch loss issues. Whenever you notice that your tree has improper or thin branches, immediately call the professionals. They will retain the health of the branches.

Lean Trees

A leaning tree is another sign of trouble that you can see at any time of year. Strong trunks support the weight of branches and foliage in healthy trees. Normally, the dense wood can withstand the daily assaults of nature. In this regard, you can book your appointment with the experts. They will offer effective treatment to sick trees.

Unusual Grass

There are other signs to look for as the leaves begin to emerge in the spring. Unsurprisingly, unhealthy trees may have leaves that do not appear healthy. In the spring, you may notice leaves that are slow to develop. Leaves may also be of a different size or color. When the size of the leaves is not proper or not growing properly, it indicates healthcare problems in trees.

Leaves, Flowers, & Fruit Are Missing

Aside from being slow to appear or abnormal in shape, leaves are sometimes completely absent in a section of the tree. When your tree is not giving you flowers and fruits, it must be due to some disease. So when your trees are lacking in giving you fruits and flowers, call experts for optimum tree health management and recover their growth.

Fungi Growth

Whenever you inspect your garden and notice that mushrooms and fungus are present in the tree surrounding, you need to take prompt action. Mushrooms and fungus are only present if your tree suffers from invasions or stress. It gives you a sign to take immediate precautions or some medical help to protect the health of your tree.

Shoots In Unusual Locations

A healthy tree appears to be a normal tree. Its roots, trunk, and branches are all in proper shapes and grow every year. However, some trees appear to have branches growing from the tree’s base. While these are technically shot rather than branches, they are out of place and suggest that the tree may be in trouble.

Insect Invasion

Finally, the presence of pests is an obvious sign of an unhealthy tree. Other times, you may only see evidence that they were present. Eggs, chewed-up leaves, and sticky residue are signs of infestation. If you notice early that your tree is suffering from pest invasions, it might be easy for you to recover your tree health as soon as possible.

Thus, it is very essential for you to regularly check your tree health. If you pay proper attention to tree health, your tree will not get infected by harmful diseases and insects. If you detect a problem with a tree in an early stage, it also saves you the cost. So, whenever you suspect a problem with trees, plants, and shrubs, don’t haste to call experts for arborist consultation.

How To Tell If Your Tree Is Sick

A thorough visual examination is essential for quickly determining whether a tree requires maintenance or nourishment. Here’s how to properly examine a tree and determine expert assistance:

From the ground up, evaluate the tree.

Examine the roots for decay or fungi.

In the area of the trunk just above the soil, look for loose bark, cracks, or slits.

Examine the remainder of the trunk for cavities, swellings, or small holes.

Examine the canopy and the remaining branches for leaning limbs and leaf issues.

If the tree exhibits any of these symptoms upon visual inspection, contact a tree professional.

Conclusion

Comprehensive family tree health care is crucial in maintaining the health and vigor of trees. It is a great way to enhance the longevity of trees. If your tree is suffering from disease or damage, accurate and timely treatment can retain the health of trees, plants, and shrubs in your landscape. Call Tree Doctor USA to carry out the full inspection of your tree. They will precisely identify what’s wrong with your trees. Also, they will suggest the best course of treatment to make your unhealthy trees lively again.

Original Source: Top Signs You Need Comprehensive Tree Health Checkup

[castielchitaqua]

kaddish, allen ginsberg

I Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village. downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I’ve been up all night, talking, talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues shout blind on the phonograph the rhythm the rhythm—and your memory in my head three years after—And read Adonais’ last triumphant stanzas aloud—wept, realizing how we suffer— And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of, sing, remember, prophesy as in the Hebrew Anthem, or the Buddhist Book of Answers—and my own imagination of a withered leaf—at dawn— Dreaming back thru life, Your time—and mine accelerating toward Apocalypse, the final moment—the flower burning in the Day—and what comes after, looking back on the mind itself that saw an American city a flash away, and the great dream of Me or China, or you and a phantom Russia, or a crumpled bed that never existed— like a poem in the dark—escaped back to Oblivion— No more to say, and nothing to weep for but the Beings in the Dream, trapped in its disappearance, sighing, screaming with it, buying and selling pieces of phantom, worshipping each other, worshipping the God included in it all—longing or inevitability?—while it lasts, a Vision—anything more? It leaps about me, as I go out and walk the street, look back over my shoulder, Seventh Avenue, the battlements of window office buildings shouldering each other high, under a cloud, tall as the sky an instant—and the sky above—an old blue place. or down the Avenue to the south, to—as I walk toward the Lower East Side—where you walked 50 years ago, little girl—from Russia, eating the first poisonous tomatoes of America—frightened on the dock— then struggling in the crowds of Orchard Street toward what?—toward Newark— toward candy store, first home-made sodas of the century, hand-churned ice cream in backroom on musty brownfloor boards— Toward education marriage nervous breakdown, operation, teaching school, and learning to be mad, in a dream—what is this life? Toward the Key in the window—and the great Key lays its head of light on top of Manhattan, and over the floor, and lays down on the sidewalk—in a single vast beam, moving, as I walk down First toward the Yiddish Theater—and the place of poverty you knew, and I know, but without caring now—Strange to have moved thru Paterson, and the West, and Europe and here again, with the cries of Spaniards now in the doorstoops doors and dark boys on the street, fire escapes old as you -Tho you’re not old now, that’s left here with me— Myself, anyhow, maybe as old as the universe—and I guess that dies with us—enough to cancel all that comes—What came is gone forever every time— That’s good! That leaves it open for no regret—no fear radiators, lacklove, torture even toothache in the end— Though while it comes it is a lion that eats the soul—and the lamb, the soul, in us, alas, offering itself in sacrifice to change’s fierce hunger—hair and teeth—and the roar of bonepain, skull bare, break rib, rot-skin, braintricked Implacability. Ai! ai! we do worse! We are in a fix! And you’re out, Death let you out, Death had the Mercy, you’re done with your century, done with God, done with the path thru it—Done with yourself at last—Pure—Back to the Babe dark before your Father, before us all—before the world— There, rest. No more suffering for you. I know where you’ve gone, it’s good. No more flowers in the summer fields of New York, no joy now, no more fear of Louis, and no more of his sweetness and glasses, his high school decades, debts, loves, frightened telephone calls, conception beds, relatives, hands— No more of sister Elanor,.—she gone before you—we kept it secret—you killed her—or she killed herself to bear with you—an arthritic heart—But Death’s killed you both—No matter— Nor your memory of your mother, 1915 tears in silent movies weeks and weeks—forgetting, aggrieve watching Marie Dressler address humanity, Chaplin dance in youth, or Boris Godunov, Chaliapin’s at the Met, hailing his voice of a weeping Czar—by standing

room with Elanor & Max—watching also the Capitalists take seats in Orchestra, white furs, diamonds, with the YPSL’s hitch-hiking thru Pennsylvania, in black baggy gym skirts pants, photograph of 4 girls holding each other round the waste, and laughing eye, too coy, virginal solitude of 1920 all girls grown old, or dead, now, and that long hair in the grave—lucky to have husbands later— You made it—I came too—Eugene my brother before (still grieving now and will gream on to his last stiff hand, as he goes thru his cancer—or kill—later perhaps—soon he will think—) And it’s the last moment I remember, which I see them all, thru myself, now—tho not you I didn’t foresee what you felt—what more hideous gape of bad mouth came first—to you—and were you prepared? To go where? In that Dark—that—in that God? a radiance? A Lord in the Void? Like an eye in the black cloud in a dream? Adonoi at last, with you? Beyond my remembrance! Incapable to guess! Not merely the yellow skull in the grave, or a box of worm dust, and a stained ribbon—Deathshead with Halo? can you believe it? Is it only the sun that shines once for the mind, only the flash of existence, than none ever was? Nothing beyond what we have—what you had—that so pitiful—yet Triumph, to have been here, and changed, like a tree, broken, or flower—fed to the ground—but mad, with its petals, colored, thinking Great Universe, shaken, cut in the head, leaf stript, hid in an egg crate hospital, cloth wrapped, sore—freaked in the moon brain, Naughtless. No flower like that flower, which knew itself in the garden, and fought the knife—lost Cut down by an idiot Snowman’s icy—even in the Spring—strange ghost thought—some Death—Sharp icicle in his hand—crowned with old roses—a dog for his eyes—cock of a sweatshop—heart of electric irons. All the accumulations of life, that wear us out—clocks, bodies, consciousness, shoes, breasts—begotten sons—your Communism—‘Paranoia’ into hospitals. You once kicked Elanor in the leg, she died of heart failure later. You of stroke. Asleep? within a year, the two of you, sisters in death. Is Elanor happy? Max grieves alive in an office on Lower Broadway, lone large mustache over midnight Accountings, not sure. l His life passes—as he sees—and what does he doubt now? Still dream of making money, or that might have made money, hired nurse, had children, found even your Immortality, Naomi? I’ll see him soon. Now I’ve got to cut through—to talk to you—as I didn’t when you had a mouth. Forever. And we’re bound for that, Forever—like Emily Dickinson’s horses—headed to the End. They know the way—These Steeds—run faster than we think—it’s our own life they cross—and take with them. Magnificent, mourned no more, marred of heart, mind behind, married dreamed, mortal changed—Ass and face done with murder. In the world, given, flower maddened, made no Utopia, shut under pine, almed in Earth, balmed in Lone, Jehovah, accept. Nameless, One Faced, Forever beyond me, beginningless, endless, Father in death. Tho I am not there for this Prophecy, I am unmarried, I’m hymnless, I’m Heavenless, headless in blisshood I would still adore Thee, Heaven, after Death, only One blessed in Nothingness, not light or darkness, Dayless Eternity— Take this, this Psalm, from me, burst from my hand in a day, some of my Time, now given to Nothing—to praise Thee—But Death This is the end, the redemption from Wilderness, way for the Wonderer, House sought for All, black handkerchief washed clean by weeping—page beyond Psalm—Last change of mine and Naomi—to God’s perfect Darkness—Death, stay thy phantoms! II Over and over—refrain—of the Hospitals—still haven’t written your history—leave it abstract—a few images run thru the mind—like the saxophone chorus of houses and years—remembrance of electrical shocks. By long nites as a child in Paterson apartment, watching over your nervousness—you were fat—your next move— By that afternoon I stayed home from school to take care of you—once and for all—when I vowed forever that once man disagreed with my opinion of the cosmos, I was lost— By my

later burden—vow to illuminate mankind—this is release of particulars—(mad as you)—(sanity a trick of agreement)— But you stared out the window on the Broadway Church corner, and spied a mystical assassin from Newark, So phoned the Doctor—‘OK go way for a rest’—so I put on my coat and walked you downstreet—On the way a grammarschool boy screamed, unaccountably—‘Where you goin Lady to Death’? I shuddered— and you covered your nose with motheaten fur collar, gas mask against poison sneaked into downtown atmosphere, sprayed by Grandma— And was the driver of the cheesebox Public Service bus a member of the gang? You shuddered at his face, I could hardly get you on—to New York, very Times Square, to grab another Greyhound— where we hung around 2 hours fighting invisible bugs and jewish sickness—breeze poisoned by Roosevelt— out to get you—and me tagging along, hoping it would end in a quiet room in a Victorian house by a lake. Ride 3 hours thru tunnels past all American industry, Bayonne preparing for World War II, tanks, gas fields, soda factories, diners, loco-motive roundhouse fortress—into piney woods New Jersey Indians—calm towns—long roads thru sandy tree fields— Bridges by deerless creeks, old wampum loading the streambeddown there a tomahawk or Pocahontas bone—and a million old ladies voting for Roosevelt in brown small houses, roads off the Madness highway— perhaps a hawk in a tree, or a hermit looking for an owl-filled branch— All the time arguing—afraid of strangers in the forward double seat, snoring regardless—what busride they snore on now? ‘Allen, you don’t understand—it’s—ever since those 3 big sticks up my back—they did something to me in Hospital, they poisoned me, they want to see me dead—3 big sticks, 3 big sticks— ‘The Bitch! Old Grandma! Last week I saw her, dressed in pants like an old man, with a sack on her back, climbing up the brick side of the apartment ‘On the fire escape, with poison germs, to throw on me—at night—maybe Louis is helping her—he’s under her power— ‘I’m your mother, take me to Lakewood’ (near where Graf Zeppelin had crashed before, all Hitler in Explosion) ‘where I can hide.’ We got there—Dr. Whatzis rest home—she hid behind a closet—demanded a blood transfusion. We were kicked out—tramping with Valise to unknown shady lawn houses—dusk, pine trees after dark—long dead street filled with crickets and poison ivy— I shut her up by now—big house REST HOME ROOMS—gave the landlady her money for the week—carried up the iron valise—sat on bed waiting to escape— Neat room in attic with friendly bedcover—lace curtains—spinning wheel rug—Stained wallpaper old as Naomi. We were home. I left on the next bus to New York—laid my head back in the last seat, depressed—the worst yet to come?—abandoning her, rode in torpor—I was only 12. Would she hide in her room and come out cheerful for breakfast? Or lock her door and stare thru the window for sidestreet spies? Listen at keyholes for Hitlerian invisible gas? Dream in a chair—or mock me, by—in front of a mirror, alone? 12 riding the bus at nite thru New Jersey, have left Naomi to Parcae in Lakewood’s haunted house—left to my own fate bus—sunk in a seat—all violins broken—my heart sore in my ribs—mind was empty—Would she were safe in her coffin— Or back at Normal School in Newark, studying up on America in a black skirt—winter on the street without lunch—a penny a pickle—home at night to take care of Elanor in the bedroom— First nervous breakdown was 1919—she stayed home from school and lay in a dark room for three weeks—something bad—never said what—every noise hurt—dreams of the creaks of Wall Street— Before the gray Depression—went upstate New York—recovered—Lou took photo of her sitting crossleg on the grass—her long hair wound with flowers—smiling—playing lullabies on mandolin—poison ivy smoke in left-wing summer camps and me in infancy saw trees— or back teaching school, laughing with idiots, the backward classes—her Russian specialty—morons with dreamy lips, great eyes, thin feet & sicky fingers, swaybacked, rachitic— great heads pendulous

over Alice in Wonderland, a blackboard full of C A T. Naomi reading patiently, story out of a Communist fairy book—Tale of the Sudden Sweetness of the Dictator—Forgiveness of Warlocks—Armies Kissing— Deathsheads Around the Green Table—The King & the Workers—Paterson Press printed them up in the ’30s till she went mad, or they folded, both. O Paterson! I got home late that nite. Louis was worried. How could I be so—didn’t I think? I shouldn’t have left her. Mad in Lakewood. Call the Doctor. Phone the home in the pines. Too late. Went to bed exhausted, wanting to leave the world (probably that year newly in love with R         my high school mind hero, jewish boy who came a doctor later—then silent neat kid— I later laying down life for him, moved to Manhattan—followed him to college—Prayed on ferry to help mankind if admitted—vowed, the day I journeyed to Entrance Exam— by being honest revolutionary labor lawyer—would train for that—inspired by Sacco Vanzetti, Norman Thomas, Debs, Altgeld, Sand-burg, Poe—Little Blue Books. I wanted to be President, or Senator. ignorant woe—later dreams of kneeling by R’s shocked knees declaring my love of 1941—What sweetness he’d have shown me, tho, that I’d wished him & despaired—first love—a crush— Later a mortal avalanche, whole mountains of homosexuality, Matterhorns of cock, Grand Canyons of asshole—weight on my melancholy head— meanwhile I walked on Broadway imagining Infinity like a rubber ball without space beyond—what’s outside?—coming home to Graham Avenue still melancholy passing the lone green hedges across the street, dreaming after the movies—) The telephone rang at 2 A.M.—Emergency—she’d gone mad—Naomi hiding under the bed screaming bugs of Mussolini—Help! Louis! Buba! Fascists! Death!—the landlady frightened—old fag attendant screaming back at her— Terror, that woke the neighbors—old ladies on the second floor recovering from menopause—all those rags between thighs, clean sheets, sorry over lost babies—husbands ashen—children sneering at Yale, or putting oil in hair at CCNY—or trembling in Montclair State Teachers College like Eugene— Her big leg crouched to her breast, hand outstretched Keep Away, wool dress on her thighs, fur coat dragged under the bed—she barricaded herself under bedspring with suitcases. Louis in pajamas listening to phone, frightened—do now?—Who could know?—my fault, delivering her to solitude?—sitting in the dark room on the sofa, trembling, to figure out— He took the morning train to Lakewood, Naomi still under bed—thought he brought poison Cops—Naomi screaming—Louis what happened to your heart then? Have you been killed by Naomi’s ecstasy? Dragged her out, around the corner, a cab, forced her in with valise, but the driver left them off at drugstore. Bus stop, two hours’ wait. I lay in bed nervous in the 4-room apartment, the big bed in living room, next to Louis’ desk—shaking—he came home that nite, late, told me what happened. Naomi at the prescription counter defending herself from the enemy—racks of children’s books, douche bags, aspirins, pots, blood—‘Don’t come near me—murderers! Keep away! Promise not to kill me!’ Louis in horror at the soda fountain—with Lakewood girlscouts—Coke addicts—nurses—busmen hung on schedule—Police from country precinct, dumbed—and a priest dreaming of pigs on an ancient cliff? Smelling the air—Louis pointing to emptiness?—Customers vomiting their Cokes—or staring—Louis humiliated—Naomi triumphant—The Announcement of the Plot. Bus arrives, the drivers won’t have them on trip to New York. Phonecalls to Dr. Whatzis, ‘She needs a rest,’ The mental hospital—State Greystone Doctors—‘Bring her here, Mr. Ginsberg.’ Naomi, Naomi—sweating, bulge-eyed, fat, the dress unbuttoned at one side—hair over brow, her stocking hanging evilly on her legs—screaming for a blood transfusion—one righteous hand upraised—a shoe in it—barefoot in the Pharmacy— The enemies approach—what poisons? Tape recorders? FBI? Zhdanov hiding behind the counter? Trotsky mixing rat bacteria in the back of the store? Uncle Sam in Newark, plotting deathly

perfumes in the Negro district? Uncle Ephraim, drunk with murder in the politician’s bar, scheming of Hague? Aunt Rose passing water thru the needles of the Spanish Civil War? till the hired $35 ambulance came from Red Bank——Grabbed her arms—strapped her on the stretcher—moaning, poisoned by imaginaries, vomiting chemicals thru Jersey, begging mercy from Essex County to Morristown— And back to Greystone where she lay three years—that was the last breakthrough, delivered her to Madhouse again— On what wards—I walked there later, oft—old catatonic ladies, gray as cloud or ash or walls—sit crooning over floorspace—Chairs—and the wrinkled hags acreep, accusing—begging my 13-year-old mercy— ‘Take me home’—I went alone sometimes looking for the lost Naomi, taking Shock—and I’d say, ‘No, you’re crazy Mama,—Trust the Drs.’— And Eugene, my brother, her elder son, away studying Law in a furnished room in Newark— came Paterson-ward next day—and he sat on the broken-down couch in the living room—‘We had to send her back to Greystone’— —his face perplexed, so young, then eyes with tears—then crept weeping all over his face—‘What for?’ wail vibrating in his cheekbones, eyes closed up, high voice—Eugene’s face of pain. Him faraway, escaped to an Elevator in the Newark Library, his bottle daily milk on windowsill of $5 week furn room downtown at trolley tracks— He worked 8 hrs. a day for $20/wk—thru Law School years—stayed by himself innocent near negro whorehouses. Unlaid, poor virgin—writing poems about Ideals and politics letters to the editor Pat Eve News—(we both wrote, denouncing Senator Borah and Isolationists—and felt mysterious toward Paterson City Hall— I sneaked inside it once—local Moloch tower with phallus spire & cap o’ ornament, strange gothic Poetry that stood on Market Street—replica Lyons’ Hotel de Ville— wings, balcony & scrollwork portals, gateway to the giant city clock, secret map room full of Hawthorne—dark Debs in the Board of Tax—Rembrandt smoking in the gloom— Silent polished desks in the great committee room—Aldermen? Bd of Finance? Mosca the hairdresser aplot—Crapp the gangster issuing orders from the john—The madmen struggling over Zone, Fire, Cops & Backroom Metaphysics—we’re all dead—outside by the bus stop Eugene stared thru childhood— where the Evangelist preached madly for 3 decades, hard-haired, cracked & true to his mean Bible—chalked Prepare to Meet Thy God on civic pave— or God is Love on the railroad overpass concrete—he raved like I would rave, the lone Evangelist—Death on City Hall—) But Gene, young,—been Montclair Teachers College 4 years—taught half year & quit to go ahead in life—afraid of Discipline Problems—dark sex Italian students, raw girls getting laid, no English, sonnets disregarded—and he did not know much—just that he lost— so broke his life in two and paid for Law—read huge blue books and rode the ancient elevator 13 miles away in Newark & studied up hard for the future just found the Scream of Naomi on his failure doorstep, for the final time, Naomi gone, us lonely—home—him sitting there— Then have some chicken soup, Eugene. The Man of Evangel wails in front of City Hall. And this year Lou has poetic loves of suburb middle age—in secret—music from his 1937 book—Sincere—he longs for beauty— No love since Naomi screamed—since 1923?—now lost in Greystone ward—new shock for her—Electricity, following the 40 Insulin. And Metrazol had made her fat. So that a few years later she came home again—we’d much advanced and planned—I waited for that day—my Mother again to cook & —play the piano—sing at mandolin—Lung Stew, & Stenka Razin, & the communist line on the war with Finland—and Louis in debt—,uspected to he poisoned money—mysterious capitalisms —& walked down the long front hall & looked at the furniture. She never remembered it all. Some amnesia. Examined the doilies—and the dining room set was sold— the Mahogany table—20 years love—gone to the junk man—we still had the piano—and the book of Poe—and the Mandolin, tho needed some string, dusty— She went to the backroom to lie down in

bed and ruminate, or nap, hide—I went in with her, not leave her by herself—lay in bed next to her—shades pulled, dusky, late afternoon—Louis in front room at desk, waiting—perhaps boiling chicken for supper— ‘Don’t be afraid of me because I’m just coming back home from the mental hospital—I’m your mother—’ Poor love, lost—a fear—I lay there—Said, ‘I love you Naomi,’—stiff, next to her arm. I would have cried, was this the comfortless lone union?—Nervous, and she got up soon. Was she ever satisfied? And—by herself sat on the new couch by the front windows, uneasy—cheek leaning on her hand—narrowing eye—at what fate that day— Picking her tooth with her nail, lips formed an O, suspicion—thought’s old worn vagina—absent sideglance of eye—some evil debt written in the wall, unpaid—& the aged breasts of Newark come near— May have heard radio gossip thru the wires in her head, controlled by 3 big sticks left in her back by gangsters in amnesia, thru the hospital—caused pain between her shoulders— Into her head—Roosevelt should know her case, she told me—Afraid to kill her, now, that the government knew their names—traced back to Hitler—wanted to leave Louis’ house forever. One night, sudden attack—her noise in the bathroom—like croaking up her soul—convulsions and red vomit coming out of her mouth—diarrhea water exploding from her behind—on all fours in front of the toilet—urine running between her legs—left retching on the tile floor smeared with her black feces—unfainted— At forty, varicosed, nude, fat, doomed, hiding outside the apartment door near the elevator calling Police, yelling for her girlfriend Rose to help— Once locked herself in with razor or iodine—could hear her cough in tears at sink—Lou broke through glass green-painted door, we pulled her out to the bedroom. Then quiet for months that winter—walks, alone, nearby on Broadway, read Daily Worker—Broke her arm, fell on icy street— Began to scheme escape from cosmic financial murder-plots—later she ran away to the Bronx to her sister Elanor. And there’s another saga of late Naomi in New York. Or thru Elanor or the Workmen’s Circle, where she worked, ad-dressing envelopes, she made out—went shopping for Campbell’s tomato soup—saved money Louis mailed her— Later she found a boyfriend, and he was a doctor—Dr. Isaac worked for National Maritime Union—now Italian bald and pudgy old doll—who was himself an orphan—but they kicked him out—Old cruelties— Sloppier, sat around on bed or chair, in corset dreaming to herself—‘I’m hot—I’m getting fat—I used to have such a beautiful figure before I went to the hospital—You should have seen me in Woodbine—’ This in a furnished room around the NMU hall, 1943. Looking at naked baby pictures in the magazine—baby powder advertisements, strained lamb carrots—‘I will think nothing but beautiful thoughts.’ Revolving her head round and round on her neck at window light in summertime, in hypnotize, in doven-dream recall— ‘I touch his cheek, I touch his cheek, he touches my lips with his hand, I think beautiful thoughts, the baby has a beautiful hand.’— Or a No-shake of her body, disgust—some thought of Buchenwald—some insulin passes thru her head—a grimace nerve shudder at Involuntary (as shudder when I piss)—bad chemical in her cortex—‘No don’t think of that. He’s a rat.’ Naomi: ‘And when we die we become an onion, a cabbage, a carrot, or a squash, a vegetable.’ I come downtown from Columbia and agree. She reads the Bible, thinks beautiful thoughts all day. ‘Yesterday I saw God. What did he look like? Well, in the afternoon I climbed up a ladder—he has a cheap cabin in the country, like Monroe, N.Y. the chicken farms in the wood. He was a lonely old man with a white beard. ‘I cooked supper for him. I made him a nice supper—lentil soup, vegetables, bread & butter—miltz—he sat down at the table and ate, he was sad. ‘I told him, Look at all those fightings and killings down there, What’s the matter? Why don’t you put a stop to it? ‘I try, he said—That’s all he could do, he looked tired. He’s a bachelor so long, and he likes lentil

soup.’ Serving me meanwhile, a plate of cold fish—chopped raw cabbage dript with tapwater—smelly tomatoes—week-old health food—grated beets & carrots with leaky juice, warm—more and more disconsolate food—I can’t eat it for nausea sometimes—the Charity of her hands stinking with Manhattan, madness, desire to please me, cold undercooked fish—pale red near the bones. Her smells—and oft naked in the room, so that I stare ahead, or turn a book ignoring her. One time I thought she was trying to make me come lay her—flirting to herself at sink—lay back on huge bed that filled most of the room, dress up round her hips, big slash of hair, scars of operations, pancreas, belly wounds, abortions, appendix, stitching of incisions pulling down in the fat like hideous thick zippers—ragged long lips between her legs—What, even, smell of asshole? I was cold—later revolted a little, not much—seemed perhaps a good idea to try—know the Monster of the Beginning Womb—Perhaps—that way. Would she care? She needs a lover. Yisborach, v’yistabach, v’yispoar, v’yisroman, v’yisnaseh, v’yishador, v’yishalleh, v’yishallol, sh’meh d’kudsho, b’rich hu. And Louis reestablishing himself in Paterson grimy apartment in negro district—living in dark rooms—but found himself a girl he later married, falling in love again—tho sere & shy—hurt with 20 years Naomi’s mad idealism. Once I came home, after longtime in N.Y., he’s lonely—sitting in the bedroom, he at desk chair turned round to face me—weeps, tears in red eyes under his glasses— That we’d left him—Gene gone strangely into army—she out on her own in N.Y., almost childish in her furnished room. So Louis walked downtown to postoffice to get mail, taught in highschool—stayed at poetry desk, forlorn—ate grief at Bickford’s all these years—are gone. Eugene got out of the Army, came home changed and lone—cut off his nose in jewish operation—for years stopped girls on Broadway for cups of coffee to get laid—Went to NYU, serious there, to finish Law.— And Gene lived with her, ate naked fishcakes, cheap, while she got crazier—He got thin, or felt helpless, Naomi striking 1920 poses at the moon, half-naked in the next bed. bit his nails and studied—was the weird nurse-son—Next year he moved to a room near Columbia—though she wanted to live with her children— ‘Listen to your mother’s plea, I beg you’—Louis still sending her checks—I was in bughouse that year 8 months—my own visions unmentioned in this here Lament— But then went half mad—Hitler in her room, she saw his mustache in the sink—afraid of Dr. Isaac now, suspecting that he was in on the Newark plot—went up to Bronx to live near Elanor’s Rheumatic Heart— And Uncle Max never got up before noon, tho Naomi at 6 A.M. was listening to the radio for spies—or searching the windowsill, for in the empty lot downstairs, an old man creeps with his bag stuffing packages of garbage in his hanging black overcoat. Max’s sister Edie works—17 years bookkeeper at Gimbels—lived downstairs in apartment house, divorced—so Edie took in Naomi on Rochambeau Ave— Woodlawn Cemetery across the street, vast dale of graves where Poe once—Last stop on Bronx subway—lots of communists in that area. Who enrolled for painting classes at night in Bronx Adult High School—walked alone under Van Cortlandt Elevated line to class—paints Naomiisms— Humans sitting on the grass in some Camp No-Worry summers yore—saints with droopy faces and long-ill-fitting pants, from hospital— Brides in front of Lower East Side with short grooms—lost El trains running over the Babylonian apartment rooftops in the Bronx— Sad paintings—but she expressed herself. Her mandolin gone, all strings broke in her head, she tried. Toward Beauty? or some old life Message? But started kicking Elanor, and Elanor had heart trouble—came upstairs and asked her about Spydom for hours,—Elanor frazzled. Max away at office, accounting for cigar stores till at night. ‘I am a great woman—am truly a beautiful soul—and because of that they (Hitler, Grandma, Hearst, the Capitalists, Franco, Daily News, the ’20s, Mussolini, the living

dead) want to shut me up—Buba’s the head of a spider network—’ Kicking the girls, Edie & Elanor—Woke Edie at midnite to tell her she was a spy and Elanor a rat. Edie worked all day and couldn’t take it—She was organizing the union.—And Elanor began dying, upstairs in bed. The relatives call me up, she’s getting worse—I was the only one left—Went on the subway with Eugene to see her, ate stale fish— ‘My sister whispers in the radio—Louis must be in the apartment—his mother tells him what to say—LIARS!—I cooked for my two children—I played the mandolin—’ Last night the nightingale woke me / Last night when all was still / it sang in the golden moonlight / from on the wintry hill. She did. I pushed her against the door and shouted ‘DON’T KICK ELANOR!’—she stared at me—Contempt—die—disbelief her sons are so naive, so dumb—‘Elanor is the worst spy! She’s taking orders!’ ‘—No wires in the room!’—I’m yelling at her—last ditch, Eugene listening on the bed—what can he do to escape that fatal Mama—‘You’ve been away from Louis years already—Grandma’s too old to walk—’ We’re all alive at once then—even me & Gene & Naomi in one mythological Cousinesque room—screaming at each other in the Forever—I in Columbia jacket, she half undressed. I banging against her head which saw Radios, Sticks, Hitlers—the gamut of Hallucinations—for real—her own universe—no road that goes elsewhere—to my own—No America, not even a world— That you go as all men, as Van Gogh, as mad Hannah, all the same—to the last doom—Thunder, Spirits, lightning! I’ve seen your grave! O strange Naomi! My own—cracked grave! Shema Y’Israel—I am Svul Avrum—you—in death? Your last night in the darkness of the Bronx—I phonecalled—thru hospital to secret police that came, when you and I were alone, shrieking at Elanor in my ear—who breathed hard in her own bed, got thin— Nor will forget, the doorknock, at your fright of spies,—Law advancing, on my honor—Eternity entering the room—you running to the bathroom undressed, hiding in protest from the last heroic fate— staring at my eyes, betrayed—the final cops of madness rescuing me—from your foot against the broken heart of Elanor, your voice at Edie weary of Gimbels coming home to broken radio—and Louis needing a poor divorce, he wants to get married soon—Eugene dreaming, hiding at 125 St., suing negroes for money on crud furniture, defending black girls— Protests from the bathroom—Said you were sane—dressing in a cotton robe, your shoes, then new, your purse and newspaper clippingsno—your honesty— as you vainly made your lips more real with lipstick, looking in the mirror to see if the Insanity was Me or a earful of police. or Grandma spying at 78—Your vision—Her climbing over the walls of the cemetery with political kidnapper’s bag—or what you saw on the walls of the Bronx, in pink nightgown at midnight, staring out the window on the empty lot— Ah Rochambeau Ave.—Playground of Phantoms—last apartment in the Bronx for spies—last home for Elanor or Naomi, here these communist sisters lost their revolution— ‘All right—put on your coat Mrs.—let’s go—We have the wagon downstairs—you want to come with her to the station?’ The ride then—held Naomi’s hand, and held her head to my breast, I’m taller—kissed her and said I did it for the best—Elanor sick—and Max with heart condition—Needs— To me—‘Why did you do this?’—‘Yes Mrs., your son will have to leave you in an hour’—The Ambulance came in a few hours—drove off at 4 A.M. to some Bellevue in the night downtown—gone to the hospital forever. I saw her led away—she waved, tears in her eyes. Two years, after a trip to Mexico—bleak in the flat plain near Brentwood, scrub brush and grass around the unused RR train track to the crazyhouse— new brick 20 story central building—lost on the vast lawns of madtown on Long Island—huge cities of the moon. Asylum spreads out giant wings above the path to a minute black hole—the door—entrance thru crotch— I went in—smelt funny—the halls again—up elevator—to a glass door on a Women’s Ward—to Naomi—Two nurses buxom white—They led her out, Naomi

stared—and I gaspt—She’d had a stroke— Too thin, shrunk on her bones—age come to Naomi—now broken into white hair—loose dress on her skeleton—face sunk, old! withered—cheek of crone— One hand stiff—heaviness of forties & menopause reduced by one heart stroke, lame now—wrinkles—a scar on her head, the lobotomy—ruin, the hand dipping downwards to death— O Russian faced, woman on the grass, your long black hair is crowned with flowers, the mandolin is on your knees— Communist beauty, sit here married in the summer among daisies, promised happiness at hand— holy mother, now you smile on your love, your world is born anew, children run naked in the field spotted with dandelions, they eat in the plum tree grove at the end of the meadow and find a cabin where a white-haired negro teaches the mystery of his rainbarrel— blessed daughter come to America, I long to hear your voice again, remembering your mother’s music, in the Song of the Natural Front— O glorious muse that bore me from the womb, gave suck first mystic life & taught me talk and music, from whose pained head I first took Vision— Tortured and beaten in the skull—What mad hallucinations of the damned that drive me out of my own skull to seek Eternity till I find Peace for Thee, O Poetry—and for all humankind call on the Origin Death which is the mother of the universe!—Now wear your nakedness forever, white flowers in your hair, your marriage sealed behind the sky—no revolution might destroy that maidenhood— O beautiful Garbo of my Karma—all photographs from 1920 in Camp Nicht-Gedeiget here unchanged—with all the teachers from Vewark—Nor Elanor be gone, nor Max await his specter—nor Louis retire from this High School— Back! You! Naomi! Skull on you! Gaunt immortality and revolution come—small broken woman—the ashen indoor eyes of hospitals, ward grayness on skin— ‘Are you a spy?’ I sat at the sour table, eyes filling with tears—‘Who are you? Did Louis send you?—The wires—’ in her hair, as she beat on her head—‘I’m not a bad girl—don’t murder me!—I hear the ceiling—I raised two children—’ Two years since I’d been there—I started to cry—She stared—nurse broke up the meeting a moment—I went into the bathroom to hide, against the toilet white walls ‘The Horror’ I weeping—to see her again—‘The Horror’—as if she were dead thru funeral rot in—‘The Horror!’ I came back she yelled more—they led her away—‘You’re not Allen—’ I watched her face—but she passed by me, not looking— Opened the door to the ward,—she went thru without a glance back, quiet suddenly—I stared out—she looked old—the verge of the grave—‘All the Horror!’ Another year, I left N.Y.—on West Coast in Berkeley cottage dreamed of her soul—that, thru life, in what form it stood in that body, ashen or manic, gone beyond joy— near its death—with eyes—was my own love in its form, the Naomi, my mother on earth still—sent her long letter—& wrote hymns to the mad—Work of the merciful Lord of Poetry. that causes the broken grass to be green, or the rock to break in grass—or the Sun to be constant to earth—Sun of all sunflowers and days on bright iron bridges—what shines on old hospitals—as on my yard— Returning from San Francisco one night, Orlovsky in my room—Whalen in his peaceful chair—a telegram from Gene, Naomi dead— Outside I bent my head to the ground under the bushes near the garage—knew she was better— at last—not left to look on Earth alone—2 years of solitude—no one, at age nearing 60—old woman of skulls—once long-tressed Naomi of Bible— or Ruth who wept in America—Rebecca aged in Newark—David remembering his Harp, now lawyer at Yale or Srul Avrum—Israel Abraham—myself—to sing in the wilderness toward God—O Elohim!—so to the end—2 days after her death I got her letter— Strange Prophecies anew! She wrote—‘The key is in the window, the key is in the sunlight at the window—I have the key—Get married Allen don’t take drugs—the key is in the bars, in the sunlight in the window. Love, your mother’ which is Naomi— Hymmnn In the world which He has created according to his will Blessed Praised Magnified Lauded

Exalted the Name of the Holy One Blessed is He! In the house in Newark Blessed is He! In the madhouse Blessed is He! In the house of Death Blessed is He! Blessed be He in homosexuality! Blessed be He in Paranoia! Blessed be He in the city! Blessed be He in the Book! Blessed be He who dwells in the shadow! Blessed be He! Blessed be He! Blessed be you Naomi in tears! Blessed be you Naomi in fears! Blessed Blessed Blessed in sickness! Blessed be you Naomi in Hospitals! Blessed be you Naomi in solitude! Blest be your triumph! Blest be your bars! Blest be your last years’ loneliness! Blest be your failure! Best be your stroke! Blest be the close of your eye! Blest be the gaunt of your cheek! Blest be your withered thighs! Blessed be Thee Naomi in Death! Blessed be Death! Blessed be Death! Blessed be He Who leads all sorrow to Heaven! Blessed be He in the end! Blessed be He who builds Heaven in Darkness! Blessed Blessed Blessed be He! Blessed be He! Blessed be Death on us All! III Only to have not forgotten the beginning in which she drank cheap sodas in the morgues of Newark, only to have seen her weeping on gray tables in long wards of her universe only to have known the weird ideas of Hitler at the door, the wires in her head, the three big sticks rammed down her back, the voices in the ceiling shrieking out her ugly early lays for 30 years, only to have seen the time-jumps, memory lapse, the crash of wars, the roar and silence of a vast electric shock, only to have seen her painting crude pictures of Elevateds running over the rooftops of the Bronx her brothers dead in Riverside or Russia, her lone in Long Island writing a last letter—and her image in the sunlight at the window ‘The key is in the sunlight at the window in the bars the key is in the sunlight,’ only to have come to that dark night on iron bed by stroke when the sun gone down on Long Island and the vast Atlantic roars outside the great call of Being to its own to come back out of the Nightmare—divided creation—with her head lain on a pillow of the hospital to die —in one last glimpse—all Earth one everlasting Light in the familiar black-out—no tears for this vision— But that the key should be left behind—at the window—the key in the sunlight—to the living—that can take that slice of light in hand—and turn the door—and look back see Creation glistening backwards to the same grave, size of universe, size of the tick of the hospital's clock on the archway over the white door— IV O mother what have I left out O mother what have I forgotten O mother farewell with a long black shoe farewell with Communist Party and a broken stocking farewell with six dark hairs on the wen of your breast farewell with your old dress and a long black beard around the vagina farewell with your sagging belly with your fear of Hitler with your mouth of bad short stories with your fingers of rotten mandolins with your arms of fat Paterson porches with your belly of strikes and smokestacks with your chin of Trotsky and the Spanish War with your voice singing for the decaying overbroken workers with your nose of bad lay with your nose of the smell of the pickles of Newark with your eyes with your eyes of Russia with your eyes of no money with your eyes of false China with your eyes of Aunt Elanor with your eyes of starving India with your eyes pissing in the park with your eyes of America taking a fall with your eyes of your failure at the piano with your eyes of your relatives in California with your eyes of Ma Rainey dying in an aumbulance with your eyes of Czechoslovakia attacked by robots with your eyes going to painting class at night in the Bronx with your eyes of the killer Grandma you see on the horizon from the Fire-Escape with your eyes running naked out of the apartment screaming into the hall with your eyes being led away by policemen to an aumbulance with your eyes strapped down on the operating table with your eyes with the pancreas removed with your eyes of appendix operation with your eyes of abortion with your eyes of ovaries removed with your eyes of shock with your

eyes of lobotomy with your eyes of divorce with your eyes of stroke with your eyes alone with your eyes with your eyes with your Death full of Flowers V Caw caw caw crows shriek in the white sun over grave stones in Long Island Lord Lord Lord Naomi underneath this grass my halflife and my own as hers caw caw my eye be buried in the same Ground where I stand in Angel Lord Lord great Eye that stares on All and moves in a black cloud caw caw strange cry of Beings flung up into sky over the waving trees Lord Lord O Grinder of giant Beyonds my voice in a boundless field in Sheol Caw caw the call of Time rent out of foot and wing an instant in the universe Lord Lord an echo in the sky the wind through ragged leaves the roar of memory caw caw all years my birth a dream caw caw New York the bus the broken shoe the vast highschool caw caw all Visions of the Lord Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Paris, December 1957—New York, 1959

[thelonelywitchandthelonelytides]

Herb Correspondents Master Lists Part 1. (A-D)

Hello this is the start to a series i will be doing. i really hope you enjoy!

Acacia (Acacia Penninelvis)

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Sun          Element : Air         Symbol : The Afterlife

Gods : Osiris, Astarte, Ra and Diana

Uses  

Common Ingredient in protection spells.

Can help enhance psychic powers.

To make a great mediation incense combine with sandalwood.

Burn the leaves on charcoal to increase personal power.

African Violet (Saintpaulia Ionantha)  

DO NOT CONSUME!

Energy  : Feminine          Planet : Venus          Element : Water

Uses

Can be used in protection rituals.

Good for enhancing spirituality.

Agrimony (Agrimonia Eupatoria)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Air

Star Sign  : Cancer

Uses

Use in spells about exploring true feelings.

Protection spells.

Useful in building a psychic shield.

Reducing negative influence.

Banishing negative influence.

Reverse and rebound hexes.

Enhances healing spells.

Helps sleeping.

Spells/Rituals

Sleep Spell = “If it be leyd under mann’s heed,

                        He shal sleepyn as he were deed;

                        He shal never drede ne wakyn

                        Till fro under his heed it be takyn.”

Alder (Alnus Glutinosa)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Moon, Mars          Element : Water, Fire

Gods : Odin, Apollo and Aphrodite

Animals : Ravens, Hawks, Seagulls and Foxes

Common Names : Scottish Mahogany, King Of The Forest, Tree Of The Fae

Stones : Lapis Lazuli and Amethyst          Colour : Purple

Uses

Use in rituals to allow access to faerie realms.

Facts

Do not cut down, or face bad fortune from fae.

Wood does not rot but hardens.

Almond (Prunus Dulcis)

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Mercury          Element : Air

Uses

Use in fertility, money, luck charms.

Use in hand fasting rituals and love spells.

Use in rituals for overcoming addiction.

Great as a carrier oil.

Aloe (A.Vera Barbadensis)

DO NOT DRINK ALOE JUICE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT! KEEP AWAY FROM PETS! CAN CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS!

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Moon          Element : Water

Gods : Venus and Aphrodite          Star Sign : Cancer

Uses

Use to create an amulet against accidents and misfortunes.

Use in spells for love and beauty.

Use in lunar spells.

Alyssum (Lobularia Maritima)

CAN CAUSE DERMATITIS IN SENSITIVE PEOPLE!

Planet : Mercury          Element : Air

Uses

Use in protection against hexes and glamours.

Use to deflect spells aimed to mislead you.

The smell is said to evoke peaceful energy, spiritual and emotional balance.

Wearing a sprig helps to prevent and calms angry encounters.

Makes a good addition to moon and fae gardens.

Amaranth (Amaranthus Spp)

DO NOT EAT RAW IN LARGE AMOUNTS!

Gods : Huitzilopochtli, Artemis, Demeter

Uses

Spells to mend a broke heart.

Dried amaranth flowers can be used to call forth the dead.

Used in Pagan ceremonies.

Used to decorate images of Gods/Goddesses.

Rituals

= A crown of Amaranth flowers worn on the head speeds healing.

Angelica (Angelica Archangelic)

DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR IF DIABETIC!

Planet : Sun          Element : Fire          Gods : Venus

Angels : Micheal and Gabriel

Uses

Used for general protection.

Use for hex breaking.

Use as protection against evil spirits.

Use for blessings.

As an incense its excellent for exorcisms, healing and protection.

Spells/Rituals

Protection = Grow angelica on your property to protect your garden and home.

Amulets = Carry or add to amulets to increase longevity or to ward off illness and evil spirits.

Potions = Add to potions that are designed to remove curses/spells or to banish evil in an area.

Anise (Pimpinellaa Anisum)

CAN BE TOXIC IN LARGE QUANTITIES! DO NOT USE ESSENTIAL OIL UNDILUTED! USE WITH CAUTION IF USING IRON SUPPLEMENTS!

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Mercury and Jupiter          Element : Air

Gods : Apollo          Zodiac Sign : Gemini

Uses

Protection from evil spirits and intentions.

The scent is said to stir up lust.

Aids in divination

Can be used as an offering to spirits.

Spells/Rituals

Restoring Youth = Hang an anise seed head from your bedpost to restore lost youth.

Sleep = Use in pillows to keep away nightmares and ensure a good night’s sleep.

Holy Water = Add to holy water for blessings and exorcisms.

Warding = Can be used in Holy water for blessing and exorcisms.

Apple (Malus Domestica)

Energy : Feminine          Zodiac Sign : Taurus

Goddesses : Aphrodite, Iduna, Freya, Pomona and Eris

Symbols : Love, Fidelity, Fertility, Marriage, Beauty, Vanity, Wisdom, The Soul, The Afterlife and Immortality

Uses

Apple blossoms can be used in love and healing incense.

Can be used as an offering to the dead at Samhain.

Apple tree wood can be used to make wands.

Spells/Rituals

Altars = If you slice an apple width wise, you can see a five-pointed star. They can be used to decorate altars during harvest rituals.

Fidelity = Give an apple to you lover as a gift. You eat one half and your lover eats the other. This will ensure fidelity.

Soulmates = If you peel an apple in one piece and throw the peel over your shoulder. It will fall in the shape of your soulmate’s name.

Arnica (Arnica Montana)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Sun          Element : Fire

Gods/Goddesses : Freya, Ra and Apollo

Associations : Midsummer, The Harvest and Honour Spirits

Uses

Use in protective rituals.

Use in rituals for crop fertility.

Spells/Rituals

Drive away a thunderstorm = Burn arnica to drive away a thunderstorm, saying : “Set arnica alight, set arnica alight, thunderstorm take flight”

Protection : Plant arnica to keep an area free from spirits entering or leaving the area.

Ash (Fraxinus Spp)

Energy : Feminine          Element : Fire, Air and Water

Uses

The wood can be used for wands, staves and besom handles.

It’s a good attracter and conductor of energy.

Spells/Rituals

Sleep = Sleep with ash leaves under your pillow to receive prophetic dreams.

Good Luck = Carry a leaf of ash in your pocket for good luck (ensure that there are an even number of leaves.)

Asparagus (Asparagus Officinalis)

Planets : Mars and Jupiter          Element : Fire          Gods : Zeus

Symbol : Lust and Fertility

Uses

Lust spells

Fertility spells

Astragalus (Astragalus Membranaceus)

DO NOT CONSUME DURING MENSTRUATION OR IF YOU HAVE AN ACUTE INFECTION!

Planet : Jupiter          Element : Air

Uses

Use to increase energy for a variety of applications.

Basil (Ocimum Basilicum)

Planets : Mars          Element : Fire          

Gods/Goddesses : Vishnu, Tulasi and Erzulie

Uses

To bring happiness, love, peace and money to the household.

Use in spells for attracting love.

Aids astral protection.

Brings luck in physical journeys.

Use in peacemaking spells.

Rituals

Protection = To protect yourself when leaving home rub some basil on your forehead.

Bayberry (Myrica Cerifera, M.Carolinensis)

AVOID CONSUMPTION!

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Earth

Uses

Use in luck and prosperity spells.

Use in money drawing spells.

Spells/Rituals

Luck = Add bayberries to a luck or fortune drawing charm bag.

Bay Laurel (Laurus Nobilis)

Energy : Masculine           Planet :Sun          Element : Fire

Gods/Goddesses : Apollo, Zeus, Aesclepius, Ceres, Hermes and Cerridwen

Zodiac Sign : Leo

Uses

Protection spells.

Banishing and exorcism rites.

Can purify and drive out illness.

Spells/Rituals

Wishes = Write a wish on a dried bay leaf and burn it for the wish to come true.

Sick = Give a laurel wreath to the ill and it can help aid recovery.

Betony (Stachy Officinalis, Betonica Officinalis)

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Fire

Spells/Rituals

Protection = Can be added to protective mixtures, grown around the home or carried by an individual to protect from negativity, misfortune and hexes.

Protection = Scatter near doors to prevent unwanted energies and people from entering.

Sleep = Stuff into a pillow or place underneath to prevent nightmares and night terrors.

Bindweed (Convolvulaceae)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Saturn          Element : Water

Uses

The vines can be used for binding spells.

Use to create bridges and connections between realms.

Blackberry (Rubus Fructicosus, Rubus Canadensis)

Thorny Branches                                              Blackberry Leaves

Zodiac Sign : Aries                                           Zodiac Sign : Scorpio

Element : Fire                                                    Element : Water

Uses                                                                    Uses

Protective Wreaths.                                 Aphrodisiac Tea

Spells/Rituals (Blackberry Leaves)

Health = Dip nine leaves in a natural water source and lay them on a burn or a red inflamed area. Say to each leaf as you lay them on the wound :

“Three ladies came from the East, one with fire and two with frost, out with fire, in with frost”

Berries

Energy : Feminine          Element : Earth

Uses

In magickal cooking for prosperity.

Used to celebrate first harvest festivals such as Lughnassadh.

Black Cohosh ( Cimicifuga Racemosa)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Pluto          Element : Fire          Zodiac Sign : Scorpio

Uses

Use in sachets for love, courage and potency.

Add to holy water and sprinkle around the room to drive off negative influences.

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Saturn and Moon          Element : Air

Symbol : Truth, Humility, Gratitude, Everlasting Love and The Fae

Uses

Love spells.

Wear in a wreath to be compelled to speak the truth.

Rituals

Love = Turn a bluebell flower inside out to ensure you will win the heart of the one you desire.

Sleep = Place under a pillow to prevent nightmares.

Burdock (Arctium Lappa)

Energy : Feminine          Element : Water          Planet : Venus

Uses

Use in rituals, amulets and spells to ward off negativity and for general protection.

Use for general healing.

Spells/Rituals

Protection = The root can be carved into a figure, dried and carried or worn as a protective amulet.

Calendula (Calendula Officinalis)

Planet : Sun          Symbol : Love

Other Names : Marigold

Uses

Love potions.

Good addition to dream pillows.

Spells/Rituals

Warding = Hang wreaths of marigold over a door to keep evil and negativity from entering.

Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum)

DO NOT CONSUME IF PREGNANT OF IF YOU HAVE GALLSTONES!

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Venus          Element : Water

Uses

Use in lust sachets

Use to relax the body and to clarify the mind

Spells/Rituals

Love = To encourage a love interest, chew some cardamom seeds before talking to them.

Chamomile (Chamaemilum Noblie)

Planet : Sun          Element : Water          Zodiac Sign : Leo

Chakra : Throat          Gods/Goddesses : Ra, Cernunness and Lugh

Uses

Use in money, peace, love, tranquillity an purification spells.

Aids meditation.

Spells/Rituals

Protection = Make an infusion to wash thresholds to help keep unwanted energies or entities from passing through.

Ritual Bath = Use in a ritual bath to release a loved one or release feelings of pain, loss or anger.

Chestnut

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Fire

God : Zeus          Symbol : Fertility, Desire and Abundance

Uses

Use as talismans can be used for justice, success and to gain sympathy at your audience and to encourage knowledge.

Staves made from this wood encourage longevity, increase energy, enhance intuition and helps with growing energy.

Chrysanthemum

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Sun          Element : Fire

Spells/Rituals

Altar = Used to decorate your altar for Samhain and for ancestral altars.

Blessing = Burn the dried flowers during house blessings.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum)

Planet : Sun          Element : Fire

Uses

Aids in healing spells

Love spells

Use for charms for love, happiness and money

Cloves (Syzygium Aromaticum)

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Fire

Uses

Use to attract good luck and prosperity.

Use as an aphrodisiac.

Spells/Rituals

Prevention = Burn to prevent people from spreading rumors about you.

Friendship = To keep friendships strong make each friend a cloth bag with seven cloves inside, wear always.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago Farfara)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Venus          Element : Water

Uses

Use for holidays such as Imbolc, Ostara and Beltane.

Use in love, tranquillity and money spells.

Can be burned during divination rites.

Comfrey (Symphytum)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planet : Saturn          Element : Water          Gods/Goddesses : Hecate

Uses

Protective magick

Substitution for borage

Spells/Rituals

Protection = Add a comfrey leaf to your luggage to make sure it isn’t lost or stolen.

Protection = Wrap your money in a comfrey leaf for a couple days to protect it.

Cleanse = Add to a ritual bath

Corn (Zea Mays)

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Sun          Element : Fire

Uses

Use as an offering in harvest rituals.

Use in spells for luck, prosperity and abundance.

Crocus ( Crocus)

DO NOT CONSUME!

Planets : Mercury and Venus          Element : Water

God/Goddesses : Venus, Eos, Persephone and Aphrodite

Uses

Decoration for spring festivals.

Spells related to new beginnings.

Used in spells for love, friendship, settling disputes, peace and divination.

Cyclamen

DO NOT CONSUME! DO NOT CONSUME OR TOUCH IF PREGNANT!

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Mars          Element : Water

God/Goddesses : Hecate

Uses

Use in spells to increase joy and happiness and also to send away unwanted people.

Love spells.

Spells/Rituals

Protection = The oil can be worn to protect oneself from a broken heart.

Sleep = Can help keep nightmares and hexes away.

Daisy (Bellis Perennis)

CAN CAUSE DERMATITIS IN SOME PEOPLE!

Energy : Feminine          Planet : Venus and The Sun          Element : Water

Uses

Offering to Goddesses.

Good wreaths at Beltane.

Spells/Rituals

Love = Daisies are most commonly known for their diviniatory :

“He loves me, he loves me not” spell practised by young girls.

Dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale)

Energy : Masculine          Planet : Jupiter          Element : Air

Zodiac Signs : Sagittarius and Pisces

Gods/Goddesses : Hecate, Brigid, Belenas and other solar deities.

Uses

Aids in calling spirits.

Increases psychic ability.

Spells/Rituals

Spirits = Pouring boiling water over a bowlful of roots will aid in calling spirits.

Wish = Make a wish and blow the seeds off a dandelion head.

Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum)

DO NOT USE; IT IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES!

Planet : Mars          Element : Fire

Uses

Useful for banishing, exorcisms and purification

I hope you guys found this helpful. Just this post took me a couple hours. I do intend to do the rest in 4 or 5 letter bundles (Though i may not post one instalment every day). If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or needs help fell free to comment or message me. Blessed be!

[wizardsnwookies]

TPR061818 - Familiar Faces

Derek Deseleigh stared at the opposite wall of his cell, letting his mind wander wherever it pleased. Throne knows there was nothing else to do. He had no idea how long he would expect to be here, what with the Constable and his remaining deputy under the thrall of those snake-kneelers. Those elves that caught him didn’t seem in too much of a hurry to actually stop this whole thing. No, they were letting that other group do all the work. Bartram was sick over it, two different sets of trouble working against them. It was too much, he had ordered everyone to pack and prepare to retreat back to the lair when they were overtaken.

So close, he thought. He could have just slipped away during the long journey to the swamp with no one the wiser. Moved on with his ill gotten gains. Sadly that was not in the cards, rotten luck this time Des old boy, that’s all it was. All you can do now is wait to see what they plan on doing with you. If you hadn’t shot your mouth off you could have continued to play the patsy and claim you were charmed like the others. Too late for that. Far too late.

The door to the office clicked and slowly swung inward. It was too early for dinner. Must be coming to start questioning, well, I won’t make it too easy on them. At least, that’s what he thought, until a familiar face appeared through the doorway and stared at him in stunned silence.

“Des?”

“Well, look who it is. How are you kid?” Derek stood up and offered an arm through the bars which Lash took eagerly, clasping at the forearm for a hearty shake.

“What are you doing here of all places?”

“Hookhill’s gotten a bit stuffy for my taste recently, what about you?” He gave the elf a long look over, noting the sword at their hip, the armor, the traveller’s pack. “Don’t tell me you’re the ones causing all the trouble around here?”

“A lot’s happened since the heist Des, but yeah, we’re here to deal with your ‘friends.’“ The look Galumak was giving them was making things quite awkward, and Lash didn’t quite feel like explaining at the moment. That was a conversation for another time. Hopefully far off in the distance.

“Speaking of which, we hear you managed to shake of their influence? I’m going to need you to expand on that for me. What did they do?”

“Not much to tell really, I was in town on my way South when they snatched me from the Golden Grain, brought me into the swamps and into the layer of this giant snake with the face of a woman.”

“A Naga.” Galumak corrected, his arms were crossed over his chest, still appraising the man in the cell.

“Right...well, this Naga just stared at me and I could feel it trying to get into my brain. Somehow I was able to shake it off, but something told me they wouldn’t be too happy about that so I played along.” Derek paced the inside of his cell, swinging his arms back and forth as his first few days in Orlane came rushing back to him.

“They set me up at the Inn, helping kidnap travelers that spent the night. Originally the plan was to make a break for it the first chance I got...” He paused, a sheepish smile growing on his lips. “But then I couldn’t help but notice all the money they were collecting for their god. Apparently she likes shiny things.”

“Don’t we all?” Lash laughed, then immediately flushed remembering Galumak behind them. They cleared their throat and straightened up. “So you stuck around to skim money off the top. Look, Des...this needs to stop, people are getting hurt. Do you remember which way they took you?”

Derek smiled and leaned forward against the bars. Lash should know how this works by now, you don’t get something for nothing. It seemed they needed a little reminder. “I might, of course, it’s not something I can do behind bars if you catch my meaning.”

“You show us where the lair is, I’ll make sure you get out of here.” Dorian and Lyliwillan would not be happy about this, but even they would have to admit it was a fair trade. Besides, if the two Samaritans knew half of what she did in Hookhill they probably wouldn’t be on such good terms to begin with.

Lash turned to leave and stopped on their heel, slowly returning to face Derek, face suddenly very serious. “Just so we’re clear though, you’re done with the whole cultist thing after this.” It wasn’t a question.

“Oh, of course. This was merely an opportunistic venture, you should know me better than that.”

“Just had to make sure Des...people are dying here. You were right to play possum, the people that don’t take to the conditioning are tortured before trying again.”

The color drained from Derek’s face which said more than words on how well informed he had been of the cult’s operations.

“And those who still continue to fight, are slaughtered.” Raam didn’t bother hiding the distaste he had for the man. He didn’t soften the blow. He aided the killing of innocents and Raam had no patience for people like this.

“...may the Queen forgive me.” Derek hung his head, sinking back into the cot stretched out onto the floor. He didn’t consider himself the best of people, but he had at least hoped he had lived his life devoid of actions that would label him a monster.

“If you atone, if you make it right, Nayru forgives all.” The teifling’s voice softened, less the accuser and more the strict parent. Talking about his faith tended to bring that out in him, what he would consider the best of him.

“Yeah, get me out of here and I’ll take you right to their doorstep.”

---

“This is how it worked.” Derek pushed into a small section of the wall, revealing a long dark crawlspace. “This runs all along the back walls of the South rooms. They would assign anyone targeted to those rooms, and in the middle of the night myself and a handful of other cultists would enter each room through a secret door and snatch them.”

“How many cultists lived here?” Lash ducked down, peering into the crawlspace, trying not to imagine the terror of being dragged out of your bed in the middle of the night and into the arms of a cultist.

“Five or so, they had the rooms across the hall.” Derek’s tone changed back to reserved guilt. He slid the wall panel back into place and went to retrieve the one thing he knew would console him. Opening the small trunk he pushed aside a pile of clothing and pulled out the false bottom, smiling down at the twin leather sacks that hid there.

“All right, I’ve got what I came for. When did you want to head out?”

“That depends, how far is it from here?”

“About three days with good weather.” The sounds coming from the sack as they left the room and began descending to the lower floor of the Golden Grain left little doubt as to their contents.

“You might want to keep those bags a secret from the others.”

“I take it you have’t told them about what you used to do in Hookhill?”

“Not entirely.”

“Turning over a new leaf are we?” Derek smiled over his shoulder, only half serious. Thieving was the only life he knew, but he wasn’t blind as to the lack of morality in what he did. Things were different back in Hookhill, there were plenty of people with more than enough to go around. He found that this kind of behavior was harder to live with in the country, where so many had so little.

“...old habits die hard I suppose.”

“Don’t I hear that.”

---

The road to the swamps was a long winding trail that passed through the plains outside Orlane, and skirted through the Dim Forest. Although cold, the clouds that hung overhead failed to produce any foul weather. A small breeze blew through the dead grass of the plains dropping the temperature only slightly. It was almost a pleasant journey, the silence of the Fallow season bringing a calm upon them that was interrupted only once.

They broke camp on the first night just outside the dense collection of trees that marked the border of the Dim Forest. Behind the crackling of the fire the sounds of beasts and monsters that roamed the darkness of the wood could be heard on the breeze. By the time Galumak was ready to give up his watch to Raam a soft collection of moans intruded onto the camp. 

A small group of shambling figures stumbled onto the plain, the smell of rotting flesh starting to reach their nostrils. Judging by their garb they were an odd collection of humanoids, very recently deceased, and obviously slain by foul means by the gaping wounds in their chests and necklines. They were farmers, merchants, and travelers with evidence of clothing from the other regions. Raam wasted no energy upon them, with a wave of his hand the ground around them churned and broiled before erupting into a sea of briers and thorns. The pitiful undead had only their driving hunger to guide them, and ignored the brambles that slowly tore them to shreds, halting their advance before that came anywhere close to the camp.

On the second day they passed through the Dim Forest with the guidance of Lash, skirting them pass the roughest terrain and avoiding any creature that might cause them trouble. Even with the lack of leaves, the canopy of bare branches and twigs that tangled above them was dense and darkened the forest to the point where it no longer was clear what time a day it was. The pushed forward until the temperature dropped, the darkness growing thicker around them, the only sign all day that time still flowed around them. Watches that night were uneasy, filled with the sounds of the beasts and monsters of the forest. Cautious footsteps circled around them, the cries of some large bird broke their peaceful slumber. Only Lash passed the evening peacefully, to them, this was home.

It was on the third and final day that brush and undergrowth gave way to reeds and muddy water. With each step the swamp rose higher and higher until they were knee deep in the fetid water, the only trees that surrounded them were now willows that twisted up towards an overcast sky. They awoke to the roar of a wind that blew out of the south, the reeds made a deafening hiss as they rattled against each other making it impossible to tell if they were in fact theonly creatures in this quagmire. Lash kept glancing behind them, uneasy at the idea that the wind obscured their senses. Pushing through, a light snow began to fall, an eerie contrast of pure white against the earthy colors of the swamp.

“Well, there she is.” Derek stopped and pointed to a fallen tree a few meters ahead of them. A small island of dry land had been formed by a system of dykes fashioned from sticks and mud, blocking the flow of water away from the gaping maw rent into the earth. The tree must have been felled by some strong winds some time ago, ripping it out by the roots what seemed to claw at the sky with gnarled fingers.

“You sure?” Raam ask mostly to see what his answer would be, already he could smell the stale stench of Troglodytes in the air.

“You think those dams built themselves? Yeah, I’m sure. She should be all the way down on the bottom level.”

Raam nodded, satisfied with the response. “Is there anything else we should know?”

“Oh, yeah I almost forgot. In the first room it looks like they have a bunch of townies acting as guards. When they took me in they stopped an made a kind of signal to them.” Derek closed his hand revealing only his fore and middle fingers, crossing his arm over his chest and placing his hand over his heart. “Might be something worth keeping in mind.”

“Thanks Des. I take it I won’t see you when we get back?” Lash turned to their old companion. Seeing him brought back a rush of conflicting feelings. It was a life they had left behind, but not entirely given up it seemed.

“This is where we part ways once again.” Derek nodded, clapping Lash on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you made it back on your feet.”

“Where will you go from here?”

“Not sure, I was heading south when I was caught by the snake kneelers. Might keep pushing that way. Hochoch, maybe east to Oak Hill, who knows. Not quite ready to cross into Reven just yet.”

“Take care of yourself Des, and try and stay out of trouble this time.”

“No promises.” The two shared a laugh before Derek turned away to find his bearings. After a few moments he was trudging off into the distance, disappearing into the reeds.

“Well,” Lash turned back and drew their quarterstaff at the ready. “You gentlemen ready to finish this?”

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[fr-blackiebelle]

The Sunrot Resurrections: Part II - Bones Burned Black

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@incalyscent, @tangelojack, @yuushanoah, @serthis-archivist, @pinkangel725

It took them the rest of the night and day to help Toril don her armor.

Most of the sacks were indeed filled with golden armor, of fine craftsmanship and heavily enchanted quality. It burned Juarve’s fingers to touch them, and a thin yellow wisp rose from her fingertips for days afterwards. She noticed that Mars was being burned too, but not quite as badly. He scarcely seemed to notice for how jubilant he was.

There was something off about the Guardian, which was almost expected. Her gold and red eyes kept careful watch on the horizon, and she scarcely looked at them while they fastened and buckled her armor, like she was waiting for something.

It bothered Juarve just how white her scales were, as white of the fabled creatures of the Icefield. It was a pure color, though was current illuminated green with the glow from the Wyrmwound besides them. It had no blue undertone, like Cosette, nor was it slashed with grey such as the hide of Valjean. A white like that was too clean for the Waste. It was the color of bones left under the sun.

She also seemed sluggish. Toril only answered when spoken to, and even then her words were short and her voice was gravelly. They fed her salted ham out of the rations (she understood why they had brought some along to begin with) and let her drink her fill of water. For having just been resurrected, this was as good as she was going to get. She was ready to be moved.

The night after her resurrection, it was time to move on. This time they were going east.

They were on the northside of the Boneyard, and the moon was still bright. Toril walked behind the cart, and Juarve rode in the back for the time being, as her body still didn’t feel right. Both her arms tingled up to the shoulder, and the black of her fingertips followed it. Her blue-grey fur was coming out in handfuls, and the flesh was scorched beneath. Droplets of the Wyrmwound had eaten through her layers of clothes, though she was too scared to check on the damage underneath.

After awhile, it was apparent that they were bound for the Woods. Dead pine trees dotted the Contagion, thick red tendrils burrowed into their roots and under their bark. Some were rotted but still standing, while others looked like they had died within the year. There was a vast distance between the first tree and the second, but that closed to only yards within trees soon enough. Then they reached the edge, where the Contagion and the Grove met.

These were the freshest trees, sap bleeding black under the moon. The blue mushrooms that clung to their discolored bark still threw a dull glow. A heavy layer of yellow needles mixed with the thin tendrils underfoot. Onwards, the dark mass of trees that truly belonged to the Woods.

Mars brought their progress to a halt. She and Toril looked at him for direction. Eyes in the dark shone like tiny moons, waiting to see what he would do.

The fae produced a pouch from inside his sleeve, and held up something small.

It was a maple leaf.

Mars held up the leaf in his scorched, cracked hands. Gold began to run down his arm, dripping from his elbow. The leaf was smoking gold at its tips.

“Undel.”

The words were poison in his mouth.

“I carry the will and power of Rhiow and Jhortanas with me, you will not misguide us. You will let me and my companions travel unmolested to our destination, and you will not let us wander a false path. We shall take what we desire, and not touch your sacred Forum, but if attacked we will destroy all who stand our path. Let us take what we need, and let us leave the Woods within a day of our entry. Heed my words, Undel, or you will be the first to taste the claws of the Sunrot Alliance.”

Mars let the leaf go, and it was carried by the wind, shimmering with light, into the woods.

A unholy uproar echoed from the pines, hissing and snapping and growling from the army of the shadows. Hundreds of eyes stabbed out from the dark. Juarve pressed her scorched hands to her ears, and screwed her eyes shut. The hellish chorus could be heard from the top of the Pillar and the depths of all Eleven Hells.

Just when she thought it couldn’t go on any longer, it stopped.

She opened her eyes to see that the shadowy army’s eyes were blinking out like firelights. Soon there were only the steady light from the stars and mushrooms to guide their way. She climbed from the cart on shaky legs.

“Take a rope and lash the skull to your back. It won’t be here when we return if we leave it,” Mars said, in a soft voice, painting protective wards onto his elk’s brow. “We’ll have to leave the cart and elk, however. It’ll be too difficult to maneuver them through the brambles.”

She did as he said, making a crude harness and threading the rope through the blackened skull’s eyes. When Mars deemed it satisfactory, he climbed into her antlers and Toril led the way into the Woods.

Immediately, something was wrong.

Just as Juarve’s flesh had smoked and blackened upon touching the golden armor, so did the forest.

Pine needles yellowed and fell, mushrooms withered away, unseen beings in the branches leapt away. When Toril brushed past a tree, the wood itself would splinter and break in its eagerness to get away from her. So many trees were afflicted that Juarve could see the stars above.

Thick grey brambles soon appeared between the trees, growing thicker and thicker the more distance they covered. The thorny branches shied and shrank away from Toril’s touch, though they still bloodied her flanks. The gouges shed black blood in the dim light.

Mars called softly for the guardian to stop when they came across a thick mass of brambles, twisted around something like they were trying to hide it. There was a trail blazed through the Woods behind them, where Toril’s magic made it shy away, but some of the trees that weren’t touched were blackened aswell, like they had been burnt by fire.

“You’ll have to touch the thorns,” Mars said in that same soft voice. “That is the only way.”

And so, without hesitation, Toril reached forth and grabbed the thicket in both hands.

Like some great beast, the brambles recoiled. Golden smoke went up at the ends of the branches she grabbed, and moved its way up the length. It was light magic, Juarve realized, light magic burning away the shadows. She had not been reborn from plague alone, she and her gilded armor were formed by light.

Then, when all the shadows had been burned away, by the light of the stars above she should see bones.

Bones, blackened and charred, with melted armor fusing them into unidentifiable shapes. She could not tell what breeds they had once been, or even if they were once dragons. They did not whisper.

There were small piles curled in on themselves, and long mounds that seemed as large as mountains. She examined one of the larger shapes, and found that its bronze armor had sealed it to the forest floor. Its neck was stretched out long, and there was something stuck through it, like a spear. It made Juarve sick to look upon it, so she turned her head.

“All these bodies are arranged around this one, I think,” Mars fluttered down from his perch in her antlers, and landed besides a medium-sized pile, a little bit larger than her.

It died on its side, a great of lump of twisted metal and bone. Mars laid his hand on it like it was a holy thing, something worthy of reverence. It seemed bizarre to her, as oddly enough, there seemed to be two tails on either end of its body. Then she realized, in a jolt, that it was missing its head.

She felt the weight of the skull on her back, and bile rose in her throat.

Who was this dragon, if the Shadowbinder would shrouded it in a tomb of briars as if she had never wanted it to be found?

Toril carried the melted bones out of the Woods, the brambles closing behind them.

Together, they carried the silent, black bones through the Waste. Back to the Wyrmwound.

Gold runes appeared on the scorched skin of her arms. A thin, delicate scripture, as the black scabs peeled off to reveal pink and raw flesh underneath. She asked Mars what they meant, but he grimaced and refused to translate.

And finally, finally they got to their destination. Among the red tendrils and green glow of the Wyrmwound. There was not another dragon in sight. Juarve was light-headed from the lengthy journey, the fumes of the magic, and the damage to her body. She sat besides the cart, too exhausted to stand. There were no bones to throw into the pit, piece by piece. The body could be rolled in all at once. They didn’t need her help, and didn’t ask for it.

Something warm ran down her nose. The wards that Mars had painted on her forehead, nearly a fortnight ago, had begun to bleed again. She raised a hand to touch it, but found that her strength had abandoned her. Mars noticed and came over.

He untied the rope binding the skull to her back, then, once more, the fae dipped his fingers in her blood, and begun to paint runes around the burned dragon’s eyes. The blood ran black, then gold, and Juarve lost consciousness.

She woke minutes later, shaky as a newborn animal. The pale guardian stood at the edge of the Wyrmwound, the burned bones heavy in her arms. The runes on the tundra’s arms were the same on the bones and her armor.

Toril dropped the bones. Droplets of magic struck her white skin, and did not burn. Juarve’s did.

Holes burned into her like embers dropped on a rug, first charring black then peeling to reveal the surface beneath. The pink of her skin was blistering red and raw.

The skull. The infernal skull. The burned skull with its grand black antlers, eyes as dark as Shade. It laid beside her, runes painted gold. And suddenly, suddenly, Juarve could read the ancient script.

Aramis.

The Chieftain. The Chieftain who’s name was taboo. She shook with the realization. It was said that the eldest dragons in the clan could not look her father in the eye for how much he looked like the Chieftain. He had done unspeakable horror to them all. He was a monster in a dragon’s skin, and here were his bones before her.

Juarve grabbed the skull, wrapping her ruined hands around the base of both antlers. She thought to smash it, and struggled to rise. Black and gold and red flowed freely, dripping from her nose and chin and elbows. Destroy it and be done with this.

Too late, Mars had seen her.

“Oh, child, what are you doing? Come here, there’s no use anymore. Things far beyond both our control have already been set in motion.”

Still holding the skull, she stumbled towards him. She fell, and caught herself with one hand. Her other was still clutching the Chieftain’s skull. The rocks stung her knees and palm. Mars looked down at her, though she could not see his eyes.

Pale hands took her underneath the armpits.

Pale hands raised her into the air.

Pale hands threw her, wordlessly, into the Wyrmwound.

She struck the surface, and let go of the skull.

It burned. It burned. The acid was in her eyes, in her ears, blinding her. When she tried to scream, it came pouring down her throat. She could not reach the surface. She was dying.

In a maddened moment, she lashed out. Her arm struck something, and it latched onto her. Something else, something massive, brushed against her legs. She kicked out against it, clawing her way for the surface.

The hand that latched onto her let go, and instead came down on the scruff of her neck, and she felt herself be lifted from that burning magic. Only one eye could see, and even then it dimmed each time she blinked. And what she saw before her, dripping with magic red and gold and green, made her heart stop.

Black hands had latched onto her in the magic as she burned.

Black hands had pulled her from the Wyrmwound.

Black hands had carried her to shore.

And those, black, black hands belonged to her father.

Her father, tall and with one eye red, the other gold.

Her father with heavy ebony antlers.

Her father, his hide as dark as his sins.

Not her father.

The Chieftain.

And Juarve saw no more.

[ratkingdnd]

Chapter Fifteen - Standard Toad Play

The heroes open their eyes to see Buggy sitting on the edge of the centipede bus, whilst the chest ran around the legs barking and drooling everywhere. Barnabas was packing items and produce back onto the centipede after the nights rest. He looks over to the group and yells "y'all ready to go?" and the heroes slowly climb onto the centipede's back and ready themselves in the seats. The centipede takes off with gusto back towards Morgoth.

The group arrive at Morgoth in the late afternoon, the long ride wearing nerves thin. Dr. Rostro's was near the edge of the town, towards the north side. You could smell the rotted river, devoid of water and filled with detritus and carrion. Barnabas knocks on the door. "Coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming....." is muttered from behind the door. The sounds of crashing and clanking is heard as finally the door opens and the heroes were met with an astonishing sight. A person dressed in a full plague doctors garb - the beaked mask, short top hat and a black robe, but not without eccentricities. Dr. Rostro's bottom half had a witch doctors grass skirt on, his middle was wrapped in monk straps to which a lot of keys were attached. From his neck hung a necklace adorned with every religious symbol imaginable, from deitys of the material plane, to devils of the nine hells and demons of the abyss, Dr. Rostro had it all. 

Dr. Rostro invite's the group in and immediately looks at Dolgan. "You're sick" he says. "I know" Dolgan responds. "Buuuuuuut I can help, yep yep yep yep yep yep". Dr. Rostro trails off and walks into his back room. The group hear an enormous amount of banging and crashing in the back room. Glasses smashing and things falling over, "No! no, no, no, no, no, that won't do, I'll have to get another one I guess". Dr. Rostro walks back out, "okay so, I CAN heal your friend, but I don't have everything", "Of course you don't" replies Buffalo. "I need a hag's eye" says the doctor, pointing at his own eye. "Oh" exclaims Buffalo, "I think we have one of them!". The group starts searching their belongings, "Didn't we get one of them when we first defeated the Hag at Tallow Swamp" says Ned. The group continue to search but to no avail. "I'm pretty sure we did have one, but someone maybe ate it, or we lost it" responds Buffalo. "Well, where can we get on then" motions Ned. Barnabas suggest the Hag's Hat, a tavern the group had gone to previously in the Shadowfell. "It's worth a shot" says Dolgan. They leave Dr. Rostro's as he slams the door mid sentence saying "good luck".

The group get back on the centipede and leave for the Hag's Hat. It takes them roughly 5-10 minutes to get there and they walk through the front door. The tavern is pretty bustling, many people were sitting at tables, around the floors were tonnes of small animals running around from snakes to rats to monkeys and little imps too. A woman carries a tray of beers and what looks like a bubbling drink of blood, alongside another glass filled with green liquid with smoke pouring down the sides. There were many beautiful women in the tavern too, some drinking with their friends, others on their lonesome. Dolgan walks up to the barwoman as she cleans the counter top. "Hey there, you wouldn't happen to know any hags around here would you", asked Dolgan. Taken aback, the barwomen responds, "No, not really, I mean there's Granny Moon outside the city, but she never comes here...she's a bit hostile". Ned waits patiently not 5 feet from the conversation but is soon distracted by a pull on his loin cloth. He looks down to see a little halfling, having a yank of his cloth. "I like your axe" says the halfling. Buggy notices the halfling near Ned and looks away sheepishly. "Master would love this" adds the halfling whilst pulling on the pummel of the axe. Ned picks up halfling by the scruff of the neck, "Sorry master, Sorry!" it shouts. Ned looks towards Buggy, "Do you know this thing" he asks, Buggy shakes his head and looks scared. Ned gives up and puts him down, the halfling runs over to the chest and starts trying to pat it. The chest turns around quickly and bites it's hand, "Arrrggh" yells the halfling. Ned lets out a sigh and walks over to it. "What is your name" Ned says, "Igor" the halfling replied as it starts to fondle the handle of the axe of shadows again, "Master would love this" he says. Igor then walks away from Ned and over towards Dolgan who was still in conversation with the barwoman. He starts climbing up the back of Dolgan, until Dolgan shrugs him off. Scaly picks up Igor and attempts to throw him out the window. Scaly struggles with the weight of Igor and only manages to throw him to the windowsill. Igor yells as he is flung through the air and hits his head on the ledge of the window. Ned walks over and picks Igor up again. "What are you doing?" asks Ned, Igor reaches his hand out and touches the axe again. "This is for master" says Igor, "Who is your master, bring me to him" Ned replies, "Noooooo, master won't like that". Ned, with a look of rage in his eyes stares at Igor and yells "Bring me to your master", "You can't scare me" say's Igor, "I'll die". Dolgan speaks up, "Look, lets go, we don't know how to get to Granny Moon's and -". "I can get you to Granny Moon's" says Igor. The group look at each other and turn around into a huddle. "Should we follow this guy...I don't trust him...I wanna throw him out a window..." says the group amongst themselves. They look down to see Igor standing right in the middle of them. "Let's just tie him to my chest and bring him with us" says Ned. "Yeeeeah but remember last time we did that with Buggy and he escaped in 2 seconds". "I'll wrap him in my loin cloth, and then tie him to my chest" says Ned. The group agrees and they set off.

They all jump on the centipede bus again and head south east out of Morgoth towards Granny Moon's. As they're riding along, the group cover Igor's eyes and Ned says audibly "Here you go Dolgan, that shadow axe we need to hide, put it behind your shell shield on your back". Ned hands Dolgan the axe, and Dolgan instead places the axe inside the chest. The group pull up to the edge of a forest. "That's the end of the line for me" says Barnabas. "She won't go any deeper" he says, as he pats his centipede. Buffalo looks to buy some provisions before leaving the centipede bus that includes 20 regular arrows and a parasol. 

The group still curious about Igor decide that the best course of action would be for Dolgan to cast a zone of truth around himself so as to deter any would be liars. Their first point of call being Igor, his background and his obsession with the axe. 

"What is your name"

"Igor"

"Who is your master"

"He's a vampire"

"What is your masters name"

"I don't know"

"Why do you want the axe"

"It would make Master happy"

"Why does your Master want the axe"

"He doesn't know I can get it"

"Do you know Buggy?"

"I've never seen him until today"

"Why are you interested in us and the axe"

"You don't have any shadows..."

The heroes all look at each other, slowly realising that Igor was right - their shadows were gone

.  The group, realising that they were getting nowhere with Igor and still shaken by the fact that they were shadowless, make their way into the gnarled woods. The trees were dark and rotted. They seemed to loom over the group as they walked further and further in. The woods were eerily quiet, no prints in the wet ground, it seemed devoid of life. Igor yells our "Go left", the heroes follow order and walk left, even though the tree's seem to be closing in on them even more. As Buffalo walks he starts to look around him in more detail, paying attention to every dead leaf and branch. After what seems a couple of minutes, Buffalo notices that the trees were definitely not staying still, he rubs his eyes and stops for a moment to stare at one particularly jittery tree. Scaly shortly behind him quickly feels the rotted roots wrap themselves around his ankles but quickly pulls away before they can latch on. The group start to move quicker as the trees above and around them start to close in. Dolgan falls over as he is grabbed by the roots, Ned chops one of the roots attached to his right leg but not before another root grabs Dolgan's left arm. Dolgan pulls his crossbow around behind him to make a difficult shot at the root. Buffalo manages to free Dolgan's other leg, just before being grappled around the stomach by yet another root, he looks over to his right and sees Scaly dealing with a root also around his chest. Igor yells out "RUN". Scaly and Buffalo break free, Dolgan is up and sprinting away, Ned, Buggy and the chest not far behind. 

The roots now seem to almost be flying at the heroes, from all directions. Dolgan is tripped up by another root and hits the ground hard. Ned lights up a torch and throws it behind Dolgan's, Buffalo shoots an arrow from his oiled quiver directly into the torch creating a medium sized blaze behind Dolgan. Dolgan is fine and he gets himself up, Ned lights another torch and holds it high. The group start moving again, keeping themselves within the light of the torch, but start to hear something odd, what sounded like a electric buzzing coming from the shadowed part of the woods. They seemed random and far away at the start, but soon enough they were starting to become louder and closer. 

The group reach a clearing in the woods, the root tendrils all recede as soon as they enter it, but somehow it was even darker than it was when the trees were over the top of them. The group look up to see a large canopy created by the taller trees removing any and all of the moon light that would normally be giving them a little bit of vision. Ned lights up another torch. Another buzzing sounds from the darkness of the woods, first to Ned's right, then to his left, then both at the same time as well as above him. The noises of sparks seemingly appearing everywhere all at once. Then as if appearing out of thin air, a giant spider materializes in front of Buffalo and attempts a bite, but Buffalo was too quick. Not quick enough however for the second spider that appears behind Buffalo and bites down between his shoulder blades, not causing too much pain, until a second later. Buffalo experiences searing pain spreading through his body, as if the pain was travelling through his veins. Suddenly all ability to move is removed from Buffalo as the pain proves too strong for him to do anything other than move his eyes.

Dolgan coming to Buffalo's rescue, uses his war hammer to smash down on top of the spider, Ned lights up the pommel of his axe with a torch, the spiders immediately lose focus on their targets and run directly towards Ned, seemingly using their legs to almost dance around the fire. "PUT IT OUT, PUT IT OUT" yells Igor "PUT THE FLAMES OUT". Scaly then shoots a firebolt at one of the spiders, hitting it square in it's lower abdomen As soon as this happens the group hears more buzzing coming from the woods as two more spiders materialize in front of the heroes. Buffalo seems to get out of his paralytic state and makes an attack, hitting hard with two arrows. The spider attempts to bite Buffalo again but misses, another spider manages to latch its fangs onto Dolgan but drops off quick enough to not inject any poison. The third spider bites Scaly, but his dragonscale hide proves too difficult for the spider to sink it's fangs in deep enough. Buffalo has another shot at the spider and hits it directly in the thorax, the spider seems to turn back into static as it phases out of the material plane and back into whence it came. Dolgan has a whack at the spider that attacks Scaly and hits it square in the back legs, irreparably damaging them. Ned, taking Igor's advice, put's out the handle of his axe and as fast as the spiders appeared, they dissapeared - either into the woods or back into whatever it was they came from.

The group start walking again, almost blindly with the amount of light available, but forward nonetheless. In the distance they see a gigantic tree stump rising above the rest of the trees. They start to walk towards it, Buffalo recalls his knowledge on hags as they walk reciting "As far as I remember, all of the elder hags are 'Granny's' and the younger are 'Aunties', new hags have no title. Night hags are fiends that used to be fey, like their sisters. Some of the 'Grandmother' hags can be so strong that they would be able to take on Archfey if need be". The group think wearily about what they may be walking into.

As they get within 100ft of the giant tree stump, they see that a marsh and slight fog surround the gargantuan wooden base. The group walk into the clouded area and within seconds lose sight of each other. Dolgan looks to his right and immediately sees a goblin fly at him out of the fog, Dolgan smacks the goblin in the chest and it runs away. Ned has a goblin fly out of the fog into his chest. Ned takes a deep gash to his chest, but isn't shaken by it. Scaly sees two goblin hands approaching and uses his winged boot to jump towards the tree stump. Dolgan takes out his shield and walks directly towards the tree stump, closing his eyes in the process. Buffalo starts to ready his bow. Ned looks around him and sees a goblin walking with a shield held in front and his eyes closed and another goblin loading an arrow into a bow. All three of them then hear Scaly yell out "You're your own goblin!". Scaly, being out of the fog after his jump was able to look back on the group and realise that whilst they were seeing goblins attacking them, they were in fact just attacking each other. The fog cloud had some sort of spell in it, that made you see your allies as enemies. With that Ned and Buffalo followed Dolgan's path and made way towards the stump. As they see Scaly, they see behind him a large wooden door with one handle. Standing there, finally back together, they here the sounds of a lot of laughter, commotion and roughhousing. 

[treeservicesuk1]

Tree Cutting Service Harrogate

If you are like a number of people in Harrogate then you will have either one or a number of trees in your garden. Trees just like the plants in your garden need looking after or they can not only become unsightly but they can also become dangerous.

When you see professional tree surgeon performing tree pruning and trimming services they make it seem easy, but there is lot more to maintaining your tree than just cutting and trimming a few branches here and there. While you can do some tasks with your pruners and a saw, most of the jobs are best left to qualified and experienced tree surgeons.

The terms trimming and pruning are often interchangeably used to denote cutting trees, but for clarification, trimming is for grooming the tree, whereas pruning has to do with the tree’s health, as well as the safety of people and structures near the tree. Correct pruning and trimming has to do with what portions to cut, how much, and when to do it.

Our Harrogate tree surgeons team can play an important role in every area of your garden. They can not only advise you on the best practices to maintain the health and beauty of your trees but they can also diagnose and treat any illness your tree might sustain and also advise you on the best pest control methods for your situation. We also deal with the tree roots, soil maintenance and provide a 24 hour emergency tree removal service for if you think your tree has been badly damaged in a storm. Before going down the tree felling and tree removal route one of our tree surgeons will first check the tree for any splits, cracked limbs and any other storm damage. If it is possible we will repair the tree and remove any broken or cracked limbs to make the tree safe again. If he tree has fallen or is irreparable then we will safely remove the tree for you.

So whether you are looking at trimming a few branches from your tree, want your tree checked for diseases or storm damage, an entire tree removed, a stump ground down or removed or just some advise on how to best maintain your trees then call one of our Denby Dale tree surgery team today on 0113 3206787

Actual Estimates on Tree and Stump Removal Cost

Do you know if one of those stunning trees in your yard is ready to fall when the next storm blows through? Unfortunately, this is a very real threat as falling trees or limbs can injure you, your children or your home. While tree removal is a last resort, it's still a good idea to regularly inspect the trees on your yard for hazards and know how to recognize a tree that needs to be removed. Once you understand these signs, you'll know when it's time to call a tree company.

Annual Tree Inspections are Important

At least once per year, inspect all of your trees for signs of disease, decay or structural problems. You'll also need to check the trees after each severe storm, as large trees can easily fall if their anchor roots are damaged or the ground becomes too soaked. If you catch the problem in time, a tree service company can remove it before serious damage occurs.

How to Inspect Your Trees

So, how should you inspect your trees for problems? Start by looking at the overall condition of the tree. Trees that are sick usually have off-color leaves or red pine needles. If the tree has green on the crown, it may still be hazardous or sick as the branches or trunk can be structurally weak due to disease or rot. Use binoculars to look at the high branches and try to spot any broken limbs or weak branch unions, which means the limbs are ready to fall at any time.

6 High-Risk Issues to Look For

Now, let's move on to identifying some of the biggest problems you need to look for. All of these problems represent a major safety hazard and may indicate it's time for a tree remova specialist to pay a visit.

Cracked bark. If your tree has bark that's starting to crack, this is a sign that the tree is sick or dying. Call a tree service company if you notice 2+ cracks in the same spot or very deep cracking.

Weak branch unions. Check how well the branches appear to be attached to the tree, as weak unions have no integrity and the branches may come falling down. This is a common issue with elm and maple.

Tree cankers. These sunken spots in the bark or areas where the bark is completely missing may either be a wound or a sign of disease.

Strange shape. Does your tree have a weird shape that seems poorly formed? These trees may require removal because they lack structural integrity.

Decay. Serious decay is a problem and you can usually spot it if there are mushrooms growing on your tree or right at the base. Dead branches. Dead wood is unpredictable and very brittle. Strong winds or a storm can easily send these branches crashing down onto your family or your home. Tree trimming is necessary to remove these hazards.

Common Tree Issues There are a number of tree diseases that are common throughout most tree species. Here's a look at some of them, along with symptoms you should look for. Most of these diseases require removal. Tree removal sometimes requires a permit so make sure you have this in order before you have the tree felled.

Oak Leaf Blister. This disease affects oak trees, causing the leaves to look blistered on the upper surface with depressions on the underside. The leaves will eventually start to curl and leaves may drop prematurely. This disease typically starts in the spring and spores are then spread in the rain or wind. This disease is treated with a fungicide.

Tubakia Leaf Spot. This disease causes brown spots to appear on the foliage, along with cankers on the twigs. Red oaks are particularly prone to catching this fungal infection and the best way to address it is to increase air flow on the tree.

Bacterial Leaf Scorch. This disease leaves red or yellow borders and makes leaves appear scorched. It's spread by insects and close contact to other trees and infected trees usually require removal.

Armillaria Root Rot. Finally, this fungi infects the roots of the tree and may be hard to detect unless you see mushrooms growing on the tree's base. It causes the crown to die, stunts the tree's growth and eventually kills the tree, requiring removal.

Remember, inspecting your trees annually is an important task for you to do. If your tree loses its leaves right before it gets them and right after it loses them are great times to inspect. Even if they don't lose their leaves those two times are usually in the beginning of Spring and the end of Fall.

4 Things to Look for In Your Tree Removal Estimate

Proper tree pruning can help save your trees when the winds pick up. Texas weather can change on a dime and wind storms can be unpredictable. Downed limbs can pose road hazards. They can also be dangerous for people, power lines and property. Keeping your trees pruned will make them more wind resistant, beautiful, and less susceptible to disease.

Having a professional arborist inspect and treat your trees yearly can help you to catch many diseases and fungi that can affect Texas trees. Local arborists are familiar with the signs and symptoms that each of your trees may exhibit. Early detection of such infections and fungi can help to not only save the affected tree, but the other trees in your yard. Some fungi can be spread up to a mile from an infected tree. Protect your own trees as well as those of your neighbors by having that yearly inspection.

Deciding to hire a professional for tree trimming Austin trusts is a smart idea. You will protect the strength and beauty of your trees, your property and personal safety, ensure a long healthy life for your trees and protect the other precious natural resources in your neighborhood.

For more information on Tree Services Harrogate Call Now on 0113 3206787

For information on Tree Removal North Yorkshire 

from Tree Services UK http://www.treeservicesuk.net/north-yorkshire/tree-root-removal-harrogate/