#semi is a obnoxious pedant

[semianonymity]

Shout out to the redditor on r/whatsthisplant who commented to let me know I'd been right a few weeks later when the blooms opened.

VINDICATION!

[theantarwitch]

The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Honest review (With positive and negative points)

The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit by Arin Murphy-Hiscock.

I started to read it with skepticism (my main way to take everything… yeah, I know, weird coming from a WITCH) but this book surprise me pleasantly.

Written with an evident good intention, the book doesn’t feel pedantic, and neither bring that “obnoxious positive energy of good vibes only not allowed to feel anything bad” but bring a nurturing, warm, caring and patient energy. Easy to understand, no technical language, no specific psychological words. Not big chunks of text that could make us ADHD pals get lost. Short, concise, easy steps.

Focused in the practical side, is not a book that you will read and automatically discover the hidden truth of your mind (even when it has a few very interesting quotes to keep always on sight), but a book of tools to improve yourself.

If you are looking for epiphanies in each page, is not your book. If you are looking for what to do for your own, or even as a complementary task with your therapy, heck yeah. Like, I kinda hate copy rituals from others but this book has a few that make me say DANG I NEED TO DO THAT.

General review: 8.5/10 with 4.5 stars, which is a lot to a witch book (for me, mostly of the witch books are under the 6/10, so that say a lot). General a great book with some small “BUT” here and there.

Positive Points:

Even when she mentions that womens struggle more with self-care, she also take the detail to mention that’s not a “woman-exclusive problem” and the book is “genderless”.

Emphasis of the self-care in “small doses each day” instead “huge changes”, great to aim to chronic ill people.

Consideration of the complexity of the self-care, interconnected to many other aspects of the life, going against the toxic “easy to fix/solutions” mentality like “exercise fix depression” or “yoga to erase mentally struggles”.

Consideration to the personal limitations like income, free time, so the author presents some non-classist, non-ableist, non-neurotypical views.

Hygge concept, which can fit into a semi “open culture” that take “cottagecore” and remove the classism of it to turn it into a more plausible, easy to access- daily- mindfulness mentality.

The psychological aspect of the book is 10/10.

No medical bullshit, misinformation or “herbs that heal everything”.

Clear separation between “herbal magic” and “herbalism” as they don’t make them mutually exclusive. * happy green witch noises *

The book is not focused to teach about basic magic knowledge and it point it, and yet take a moment to explain some super basic stuffs to make sure no new witches gets lost.

Small attack against the mainstream use of manifestations as if was a harry potter spell to get stuffs, without deny the effective aspect of it.

Mention the “Divine” a few times but more like a “higher being/ cosmos” and not like “The Deity”, neither mention the “God and Goddess”. No Wiccan tints.

Many good and very interesting easy to make rituals. Some are even more close to a psychological exercise and helpful daily tips than a ritual. She remembers us recurrently that the reader can manipulate them and change them accordingly their needs.

Sporadic considerations to people in different geographic places, chronic ill people, people with triggers, and others; stepping aside of the classical self-care books aimed to body abled neurotypical ones.

Don’t do guilt pressure like “do this or you will never heal”, instead she points that you must do what you can, allowing yourself to stop if is too much. 10/10

Don’t fall into the “things must be done in this way” mentality. She says some things like extinguish the candle or the incense instead of let them burn completely. Casting the circle and the anti-clockwise movement, are mentioned as she remembers us that is our path, our ways and we can change them as we need it.

The “if you are serious depressed, check a professional if you can”. Maybe is too obvious to point it, but the witch community lately is too mixed with the dangerous “illnesses are symptoms of a spiritual growth”, so I’m glad the author is not falling into that hole.

Food section. Not magical, but food. Edible. Curious that a self-care book pay attention to throw easy, pretty cheap recipes focusing in nutrition and not in calories, also mentioning vegan variations. 10/10

The author takes a second in remember to be careful with herbal teas and check any interaction with medication, just as warnings to pregnancy. 20/10

Good explication of the deity aspect of witchcraft, with emphasis in the worship part and how is a relationship that demand respect.

Non-religious. She points it in some places but only when is needed. Clear separation between religion and spirituality.

Full replacement of the Feng Shi (Closed practice) to explain about the Basic Elements of the Rooms (Very open).

No chakras mention, no karma.

Negative Points:

She mention that self-care is “a healthy mind, body and spirit”. Tricky when, in medicine and psychology, “healthy” is not a matter of yes or not, but more like “pathological grades”. Nobody is full healthy, but having a low grade of illnesses that don’t affect substantially the normal life. Besides that self-care is “the process of taking care of oneself with behaviors that promote health and active management of illness when it occurs”. But okay, I’m being annoyingly technical, I let it pass.

Some topics felt somehow rushed when it has so much room to explain, discuss and even rant.

I’m a hard anti capitalist ak broke af witch who get acne and lose hair each time I see the word “purchase”, so I feel forced to point that some of their rituals (and I quote the words of the book) “…most of them are easy and accessible, and others ask for minor purchases of herbs or stones…” (Page 13). But also mostly is “basic grocery stuffs” easy to replace, so I give half bad point lol.

Essential oils. Also quoted “…Essential oils may seem expensive…”. Double pain. But also point cheaper replacements and their dangerousness, so, half bad point.

She points that you can get a “negative outcome” by having a “creative visualization”, which sounded a little like “you can manifest yourself bad stuffs, control your ADHD, bad things happen because you don’t control your mind”. But again, is just me being a prick and looking for each detail.

Sometimes she kinda contradicts. In some point they say “…Rewiring your brain by repeating something is easy to do…” and a few lines later they say “…It can be very difficult to retrain your inner voice to be nurturing…”. So… is easy or not?

“Pregnant women”.

Mentions of Cultural appropriation:

-          The raffia fiber, ylang-ylang (I have not info about them, I don’t know nothing about their status of closed/open so I can’t say shit). -          Sage. Not smudging or white sage, but yet… sage… as if there are not enough other open herbs on the planet. -          She says to research about deities without consider the closed aspect of some of them (like Isis, Durga and Kuan Yin from the page 94). -          Talk about “Spirit Animals” without say they are closed to Native Americans, even when later add the variation of power animal and animal spirit (open versions of the Spirit Animals). -          Tibetan Bowls.

In general, more good than bad, very recommended (being aware of the bad side).

[mariacallous]

Here’s my class discussion post on Robert Lupton’s Toxic Charity book. 

I’ll put it under the cut because it is long and a bit ranty

I've been on both sides (as it were) - I've worked with/for nonprofits/charities in administering and awarding grants and rolling out initiatives, and I've had the fortune to utilize the services and supports that the charities or nonprofits provide. So I think I have a somewhat good understanding of the role that they play and what their shortcomings can be.

Let me start by saying that I think Lupton does make valid points. I think his criticisms of mission trips and "vacationaries" is well-founded (when I was the student government president at my undergrad, we were asked to review a funding request by one of the student groups, who wanted some thousands of dollars for them to go to Florida during the week of spring break to do "mission work and outreach". They were one of the more intense faith-based groups on campus and they subsequently failed to get the funding. The trip proposal showed no benefit to the campus or its students, there was almost no community service or outreach save for the members "practicing their communication and advocacy efforts" by walking up and down the beach and essentially proselytizing and indirectly critiquing the more party-hearty beachgoers). I think that he is absolutely correct with how we have no problem with short-term/emergency help but fail to provide meaningful and long-lasting support. 

HOWEVER!

I struggled to get through this (and I've devoured Margaret Thatcher's memoirs about her time in Downing Street, equalling almost 1000 pages, in one go). 

My first issue with this book is the lack of citation or references. Lupton will quote information or people, but the only mention is in the text, and it is often somewhat...offhand? Casual? I'm not sure how to describe it save for There is no effort to provide further source information, which I think is short-sighted as well as concerning. I know that a good portion of the writing is anecdotal and reflective of Lupton's work and experiences and observations, which leads to my next issue. (I also have issues with *who* he chooses to cite - Dambisa Moyo, for example, is very shortsighted and incorrect in her analyses on foreign aid and the effect(s) it has on countries)

The second issue I have is the fact that so much of it is anecdotal, combined with the lack of references, should make people cautious about what is proposed. While I do not disagree that there has been so many wrong approaches and so much lack of thought, there's really nothing that could distinguish Lupton's recommendations or make them stand out as shining standards. (Again, not that I disagree with all of his points).

Thirdly, I sort of find his overall approach a bit damaged by how he promotes and discusses it. It's very reminiscent of the Victorian age and the approach to social welfare. This sort of semi-genial headshaking and chuckling over how we must teach "those people" to be self-starters and seize initiative! Talking of dependency and handouts , and this implicit criticism of what these communities and people "should" be able to do (I find his first point in his "Oath for Compassionate Service" to be jarring and very ignorant of systemic issues when he talks about not doing for "the poor" what they "have (or could have) the capacity" to do for themselves. If you want to be particularly pedantic and obnoxious, "the poor" very well "could have" done anything/everything, so it's best not to do anything for them. The Victorians really developed and refined this idea of the "deserving versus undeserving poor", which resonates and shapes policy and programmatic approaches even today, and I was constantly reminded of all that I'd read about the topic as I slogged through this book. How do we help those "deserving poor" (which was basically anyone rendered that way due to medical condition or, if they were particularly generous, situations beyond their control like factory closures) without encouraging or supporting those "undeserving poor" (anyone who was "lazy" or drunk or so on, and notice how easy it could be to go from deserving to undeserving)? There's also very much a sort of Protestant evangelical thinking implicit in the book (I'm a somewhat lapsed Roman Catholic and I know that Lupton is involved in faith-based efforts, but it does, as I started out saying, sort of damage his advocacy in the book). Just him using "the poor" alone should be enough to set one on edge, as though there's this sort of monolith of individuals out there.

Fourthly, my issue is the sheer lack of discussion on systemic issues. Chloe Secor already discussed this in her discussion post but I find it incredible that this author, who castigates the short-sightedness and short attention span, basically does nothing to truly discuss or promote long-term solutions and ideas to the problems he identifies. Although alink I found is for his book "Charity Detox", I feel that many of the criticisms definitely apply here too, for they go to the mindset and thinking that Lupton has (he supports a free-market economy, does not support raising the minimum wage, thinks that government and charity supports create a culture of disincentivization in working and that people will stop working if you "give them handouts. The link to the article/review is here. Side note: It is weird/difficult to find a review of Lupton's work, and by that, I mean from a publication like the Washington Post or the Atlantic, etc. etc.) There might be reasons why certain areas are underserved/poorly maintained/disproportionately populated by a particular group of people (I am somewhat reminded of Margaret Thatcher and Professor Alice Coleman's focus on litter and vandalism and the connection to poverty and crime which, as with Lupton, may have some validity but misses the larger points. I do apologize for the references but political science and history, especially British politics and history, is something of a specialty and focus for me and I can't help but find comparisons and repetitions) beyond lack of initiative and empowerment.

I have worked in public health agencies, homeless shelters, and social service departments. I have seen some of the most extreme examples of homelessness and poverty. And yes, while many of them were/are alcoholics and drug users, former convicts and incarcerated individuals, with a range of behavioral and social problems...almost every case I could connect to the larger systemic and cultural and social issues afflicting where they came from and/or where they live now (the fact that many were/are people of color, particularly Native American, is something else to highlight). What Lupton discusses and promotes wouldn't really help them (and in fact, he would likely write them off because of their alcoholism and "laziness"). 

So, anyway, those are my thoughts on the book.  

[catsnuggler]

I was tagged by @lesliethebestie

rules: answer the questions in a new post and tag blogs you would like to get to know better.

nickname(s): Nate. Also the occasional “Nathaniel”, because some people think “Nathan” is always short for “Nathaniel” when that isn’t the case

starsign: hardcore Taurus

height: 6′1″

last thing I googled: Linear A. It’s the form of writing used by the ancient Minoans, and it hasn’t been deciphered to this day! I googled it because I was doing homework, and the chapter I’m in in my history textbook is about the dawn of agriculture, and briefly mentions the beginnings of Ancient Greece. In-depth Greek stuff is down the road, though.

fave music artist: I’ve been digging the Faroese metal band Tyr lately. They’re like Metallica but Norse. Pretty cool dudes. The vocalist supports whaling though, so ya kinda need to take ‘em with an Atlantic of salt.

song stuck in my head: God of War

last movie I watched: Blade Runner, with my big sis @pansexual-princess! Great movie! If you intend to watch it, though tw for sexual assault, gore, and aichmophobia.

last tv show I watched: Star Trek: The Next Generation, also during my visit yesterday. I love that show, and even though I’ve seen all the episodes, it’s the kind of show you have to see again and again.

when did you create your blog: back in 2011 I believe. Admittedly, I purged a few years of my posts like, last year at some point, or the year before that, out of embarrassment. I was a rather obnoxious Homestuck blogger. Now, well, I don’t have anything against Homestuck or its fans, and it was definitely an entertaining webcomic, but it’s still going and I honestly don’t have the patience to continue with it. At least not right now.

what kind of stuff do I post: memes, SJ, politics (far-left, particularly anarchist), cats, a ton of text posts about my thoughts (maybe some of which I shouldn’t post but oh well), whatever I like

do I have any other blogs: 

@swordofyggverd. Since a lot of my main blog’s followers are Atheist, Christian, Jewish, or otherwise non-pagan, I have a separate blog for my religious content. I’m a Heathen, but I intend to branch my practice out to other pantheons in due time, assuming other gods will give me the time of day. :P

@the-arch-conservative. I took the URL so no reactionaries could. I haven’t posted on it in months. The URL is a parody, because all that was really going to be posted were pictures of arches, with rants about how no one uses arches anymore, so they must be saved/conserved. A rather trivial pun, but I like being a pedantic ass to fascist filth.

@anarcho-tarkinism This one is also rather niche, and also rather unused. What it was going to be is communist or semi-communist quotes written as if Grand Moff Tarkin said them, himself. I never got that into making the posts after making the few on the blog, and, um, the other mod, uh... the other mod and I had a, um, falling out of sorts. Yeah.

do I get asks regularly: Not exactly, but within the past week or two I’ve got more from my followers, and I really appreciate that!

why did I choose my url: Because I snuggle cats and oh my goodness, this is the best URL ever and I’m so glad and so lucky to snag this one before anyone else did, I love it. I should probably post more cats sometime, because that would be pretty fitting. It’s just, well, you’ve probably seen my posts, how depressed I’ve gotten sometimes... but cats would help, wouldn’t they? I’ll post more cats sometime.

gender: male

Hogwarts house: Gryffindor, according to this test?

Pokemon team: Looks like I’m Valor

favorite colour: red and black

average hours of sleep: 7 if I’m lucky. I wish I could sleep more.

lucky number: 5 and 6, because of my birthday (5/5) and my name (a 666 name)

favourite characters: Ron Weasley, all the Star Trek: TNG characters (especially Guinan and Picard), Mikado (Durarara!!), Jaune Arc (RWBY), Aragorn (LOTR)

how many blankets do I sleep with: One. Even so, my room’s too hot, so I have to sleep shirtless. I can’t just wear a shirt and put the blanket only over my legs, though; it doesn’t work like that.

dream job: Still figuring that out. For now, I’ve considered being a historian, librarian, or a chemist of some sort, but which one of those I want to be is uncertain. I also considered being a child therapist a few months ago, but I’m not sure if that would actually be the right job for me. Heck, maybe I could be a writer. I should actually write the stories I intended to write since 2015 sometime, so I can see if I actually stand a chance at that!

following: Haha, um, would you believe it’s at 851?

tagging: @nauthirbleeding @alvocodosarecool @kleptoprophet @laceknots