archangells

[archangells]

FOR THE LAST TIME

👏 APOSTASY is the rejection of a faith after having professed it;

👏 HERESY is selective belief in only some of the tenets of a faith one professes, or belief in tenets contrary to those of a faith one professes;

👏 BLASPHEMY is derogation of the honour due to God.

[archangells]

You know what fantasy writing needs? Working class wizards.

A crew of enchanters maintaining the perpetual flames that run the turbines that generate electricity, covered in ash and grime and stinking of hot chilies and rare mushrooms used for the enchantments

A wizard specializing in construction, casting feather fall on every worker, and enchanting every hammer to drive nails in straight, animating the living clay that makes up the core of the crane

An elderly wizard and her apprentice who transmute fragile broken objects. From furniture, to rotten wood beams, to delicate jewelry

A battle magician, trained with only a few rudimentary spells to solve a shortage of trained wizards on the front who uses his healing spells to help folks around town

Wizarding shops where cheery little mages enchant wooden blocks to be hammered into the sides of homes. Hammer this into the attic and it will scare off termites, toss this in the fire and clean your chimney, throw this in the air and all dust in the room gets sucked up

Wizard loggers who transmute cut trees into solid, square beams, reducing waste, and casting spells to speed up regrowth. The forest, they know, will not be too harsh on them if the lost tree’s children may grow in its place

Wizard farmers who grow their crops in arcane sigils to increase yield, or produce healthier fruit

Factory wizards who control a dozen little constructs that keep machines cleaned and operational, who cast armor to protect the hands of workers, and who, when the factory strikes for better wages, freeze the machines in place to ensure their bosses can’t bring anyone new in.

Anyway, think about it.

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[archangells]

Insomnia by Vincenzo Lamolinara

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While taking a nap today I dreamt there was a hazard sign called "never found" which was used to indicate a location where people disappeared never to be seen again

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We just moved into a new house that has zero mirrors in it due to having needed to work on the bathrooms before the place was livable reasons, and not seeing my reflection for a week has made me reprioritize 'vampires don't show in mirrors' on my list of correct and good vampire traits.

I've always like vampires not showing in stuff, but it now feels necessary to the monster.

-Not seeing yourself has a depersonalizing effect that belongs in narratives concerned with othering.

-If i want to look nice at the moment, I have to trust my partner to make me up. Finding a second vampire is both threat and boon at every level.

-clinging to a selfie or portrait painting from when you were alive as a way to recognize and remember who you are, and slowly coming to recognize the image as a fully different being, someone who's dead.

It's not like people concerned with vampires don't play in this space, but, alongside sunlight, this often feels like one of the things jettisoned early. Especially in today's surveillance state, where it's Easy to lose control of one's image, that feels like a misstep.

[archangells]

Keeper of the Light

by Maggie Hasbrouck

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We should not act and speak like ones who sleep. οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν. -Heraclitus, fr. 73 Diels-Kranz

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mythological species: werewolves

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ancient greek word of the day: οὐρανόνικος (ouranonikos), conquering heaven

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Specific Witch Types

Not every witch fits in this list, not every witch who fits in this list will fit in just one category. This is simply a list I found a while back about the different kinds of witches around the world. 

Lunos - A witch who is emotional and can pick up on social cues easily Magical talent - Healing. 

Nuntis - A witch who is good at explaining things and communication. Magical talent - Divination, necromancy. 

Equo - Power hungry witch, shows little compassion for others.  Magical talent - Energy manipulation and/or spiritual vampirism

Canis - Outspoken, cares more for offence than defence Magical talent - protection magic

Discerno - Focuses on knowledge and learning. Magical talent - Fast learner

Tesserae - more compassion for animals and plants than other humans  Magical talent - Communication with animals

Copulta - Love witch Magical talent - Love Magic

Medicus - Healing; physically, mentally, and spiritually  Magical talent - Herbology 

Cultus - Gifted in worship Magical talent - Prayer, Ceremonial magic 

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“Lovely-eyed. Death-touched. Witch.”

— Odysseus Elytis, tr. by Olga Broumas & T. Begley, from “The Dream,”

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Incomplete list of recommendations if you want greek myth retellings that are actually interesting and do something new with the concept:

Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (& friends)

O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)

Cassandra by Christa Wolf

The King Must Die by Mary Renault

Los Reyes by Julio Cortázar

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Trojan Women: A Comic by Anne Carson and Rosanna Bruno (let's be honest, Ms. Carson could easily dominate this whole list but I'm trying to limit myself to one and I think this one is the most interesting.)

Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr

Oresteia by Robert Icke

An Iliad by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson

Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis

Helen in Egypt by Hilda Doolittle (H.D.)

Norma Jean Baker of Troy by Anne Carson (ok I lied, what are you gonna do about it?)

Weight by Jeanette Winterson

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

[archangells]

It’s actually really funny how many cultures have fox spirits and how many mostly consider them Complete Assholes, whether actively malicious or just dickheads that trick people

You’ve got the Kitsune that can be anywhere from incomprehensibly evil and powerful to doting mothers and good wives, 

You’ve got the Huli Jing in China which were believed to be entirely female and needed male energy to survive, and did so by corrupting high-level politicians- and the Jiuweihu, the big girls that took to leading souls away from Dharma,

You’ve got the Gumiho in Korea, who just straight up eat people’s livers or steal their life force,

In Scandinavia, specifically Finland, fox spirits were believed to be the cause of Aurora Borealis, revontulet, the “fox fire”, as well as just usually messing with people, and then also the Brunnmigi for the Norse which poisoned water because fuck you,

The Celts also attributed them to be wily little bastards that existed to make fools of hunters and apparently that’s where the word “Shenanigan” came from, originally being sionnachuighim, “I play the fox” in irish gaelic,

In Europe you’ve got Reynard the asshole baron, 

and from what I’ve seen a lot of native american tribes also just consider them dicks on the level of coyotes 

it’s like every human that sees one of these

is just like “wow, what an asshole”, it’s great

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🌊 Types of Mermaids 🌊

please be respectful of cultural boundaries when working with mermaids from various cultures and traditions, and be mindful not to intrude.

🌊 Rusalkas - slavic in origin, disturbed spirits of the “unclean dead”, ghosts of women who died violent deaths, with a penchant for drowning young men. they live only in rivers and lakes, and are known to have green hair like aquatic plants, only appearing in the night. 

🌊 Melusina - a mermaid that walks among humans, but returns to their two-tailed form during baths and when they bathe their children. often a water spirit of a nearby lake or river. french origin. 

🌊 Siren - greek mythology. servants and companions of persephone, whom searched for her when she was abducted. they are known to sometimes have the body of a bird, and for their song, which lured sailors to their doom. cannibalism implied folklore. have the power of prophecy. 

🌊 Merrow - irish mermaid. known to have green hair and webbed fingers. particular noted love of music and their red cap, which when stolen, they will live with the thief until they find it, and then return to the water, leaving even a whole family behind. 

🌊 Ben-varrey - from the isle of man, known to bless those that are kind to them with prosperity, gifts, and even the location of treasure. 

🌊 Aicaya -  Caribbean mermaid, humans who become mermaids when they are shunned from their community and go to live in the sea. 

🌊 Amabie - japanese merpeople, with birdlike torsos and three legs and scales. they are gifted with prophecy, usually foretelling abundant harvests or epidemics 

🌊 Ningyo - “human faced fish” known to have golden scales, that brings bad weather and misfortune when caught, but when their flesh is eaten the consumer is granted youth and beauty, even agelessness. 

🌊 Finman / Finwife - magical shapeshifters that disguise themselves as sea creatures or plants to lure humans, unlike most mermaids they kidnap people from the shores to be their spouses or servants. they have a greed for jewelry and coins, particularly silver, and prefer humans over other finfolk. 

🌊 Sirena Chilota - considered the more friendly mermaids, caring for all fish life and rescuing drowned sailors to restore life to them. known for their human-like beauty and youth, according to legend they are the child of a human and a “king of seas”, tears are a powerful substance. from chilote mythology. 

🌊 Cecealia - sometimes known as “sea witches”, they are half human and half octopus. origins in native american and japanese mythology. 

🌊 Sirena / Siyokoy - the philippine version of mermaid and merman respectively. also called “magindara”, they are known to protect the waters from raiders, and protect the boy moon from sea monsters. Siyokoys can sometimes have legs however, covered with scales and webbed feet

🌊 Sea Mither - scottish/orcadian mythology, a spirit that personifies the sea during spring and summer, battles along scottish isles using storms to bring the summer about. a mother figure to all aquatic life. 

🌊 Ceasg - a fresh-water mermaid, specifically half-salmon, said to grant three wishes if captured. sometimes called maighdean na tuinne (maid of the wave) or maighdean mhara (maid of the sea). scottish. 

🌊 Selkie - though somewhat different from the typical mermaid, as they are not cold-blooded, have the body of a seal in the water and are human on land. in legends their skins are often stolen and they are kept by fishermen as spouses, or become lovers to fishermen’s wives who shed tears into the sea.  

[archangells]

modern + supernatural: what if supernatural creatures don’t exist anymore? what if they did once, but through the years, they slowly mixed in with humans?

↳ DRYADS. you can see the blood of dryads in hikers who never trip over roots. you can see it in that suburban grandmother never lets any of her garden die. you can see it in that one kid who climbs a tree faster than his friends, barely looking at the branches as he goes.

[insp.]

[archangells]

Not sure where to start? Looking for inspiration? Worry not, we have it handled! THIS DOCUMENT features hundreds flowers and their meanings, with an alphabetized list by flower or by meaning, as well as a few suggested categorizations, all curated by our head mod!