#(( the snake devours its own tail

[catgirlforeskin]

There is something spiritually malignant about the erotic drawings of modern day big boobs goth Frieren. Simulacrum of a simulacrum. You cockroached your own cockroach wife. The snake devours its tail. The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the

[ramshackledtrickster]

Day 26: Symbol

“Were we not meant to live in peace, then? Is that it? Are we born to argue? To fight?”

I picked the oroboros/self devouring snake as the symbol bc of its thematic ties to ac3, with the temple key being in the shape of a snake eating its own tail but also representative of the endless war between Templars and assassins and the continuation and perpetuation of vicious cycles.

If you see this, please consider donating to this fundraiser to support a family, and remember your daily click.

[hermitshell]

Ouroboros (noun)

1. : a circular symbol that depicts a snake or dragon devouring its own tail and that is used especially to represent the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth

2. usually ouroboros or less commonly uroboros : something (such as a never-ending cycle) that is likened to or suggestive of the Ouroboros symbol

[sentientsheepdog]

My thoughts on what kind of hybrid the 141 guys would have (all more or less accidental acquisitions since none of these guys have normal or predictable schedules) Tw for sensitive topics (past neglect/ bgc suicide/trafficking)

Gaz: Grey parrot hybrid that escaped neglect and hit his window. The concussion was barely a memory by the time all their pulled feathers had grown back. He loves showing off his healthy, shiny birdie in pictures (don't you dare call the grey drab that's thinnnn ice look how shiny its basically silver arent they so pretty) and takes great pride in keeping them happy. Always smiling like the sun when he gets to go home because his birdie will tell him all about every piece of entertainment they devoured while he was gone over some fruity treat and season appropriate drink. Loves taking his bird out book shopping and to museums, Birdie needs enrichment and he needs to spend time in society. The anklet his bird wears has a tracker in it, just in case they get lost or worse.

Soap: wild Snake hybrid he kept from a worse fate by catching them before they reached his neighbours chicken coop. Hissed and struck at him all the way back to his living room until they felt the heat from the hearth and proceeded to curl up and sleep for hours. They always hang off the beams in his farmhouse whenever he gets home to 'scare' him. He plays along just to take their heating pads as 'punishment'. Wild thing can't admit they want to cuddle up. That's alright. Johnny can read his hissy housesitter like a picture book and enjoys the little game they play. He still hasn't quite managed to catch the iridescent glint of their scales in his paintings, but he's working on it every chance he gets.

Ghost: Bunny hybrid he found sitting on his cabin porch. Poor thing got lost, and was so scared it bit him when he tried to herd it inside. Couldn't find them for 3 days when he let them out of his sight for a second after cleaning the filthy stray, found them shoulder deep in the fridge at 4 in the morning with a mouth full of chocolate still in the wrapper. Frequently and fondly thinks back on the adorable growl they let out when he wrestled the plastic out of their mouth. Wouldn't admit it but has grown fond of the flighty fluffball and its tendency to nap on him. Let's him play with their soft tail like a stress ball. Drags their ears down over their eyes to initiate play since they made fun of his mask with he gesture and got chased around for it.

Price: ESA Dog hybrid he took in when the previous owner took his own life a while after being medically discharged. Takes the hybrid to base with him at every opportunity so the bored pup can make use of their training by hanging around medics and keeping everyone calm. Wanders back to his office eventually and curls up in their bed under his desk until he's ready to leave for the day. Fetches him anything and everything he asks, even the occasional water bottle and snack he didn't ask for when he's focused on work. Acts like he begrudgingly lets them sleep in his bed when they have a perfectly fine one in their room, probably couldn't sleep without them there if he was honest about it.

Nikolai: Pangolin hybrid he got as a bonus on a business deal. He was thoroughly unimpressed with the unnegotiated crate he unpacked back in the Hangar, even less so when he heard scratching from inside it. Has a starring contest with the pitch black eyes that peek out at him he loses when their dark clawed scaly hands grab onto the remaining slats and rip the crate apart. He can't bring himself to give them up to a sanctuary, so he moves them into a homestead of a safe house where they are as safe and free as can be. Visits often to keep the mute hybrid entertained and supplied with everything they can't forage, grow, or make. Is guilty of fueling up extra to watch the hybrid happily sit in the rotor wash with bristled scales. Never leaves the homestead empty-handed, Pangolin is living in abundance and always has some hand-made treats on hand to share.

[anonymouse-soup]

Hi guys, I'm Anon and I make aus. :D

I really love Forsaken aus! Like Ivy's Forsaken Swap AU (Go check it out!! Ivy's the GOAT)!!

Anyways this au would be my take on the forsaken roleswap au

I will develop this au depending on my motivation or if anyone's interested! But right now it's just intrusive thoughts guiding my hand to draw.

"The ouroboros is an ancient symbol, eternal, cyclical, inescapable.

Life devours death. Death devours life. A snake eating its own tail, shedding skin after skin. Over and over again."

Survivors turned Killers. Killers turned NPCs. NPCs turned Surivivors.

And so it begins again.

The cycle has just started. Won't you stay and see as things unfold naturally?

[starlightshadowsworld]

Kunikida: I am the cause of this. But I’m also the solution. To a problem I have caused. And will inevitably resolve.

Atsushi: I think your prank went too far.

Dazai: Pfft it’s fine.

Kunikida: Am I in a paradoxical loop where I aimlessly generate a problem and try to solve it? Like a snake devouring its own tail in order to satiate its hunger?!

Dazai:…Okay maybe I went a teeenyy bit too far.

Atsushi: Ya think?!

[talonabraxas]

Carl Jung on “Our Uroboros.”

Prof Jung:

That is the hero again. The snake always means resurrection on account of shedding its skin.

According to an African myth, there was no death on earth originally; death came in by mistake.

People could shed their skins every year and so they were always new, rejuvenated, until once an old woman, in a distracted condition and feeble-minded, put on her old skin again and then she died.

That is the way death came into the world.

It is again the idea that human beings were like snakes originally: they did not die.

It was a snake that brought the idea of death to Adam and Eve in Paradise.

The snake was always associated with death, but death out of which new life was born.

But what is that definite symbol? A great deal has been said about it lately.

Miss von Franz: The Ouroboros.

Prof Jung: Exactly. The tail eater, or the two animals that devour each other. In alchemy that is represented in the form of the winged dragon and the wingless dragon that devour each other, one catching the tail of the other and forming a ring.

The simplest form is of course the dragon or the serpent that bites its own tail, so making the ring; the tail is the serpent and the head is as if it belonged to another animal.

The same idea has also been expressed by two animals, the dog and the wolf, devouring each other, or the winged and the wingless lion, or a male and a female lion, always forming a ring, so that one cannot see which is eating which.

They are eating each other; both destroy and both are destroyed.

And that expresses the idea that once the hero eats the serpent and once the serpent eats the hero.

You see, in these Gnostic rituals, or the ritual of Sabazios, man is superior to the serpent in a way-he makes use of the serpent.

That the golden snake descends through the body of the initiate means that the initiate asserts himself against the divine element of the snake: he is then a sort of dragon that

eats or overcomes the other dragon.

So it is one and the same symbolism whether expressed in this form or that.

In primitive myths it is usually the dragon that devours everything.

Even the hero, who by sheer luck and at the last moment succeeds in destroying the monster that has eaten him, cannot overcome the monster by a frontal attack, but he is able to defend his life and destroy the monster from within by the peculiar means of making a fire in its belly.

Fire is the artificial light against nature, as consciousness is the light which man has made against nature.

Nature herself is unconscious and the original man is unconscious; his great achievement against nature is that he becomes conscious.

And that light of consciousness against the unconsciousness of nature is expressed, for instance, by fire.

Against the powers of darkness, the dangers of the night, man can make a fire which enables him to see and to protect himself. Fire is an extraordinary fact really.

I often felt that when we were travelling in the wilds of Africa.

The pitch dark tropical night comes on quite suddenly: it just drops down on the earth, and everything becomes quite black.

And then we made a fire.

That is an amazing thing, the most impressive demonstration of man’s victory over nature; it was the means of the primitive hero against the power of devouring beasts, his attack against the great unconsciousness, when the light of consciousness disappeared again into the original darkness.

Now, in the alchemistic symbol of the two animals that devour each other, that peculiar functional relationship of man’s conscious to the natural darkness is depicted, and it is an astonishing fact that such a symbol developed in a time when the idea of the manifest religion was that the light had definitely overcome the darkness, that evil-or the

devil-had been overcome by the redeemer.

In just that time, this symbol developed, where darkness and light were on the same level practically; they were even represented as functioning together in a sort of natural rhythm.

Like the operation of the Chinese Yin and Yang, the transformation into each other, being conceived and born of each other, the one eating the other, and the one dying becoming the seed of itself in its own opposite.

This symbol of the Taigitu expresses the idea of the essence of life, because it shows the operation of the pairs of opposites.

In the heart of the darkness, the Yin, lies the seed of the light, the Yang; and in the light, the day, the Yang, lies the dark seed of the Yin again.

This is often represented in the East as two fishes in that position, meaning the two sides or the two aspects of man, the conscious and the unconscious man.

Now this preparation should make us understand the situation of the shepherd and the serpent.

What does it mean in the psychology of Nietzsche-Zarathustra that he suddenly discovers that shepherd in deadly embrace with the serpent?

He is apparently swallowing the snake, but the snake is attacking him at the same time, penetrating him.

Why such an image, or symbol, at this place?

You remember in his discussion with the dwarf just before, the dwarf was already the chthonic power. ~Carl Jung, Zarathustra Seminar

[credus99-blog]

Aggression/ Danger to humans: Low/Low, Very Low

Element/ Ailment: None

The Harlequin Snare, or Mekljut in Dhënuvgöm, is a species of snare endemic to the southern region of the great mountain range separating the northeastern and eastern continents of Atterra. Like most other snares, Harlequin Snares make their home on the sides of riverbanks, digging out small three chambered hovels with their large claws and reinforcing it with silk they produce with their salivary glands. These avian wyvernids are ambush hunters, using their prehensile tails with unique hand-like tips to wrap around a rock or tree stump to root them in place. Once they have secured themselves to a perch, snares will use their anisodactyl feet to further secure themselves in place as they lean over the water or a game trail, waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass by. Once prey has entered their strike range, snares will rapidly strike like a snake to snap up prey and devour it whole. Snares are also known for slithering their heads down small multituberculate burrows to eat the inhabitants within.

When not hunting, snares forage for berries and soft leaves at dawn and dusk outside of their hovels before waddling back to their homes in the early morning or early night. While snares may live near each other, they are entirely solitary animals. Fights between two snares outside of mating season are extremely rare, and most snares will walk past the other without so much as a sideways glance. Snares only engage in conflict when another snare (typically a younger one) tries to enter the hovel of an older snare. These conflicts usually end with the older snare chasing out the youngster or the youngster stealing the often elderly snare's hovel for its own.

When confronted with a threat, snares have little in the way of natural defenses, only possessing tough scales on their neck and claws used for digging. Instead, snares rely on securing themselves to a rock or stump and posturing to protect themselves. While posturing, snares will move their elbows away from their body and slightly open their wings to appear larger. Additionally, snares will coil their neck and hiss at an opponent, ready to strike. Should the threat not heed this warning, a snare will snap at the opponent while remaining rooted in place, relying on the scale armoring on its front and neck for protection. Should the snare not have a good grip and is pried off its perch, the bird will elect to coil its tail around the attacker and dig its claws into them while biting.        

During the breeding season in late fall, male Harlequin Snares will leave their hovels and search for hovels with females who are ready to mate. Once a male has found female snare’s hovel, the males will jostle for position by shoving and slamming their necks together until one male is knocked over or backs down. The male who wins the most matches will be at the front of the line in front of the female's hovel, with the weakest male in the back. Once they have formed their line, the males will collectively call to the female until she exits her hovel. Once she’s outside, the males will waddle around in a conga line with their heads necks and heads held high. While in the conga line, male snares tilt their heads side to side in the sink, trying to catch the female's attention. The male in front gets the most attention from the female as she watches them waddle around in front of her hovel. Female snares measure the color of the male's face and his movements when deciding his fitness for breeding. Once the female chooses a male, she will bump into him with her chest to show interest. The two will then do a matching rotation dance before the two finally mate. If the chosen male fails the rotation dance, the female will bite him, and the conga line will continue until the female chooses another male or retreats into the hovel. Once a male mates with the female or she is not interested in any of them, the female will retreat back into her hovel, and the males will disperse to look for more females.

After mating, female snares will lay 2-3 eggs during winter and will sit on them until they hatch during early spring. Once hatched, snare chicks are raised by their mother until they are 50-60 days old, wherein she will chase away the juveniles. Once on their own, juvenile harlequin snares will search for spots on riverbanks to dig their hovels or take over a multituberculate burrow to inhabit. Juvenile snares reach full size by the time they are six months old and reach sexual maturity at 12 months old. Snares under expert care can live between 10 to 12 years before passing away of old age.

Due to their particularness when it comes to habitat, it is extremely difficult to have a snare in captivity and have them breed. However, one tribe of Hakdor that not only managed to breed captive snares but created three distinctive breeds of domestic snares. The two lesser-known breeds, still occasionally used by some humans, are hunting snares. One breed specializes in traversing over the ground and catching small animals in hard-to-reach places, with the unique preference of creating hovels above ground by stitching twigs, leaves, and moss together with silk. The second breed specializes in hunting small gopher-like dicynodonts (infamous for eating the roots of crops, fruit trees and berry shrubs), utilizing especially strong neck scales to protect their necks from the powerful bites of their prey.

This breed hunts by sticking its head and neck into the dicynodont’s burrows and eating all the occupants whole. These snares hovels are pits dug in the ground with a roof made from stitched together soil, twigs, and moss with silk. Each hovel has multiple hatches in the top for the snare to stick their heads out of and snatch prey on the roof of their hovel. The last breed of snare is the illustrious Silk Snare, bred not only for its beauty but also for its silk. The silk of a Silk Snare was worth more than its weight in gold due to its rarity, softness, and durability. Silk Snares were so important to the Hakdor tribe who bred them; each one had a pedigree, personal guards, caretakers, and a stamp on a certificate for every spool of silk it created. Unlike the other two domestic breeds, which can be found in the wild after the collapse and conquering of the tribe who bred them. Silk snares are only believed to have survived due to being living symbols of opulence and the enormous effort of a small but dedicated group of breeders.  

[theoceanislikeyou]

Found on a grave from the 1850s in the Alter Friedhof (old cemetery) in Darmstadt, Germany. The symbol of the snake devouring its own tail represents cyclicality, unity, or infinity, and it can often be found on classical graves. In the romantic period, the butterfly was a sign of the hope of resurrection (larva, pupa, butterfly), it also represented the soul freed from all material.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Dictionary of Esoteric Terminology

for your next poem/story (pt. 3)

Esoteric—designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone; may refer to the occult

Athame - a ritual dagger used in Witchcraft and Neo-paganism; has a black handle which is inscribed with symbols

Brahmarandhra - the "Gate of Purity"; a spot at the top of the head described as a hidden aperture; according to some, this spot is the exit for the enlightened soul upon the death of the body

Cromlech - a circle made of vertical stones, associated with Celtic worship of the Sun

Dark night of the soul - a phrase used by St. John of the Cross to describe the depression, isolation, and alienation which afflicts some mystics just prior to the realization of transcendence; hence the saying, "It is always darkest before the dawn"

Dracontia - many temples and sacred sites have been associated with dragons, probably because of their connection with primeval earth forces

Dweller on the threshold - a hostile spirit or being peculiar to each individual, comprised of the accumulated "bad karma" of that individual; such a being could be thought of as the personification of all that holds the seeker back from enlightenment; in this sense, it is like a negative Holy Guardian Angel

Ecstasy - "to cause to stand out"; a state beyond or outside reason and rationality; speaking in tongues may be thought of as an ecstatic trance

Flying ointments - lotion or cremes used to facilitate astral or etheric projection. These mixtures usually contain potent psychedelic agents such as belladonna, henbane, and mandrake

Genii - in Islamic tradition, they are an intermediate race of spirits between angels and people, who ruled the earth before Adam; also known as djinn, genn, or ginn

Hsuan te - virtue through emptiness; the cultivation of one's original nature

I shin den shin - "from my soul to your soul"; direct transmission without words

Khu - literally "clear" or "luminous"; the ancient Egyptian word for the immortal part of the soul; the causal body; symbolized by a plume of flame

Left-hand path - defined by some as the path of black magic; others, as the paths which stress doing and action over being and stillness; most magic systems tend towards the left hand path; most religions tend towards the right-hand path

Lustration - from Latin lustratus, "to brighten"; a ritual purification using water; rituals involving baptism or holy water are examples

Menstruum - an alchemical term for that from which all metals are derived; also mercury wherein gold is dissolved; "Our Water is a fire and a salt. This fire is the true Universal Menstruum of Vegetables, stronger than the fire of wood, since it transmutes the physical gold into a spirit."

Nagas - serpent spirits in Hindu mythology who lived in vast and beautiful temples and palaces beneath the earth

Ouroboros - the snake devouring its own tail; a Gnostic and alchemical symbol of cyclical nature, eternity, or the transcendence of duality; sometimes also used to symbolize the world of illusion

Phoenix - a mythical bird of incredible beauty; is the only one of its kind, living in the deepest desert, until at the end of its 500-year span it dies and is consumed in the funeral pyre of its own nest, then it rises from the ashes in the freshness of youth; generally considered to be a symbol of resurrection, immortality, and spiritual transformation

Prasad - the practice of offering sweets, fruit, or other food to a saint or deity

Pretas - the "hungry ghosts" of Buddhist and Hindu mythology; the ghosts of those who died burdened with great desire and are generally considered to be malevolent; supposedly they are continuously thirsty and hungry, but are unable to eat or drink; described as having huge distended bellies and pencil thin necks

Ruach - breath, wind, or spirit; represents the part of the soul which is the rational mind and the powers of reason; also refers to God's ineffable soul which He breathed into man at creation, thus making man in His image

Secret fire - an alchemical term for the hidden or elemental Fire

Simulacrum - an image used in sympathetic (imitative) magic that is considered to be the magical double of the thing represented; a "voodoo doll" would be an example of a crude simulacrum; in ancient Egypt, simulacra of slaves, animals, and other possibly helpful beings were entombed with their deceased owner; also used by some to describe the visualized vehicle or "body of light" used in astral projection

Speculum - any light refracting or shiny surface which can provide a focus for the attention; mirrors, bowls of water, and crystal balls have all been commonly used as speculi

Theurgy - from the Greek words theos, "god," and ergon, "work"; magic used to grow closer to God or become more godlike, to make changes for personal evolution and spiritual growth; the sacrament of the host could be considered a form of theurgy

Source ⚜ More: Word Lists

[pinkeos]

AFAB! Neuvillette x AMAB!Reader || 18+ MDNI

Warning/s: SMUT, they have seggs in a lake

Notes: *drops this and scampers back to play swarm cause ive been procrastinating*

In a secluded lake, somewhere in Fontaine only known to two, was the Chief Justice. His horns glowed a translucent blue, tail swishing in the water as he relaxed his body.

Neuvillette seldom took breaks, often drowning himself with piles of papers, working tirelessly for the sake of his nation. However, he needed a break. He deserved a break.

And being a good partner, you decided to take him out for a late night swim, knowing well it would help him clear his mind off of his troubles. That, and you also wanted to finally spend time together outside of the very quick lunches you shared.

The surface of the water rippled when you entered, the man turning to face you with the softest smile on his face. The moon was bright and high up in the sky tonight, the way its light shone down upon your lover only made him even more ethereal than he already was.

You returned his smile, leaning forward to press a soft kiss on his forehead while he instinctively wrapped his arms loosely around your neck. You felt him shiver in your arms at the way your fingertips gently traced his spine, going down until your hand settled on the fat of his ass, earning a gasp from your beloved.

“You look so perfect.” You murmured against his cheek, placing kisses against his cheekbone, adding with a chuckle, “As you always do.”

Neuvillette smiled, “You flatter me, my love.”

Your kisses on his cheek traveled downwards, reaching his jaw and then his neck. In compliance, the white haired man tilted his head to the side, giving you more room to place loving kisses on his skin.

He could feel your hands roaming his body, groping, caressing with adoration. You’d been intimate with him a number of times, but nowadays, with the sudden rise in the number of cases he had to deal with, you could only sneak in a few kisses and sometimes make out that would ultimately be cut short due to his busy schedule. He sighed in pleasure, slowly feeling his knees grow weak at your affectionate touches.

Your naked bodies pressed against each other when you pulled him closer to you, the water flowing softly at the sudden action as his tail wrapped around your waist. It was quiet, with nothing but the sound of nature surrounding the both of you, coupled with Neuvillette's whines when you nipped on a sensitive spot on his neck.

“It’s been so long. I need you, sweetheart.” You groaned into his neck, snaking a hand between the both of you to take a hold of the base of your cock, inserting it in between his plush thighs to rub against his throbbing pussy.

The Chief Justice whined, hand coming up to hold onto your bicep as you continued grinding, your length rubbing against his folds, the veins stimulating his clit just right, “Then— ahh!— t-take me.”

You didn't need to be told twice, really. Your hands immediately grasping his thighs, mouth devouring his own with a sense of urgency, so thirsty and deprived of him. His tongue danced with your own, his hand running through your hair while the other held onto your shoulder as you wrapped his legs around your waist.

“Mm!” He whined into the kiss, feeling your fingers rub his nipple, twisting and pulling. The stimulation along with your tip pressing and teasing against his clit drove him nuts.

You pulled away from the kiss, panting as you caught your breath, staring lovingly into his eyes while your hand guided your dick near his entrance, pressing into him slowly. The man’s lips parted, forming a small ‘o’ at the sensation of the stretch.

He could feel your eyes linger on his face, intently watching to see if he was in pain. It was a simple action, but it did make his heart flutter with how attentive you are. As much as you wanted to pound into him with everything you have, especially with how good he felt around you, you still prioritized his comfort and feelings first. You weren't going to lie, though, taking the hydro dragon in a secluded lake was hot.

“You feel so tight.” You grunted, slowly grinding your hips against him as you waited for him to fully adjust.

With red cheeks, Neuvillette buried his face against the crook of your neck, “I-It’s been a while…”

A smile spread across your lips before you drew your hips back until only the tip was left, and thrusting back into him. You kept a steady pace, eyes closing and eyebrows furrowing as his warmth clouded your head, feeling nothing but his walls clenching around your cock.

“Mmm-ahh! Aaahh! F-faster… go faster…” He whispered through pants, gritting his teeth as you placed your hands on his hips, bringing him to meet your every thrust. He could feel your tip kissing his cervix, tears gathering in his eyes at the immense pleasure.

“Keep clenching around me and I might just come inside you.” You groaned, speeding up your thrusts, your movement creating waves and splashes.

His sharp nails scratched your back, desperately trying to ground himself from the overwhelming ecstasy brought by your onslaught of pumps into his pussy, pulling at the knot in his stomach to cause it to tighten and tighten.

From the way he only tightened even more at your words, you could tell he wanted it. He wanted your cum to paint his insides white, for you to breed him without a care in the world.

Neuvillette tilted his head upward, hearts in his eyes and tongue lolling out. He looked adorable like this, all dumb on your cock.

Without warning, his eyes widened, a loud gasp falling from his parted lips as his legs shook, hold on you loosening as his climax tore through him, his pussy spasming. You had to hold him tighter, making him lean against your figure as you continued to chase your climax.

“Cum… inside me.” He panted, biting his lower lip, “Breed me. Please, please…”

Who could refuse when he chanted and whined in your ear, meeting your thrusts and coaxing you to do as he told you.

“Fuck, that's so hot.” You grinned, finally stopping still, groaning into his neck as you spilled your semen inside of him, directly into his cervix.

He whined, ignoring the cool water the both of you were in, instead focusing on the warmth of your seed inside him.

You held him against you still, rubbing his back and placing soft kisses on his shoulder, whispering how good he was for you. He remained silent, however, and before you could ask what was wrong, you felt a drip of water against your cheek.

Slowly, droplets fell from the sky, clouds now blocking the full moon as rain took over. With wide eyes, you pulled back just enough to show him your worried face.

“My love, are you alright? Were you hurt—”

Neuvillette shook his head, nuzzling closer towards you, “It just… it felt too good.”

You worry dissipated, instead chuckling softly as you cupped his cheek, “You’re adorable.”

Ending note: i love neuvillette sm (totally didn't skip his rerun for a 4* in 4.7🤡)

[spiralsinshadows]

Tragedy is the mind that devours itself—

and is never fulfilled

like a snake tasting its own tail

A cycle broken when the struggle has stilled

—Nikola Sojka

[asuraspenance]

[FIC HERE]

"asura's penance."

SUMMARY:

incessantly, on and on, without pause. waking, disintegrating, over and over, endlessly. he was weary, now. the cycle of karma had branded itself into his skin, blazing cold, frigid fire. he was like a spider caught in its own web, like a snake biting its own tail, helpless to be devoured by himself. everything left of him, eroded away, the ocean of time carving its way through his cliff side. he, only once, lived guided by his own pleasure and displeasure. after that, the wheel of fate, the rope of destiny, tightened around his neck, far more a cage or prison than the boy with blossom hair ever had been. vexation, humiliation, exhaustion, and finally nothing at all– a blank slate, cleansed of evil. …the buddha and king enma both must be laughing at him.

[youremyheaven]

Mrigashira: The Price of Speaking The Truth

I have been studying the themes and patterns of Mrigashira nakshatra for a while and I thought it's time I made a post about the same.

The myth associated with Mrigashira involves Daksha, the son of Brahma. Daksha organized a grand Yajna (a ritual) but intentionally avoided inviting his daughter Sati’s husband, Shiva, whom he despised. Sati went to the ritual without Shiva’s consent, where Daksha insulted her and Shiva. Sati couldn’t bear the humiliation and jumped into the sacrificial fire. Upon learning of Sati’s death, Shiva became furious and destroyed Daksha’s yajna. Yagya, the presiding sage, turned into a deer and ran away, but Shiva caught up and killed him. His head became the Mrigashira nakshatra, which symbolizes sacrifice. (there are multiple myths associated with each nakshatra and another myth about Mrigashira involves Rohini, Brahma's favourite daughter leaving heaven to escape Brahma's incestual interest in her and taking the form of a deer on earth)

From this myth, we know that making a sacrifice for doing the right thing is a theme in the lives of these natives (Yagya was only overseeing the ceremony, he did nothing wrong, he never insulted Shiva, he was just doing his job). Another prominent theme is escaping someone's wrath or escaping to seek safety.

The yoni animal of Mrigashira is a serpent.

Serpents feature prominently in many mythologies and are commonly associated with renewal and transformation.

The ouroboros represented in this picture is a serpent eating its own tail. Carl Jung, saw this as a basic mandala of alchemy and said:

"The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was the man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol of the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the prima materia which unquestionably stems from man's unconscious."

It speaks of human nature and how we must consume the opposites within ourselves to integrate into one whole being. Every nakshatra serves a cosmic purpose. Each nakshatra is a journey forward, its every step in the process of discovery. If you look at the standard descriptions of some naks, some are explicitly negative and others are overwhelmingly positive, while this is a simplistic understanding of nakshatras, it does point to how to retain balance in this universe, we need all kinds of energies, light and dark, good and bad, but every nakshatra contains within themselves these opposites, like the yin & yang symbol which shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section.

In Taoism, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole.

The serpent then can be seen as a representation of the eternal truth of reality, that all is one.

Truth telling is the purpose of the serpent in mythology and this is universally true across mythologies from different parts of the world.

This also seems to be innately tied to the nature of Mrigashira natives who speak their truth or make sacrifices to expose the truth. A simpler manifestation is how blunt and straightforward these natives can be.

Edward Snowden- Mrigashira Stellium in 1h (Sun, Mars & Rahu)

In 2013, Snowden revealed evidence of a shocking global surveillance programme run by the USA’s National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) which have been monitoring the internet and phone activity of hundreds of millions of people across the world.

The Internet itself was allowed to spread at a magnanimous pace and reach people all over the globe because it serves the interests of people in positions of power by allowing them to track and monitor us, inundate us into a permanent state of distraction with ads and useless content, that fill the pockets of the already rich. It wasn't some lucky happenstance incident, the internet exists for a very malicious reason and if you read about reports from the 90s when the internet was still at a nascent stage you would know that many people called out this bs. In an occult sense, the internet is an all-pervading manifestation of Maya or illusion. It wraps itself into our reality and there's no escaping it, it becomes harder and harder to see the truth and most people are so completely immersed in this illusion, believing it to be real.

Like the serpent that lured Eve out of paradise, a Mrigashira native, Snowden became the harbinger of an era where we now know that companies including Facebook, Google and Microsoft were forced to hand over customer data under secret orders from the NSA. And that the NSA recorded, stored and analysed ‘metadata’ relating to every single telephone call and text message transmitted in Mexico, Kenya and the Philippines.

Several major companies including Apple, Google and WhatsApp have improved the default security and encryption provided to users. Greater consumer pressure has pushed the industry to strengthen its approach to protecting users’ privacy.

We know how algorithms work, we know that our user data is being tracked, we know why we see targeted ads. We know that most content out there is an ad in disguise. Still, we have no real choice in the matter (except maybe clicking the "reject all cookies" button lol), we're forced to stay in a state where despite knowing that something is deeply wrong with society we still have to participate in it. This is Rohini, who had to stay with her father Brahma in the celestial heavens even though he made incestual advances towards her.

In Mrigashira, the truth dawns on you and you have no choice but to act. The reason Rohini ruled by the Moon is connected to manipulation is because these natives cannot exit their unideal situations safely, they are forced to stay and to survive, they must manipulate their reality. Their freedom is curbed. Even if irl, there are no restraints, these natives feel restrained within, so leaving isn't an option for them, they stay and make things worse to cope or in hopes of changing things.

Mrigashira is Mars ruled and is the first Mars ruled nakshatra. Mars is all about taking action and marching forward. The truth can set you free only if you let it and Mrigashira natives deeply understand this. They are determined to remove themselves from these circumstances and stand in their truth. It may not always be literal but this pattern of setting boundaries, establishing a distance between what is "false" and what is "true" is deeply tied to the nature of Mrigashira.

Snowden sought asylum in Russia where he lives to this day. Being in exile or having to escape your home is also Mrigashira coded simply because the home is a toxic/unsafe/unhealthy place for the Mrigashira native to be. I have talked about it before but Mrigashira is connected to the story of Rapunzel.

Naomi Klein, Mrigashira Moon is an author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and leftism; and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism, ecofascism and capitalism.

Her book No Logo which came out in 1999 is a landmark book that exposes the evils of corporate globalization and franchises and how the Global South are being exploited to fatten the pockets of companies in the Global North. It greatly expanded the growing anti-capitalist consciousness and anti-corporate activism in the decades since. Here's a video where she explains her research. Its chilling to think this was made over 2 decades ago considering how all these things still persist in society and now hurt people more than ever.

Honestly, all her books are amazing exposé work and that's on her Mrigashira Moon.

Louis Pasteur- Mrigashira Moon

He was a French chemist, pharmacist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization (named after him). His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes and prevention of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health and much of modern medicine. Pasteur's works are credited with saving millions of lives through the development of vaccines for rabies and anthrax. 

He was a very controversial figure in his lifetime who was known for deceiving people.

This article explains it well. Here's an excerpt from the article:

"His most famous experiment was on a young boy, Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by a rabid dog and was doomed to death, and whose mother pleaded with Pasteur to treat him. Pasteur reported that he had previously used his rabies vaccine on 50 dogs without a single failure.

Again, the laboratory notebooks show that this account was misleading. Pasteur had tested a vaccine on dogs, but it was prepared by a completely different method than the one he used for the vaccine given to Meister, and he had no conclusive animal results to show that the vaccine worked. But he had guessed right."

Pasteur often lied to get his way and used "deception" to advance his practice. It is ethically questionable for sure but the work he did has helped millions of people and one could say it was all for the greater good.

He disproved the then prevailing notion of spontaneous generation (it was believed that any exposure to air anywhere causes the generation of living organisms) through his experiments and was initially disbelieved and ridiculed until his experiments began to be accepted as true and was recognised by the scientific community.

Mrigashira natives often have a tendency to gauge things or call people out on things even when that thing/person is widely accepted. The native may get flak for it and be shunned for it but eventually their ideas become widely accepted and everyone sees the truth. They may or may not get credit for this. They see the truth before others do.

Aldous Huxley- Mrigashira Rising

He was an author and philosopher who is best known for his novel Brave New World although he has written over 50 books. Brave New World (the title itself is very Mrigashira core, don't you think?)

The idea that government control is dehumanizing is the overarching theme. In Brave New World the government controls every aspect of the citizens' lives. They are created and born in a government lab. They are raised in a government facility while learning society's values.

It was published in 1932 and lets just say that the audience wasn't ready for such an alarming dystopian tale.

A notable critic of Brave New World was the author H.G. Wells, whose 1923 novel Men Like Gods (a book about a man who visits a utopian world and then returns to earth) had been an inspiration of sorts to Huxley, who told a friend in 1931 that he was writing a novel about the “the horror of the Wellsian Utopia and a revolt against it.” Wells said, “A writer of the standing of Aldous Huxley has no right to betray the future as he did in that book.”

H.G Wells was known for his utopian visions that permeated nearly all of his published work. Interestingly, he was a Shravana Rising. The thing is, Wells never used these utopian visions to criticize the reality of the world we live in, it was more of a "look how good things could be ughhh". This once again reflects Moon's nature which is idealistic but not practical or rooted in confronting situations as they are, if you ask them for a solution to the war, they'll say "if only everyone could get along and we could all stop killing each other" instead of saying "the power imbalance between nations is alarming, they create crises in other nations, put puppet governments in place, exploit them for their own benefits and when it no longer serves their interests, leaves the people to deal with the mess themselves". The former is a more emotional response but it also comes down to Lunar nature believing things are that simple, that if everybody could get along, then everything would be okay. its basically not a solution but a nice thought. I have made posts in the past about Moon dominance and manipulation but what i had failed to mention is that the reason Moon dominants resort to manipulation is because they lack the ability to think in concrete, tangible, practical terms since Moon is tied to the emotional mind which is incapable of rationality or logic. They have to manipulate because they do not know how to think critically. Being guided by your emotions is not reliable or healthy which is why Moon dominance often results in toxicity and manipulation as they are emotionally reacting to what is said instead of responding with their mind or logic.

Wells himself later said about his novel Men Like Gods, "It did not horrify or frighten, was not much of a success, and by that time, I had tired of talking in playful parables to a world engaged in destroying itself."

Do you notice how passive his tone is? He speaks as though he is not part of this world and that all he can do is merely observe its self-destruction (if not writing "playful parables" to it lol??). He thought his book was a flop because it did not "horrify" or "frighten" people (implying that, thats what sells) when the reality is that its more effective to read about the horrors prevailing our society that we are ignorant of instead of reading 300 pages about a perfect alternate reality where everything is wonderful. one calls to action, another encourages passive daydreaming. This further differentiates the nature of Mrigashira vs Moon dominant natives (Mrigashira follows Rohini's fall from heaven or realising the truth).

"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception"- Aldous Huxley, Mrigashira Rising

George Carlin, Moon (conjunct Ketu) in Mrigashira

Here's an excerpt of something he said that has stuck with me and exemplifies the truth telling nature of Mrigashira.

"But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education SUCKS, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want: They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests. Thats right.

They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table to figure out how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, 'cause they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club.

And by the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people -- white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on -- good honest hard-working people continue -- these are people of modest means -- continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don't care about you at all -- at all -- at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on; the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes everyday. Because the owners of this country know the truth: it's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it."

Mrigashira natives are the most likely to be critical of society, modern living, capitalism etc among other things. They see through to the truth of things and thus feel dissatisfied and disappointed with the world. There is a reason they say "ignorance is bliss", those whose eyes are veiled, can tune out of all this cacophony of living and pretend everything is fine. Mrigashira natives have to live with the weight of knowing.

Jules Verne- Mrigashira Rising

He is widely regarded as the father of science fiction and his works have inspired a generation of scientists like the pioneering submarine designer Simon Lake, Igor Sikorsky who often quoted Verne and cited his Robur the Conqueror as the inspiration for his invention of the first successful helicopter, the rocketry innovators Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Hermann Oberth are all known to have taken their inspiration from Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.

Edwin Hubble, the American astronomer, was in his youth fascinated by Verne's novels, especially From the Earth to the Moon and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Their influence was so strong that, like Verne, Hubble gave up the career path in law that his father intended for him, setting off instead to pursue his passion for science.

Jules Verne lived in the 19th century (he passed away in 1905, aged 77) but he described technologies that would later be invented (some were directly inspired by what he had written). He had prophetic vision some would say he had described submarines, helicopters, the moon landing, holograms, newscasts, space travel, video conferencing,

“In the Year 2889, instead of being printed, the Earth Chronicle is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day,”

He even made political observations that have since materialised,

In one of his later works, called The Purchase of the North Pole, an auction is held for rights to the North Pole. The mysterious buyer who wins out over a number of national governments is a private company with a plan to fire off a giant cannon will jolt the planet and change the tilt of Earth’s axis, adjust the length of the days and climates around the earth, and melt the polar ice caps. With the Arctic melted, the execs planned to mine the north pole for coal and make a fortune. This is more or less what is currently happening lol

He invented a new genre to talk about things that did not yet exist. This is tied to Mrigashira's quest for truth and imagining possibilities.

Kanye West, Mrigashira Sun

Do I think Kanye is problematic? Extremely. Do I think he's also telling the truth on some occasions especially when he's trying to expose Hollywood or the system? Yes, I do

This is a bit of a tangent but we have seen time and time again how mental illness has been weaponized against people (ex: Britney Spears) to control them (Mariah Carey also speaks about it in her memoir), I do think a great number of celebrities are victims of this because their management/people in their lives benefit from exploiting them (would it not be vvv scary knowing that your career is what pays the bills of a whole crew of people? they depend on you to live? what if they're greedy or evil? what happens to you then?) so I wholeheartedly believe Kanye when he says "people are trying to conspire against him for telling the truth" (look at how many whistleblowers have been killed and had their deaths written off as suicides).

Sometimes I wonder if he's deliberately ruining his public image so that he just comes across as a crazy guy saying crazy shit that no one takes seriously. This is a safe option for him because if he appeared to be a normal sober serious guy exposing the system he might get killed. Deception is also a huge part of Mrigashira's truth telling.

Who can forget him exposing Taylor on that phone call? lol

Anyway, I want to make it clear that I don't condone or endorse any of Kanye's politics or most of the vile hateful garbage he spews.

Amy Winehouse-Mrigashira Rising

Amy was known for how candid and straightforward she was. If you listen to this song, you can tell how frank and honest the lyrics are?? (its about women who try to score rich men). Amy was always so real and unapologetically herself.

Pamela Anderson, Mrigashira Rising

She's such an icon and such a dignified woman after everything she's been through. She came forward to speak her truth and take control of her narrative. Unfortunately not many women in her position can or will do this. She empowers sooo many others by standing up for herself and speaking her truth.

Mia Khalifa, Ketu in Mrigashira (a lot of people ask me why I include placements other than the big 3 and the reason I use Ketu specifically is because it is a karmic planet and Ketu's position in the birth chart is thought to indicate ties to previous lifetimes. It represents life experiences and knowledge that people may carry from past incarnations. Yes, I am aware that Ketu is a generational planet and people born across the same year have the same Ketu placement but the reason why Ketu placement is significant especially in the charts of accomplished people is because they are channelling the collective unconscious and I believe that in order to receive recognition for the work you do, you have to skilfully channel your Ketu as it represents your latent creativity and potential that connects you to the whole)

whew went off on a tangent 🤪(me with everything i post lmao)

Mia Khalifa has come forward exposing the porn industry and calling out its predatory nature and has candidly spoken about how she was "intimidated" into doing her infamous hijab scene and that her toxic ex husband encouraged her to pursue porn. I hope Mia heals from everything but she's sooo brave for calling out people/society/porn industry on their toxicity, misogyny, double standards when the same men who fap to her porn are the ones calling her a whore (she made a mistake when she was 20 and has been out of the business for 10 years at this point, at what point will we let her move on with her life and shed this image for good?)

Nicole Kidman- Mrigashira Sun

who can forget this iconic interview when Nicole exposed the truth behind her meeting with Jimmy lol, he was so sh00k

She starred in the 2003 movie Dogville where she plays the daughter of a mob boss who runs away because she cannot stand the stuff they do (running away because they can't accept the circumstance they are in is a prominent Mrigashira theme). Its an arthouse film about the nature of evil and it shows how after Nicole's character has run away to Dogville, she has to provide labor for the community in order to be allowed to stay (Mrigashira natives making a "sacrifice") and ultimately towards the end after enduring a lot of abuse, Nicole's character destroys the whole place.

Jim Carrey- Mrigashira Moon

He is hella problematic for sure but he has this existential side to him where he is always dropping truthbombs. Remember this iconic video where he says NYFW is meaningless lmfao

Parveen Babi, Mrigashira Moon

Parveen Babi was a Bollywood superstar in the 70s and 80s. In 1977, she started dating the filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt (he has a reputation for being vile, crass asshole) and he insisted that she go to a psychiatrist following which she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. I cannot comment on whether or not Miss Babi was misdiagnosed but what is apparent is that her relationship with Bhatt took a severe toll on her mental health, there are tons of people who've said he's kind of a psychopath, so I don't doubt that he may have gaslit and abused Babi to a point where she may have lost her sanity. For the rest of her career she struggled with episodes of debilitating paranoia, delusion and violent aggression. She once even blamed Amitabh Bachchan (the biggest star in India) for being her biggest adversary and claimed that he was trying to kill her (I know this sounds delusional but we do not know what kind of relationship they had with each other or what might have led her to believe that she was in potential danger, its cruel to dismiss everything someone says as "oh but she's mentally ill").

Babi quit acting and was a recluse in her later years. She died alone in her apartment when she was 51 and her body was only found 3 days later. Mahesh Bhatt helped organise her funereal when nobody else stepped forward to even claim her body at the hospital. Her life is a tragedy and a cautionary tale.

Mrigashiras are doubtful of absolutely everything. They do not trust people easy AT ALL. They question absolutely everybody's motive and whilst this can create thought provoking and interesting art and make a person inquisitive, honest etc, it can also be exhausting and draining to constantly be on guard and watch your own back.

“Slowly, one by one, I lost trust in everybody and everything around me,” Babi wrote. “Have you ever wondered what it is like to function in life, distrusting everything and everybody? We trust most of the things and people around us without questioning. We trust the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe...It is impossible to function in life without trusting. And that is precisely what happened to me.”- Parveen Babi

Mrigashira natives are prone to paranoia and feeling unsafe (this ties back to their mythology) and I truly feel for them :(((

Oppenheimer- Mrigashira Rising

Oppenheimer’s infamous meeting with Truman took place in October 1945. It did not go well: Oppenheimer failed to convince the president of the need for international control of atomic energy, while Truman confidently stated the Soviets would never get the bomb. Getting nowhere, Oppenheimer really did confess his guilt over the Manhattan Project, which turned Truman’s stomach.

Oppenheimer's morality is dubious and questionable etc etc but it is known and clear that he felt guilty for the role he played and the destruction that was caused as a direct result of his research. He stood up for what was true, although unsuccessfully.

Khloe Kardashian-Mrigashira Moon

Khloe has always been praised for being "real" and honest. She has opened up about a lot of different things and had this to say about having a baby via surrogacy:

“But a surrogate process – Kim knows – is very hard for me. It’s a mindf***. It is really the weirdest thing,” she bravely shares about her nine-month-old cherub, Tatum. “I do feel less connected. People do say it takes a minute to feel connected but Kim said hers was easy. This is not easy. I definitely was in a state of shock from my entire experience in general,” she said. “I felt really guilty that this woman just had my baby and I take the baby and go to another room and you are separated. It felt like such a transactional experience because it is not about him. I wish someone was honest about surrogacy and the difference of it. But it doesn’t mean it is bad or good. It is just very different.”

Compared to the kind of stuff that all the other Kardash-Jenners say this is a rare and sincere moment of truth telling.

John Cena Mrigashira Moon and Rising

He is known for his honest, humble and sincere personality.

In an interview about the Meltzer rating system, Cena honestly said:

“So how do I put this… I am much more concerned when I perform for WWE in how the audience as a whole feels about my performance rather than one individual trying to grade me in a level of stars. Not that it doesn’t matter, because that is a great way for those to try and get equity and try to get noticed. It’s a great ranking system and I do appreciate it. I’m not knocking critics. I’m just saying my process is to make sure that everyone who paid a ticket had a great night. And if that gets me a zero star match, I still know in my heart of hearts that I entertained my audience that night.”

if you type in John Cena honesty into google so many articles pop up lol, i guess thats a great thing to be known for. Zero bullshit that's Mrigashira for you

I hope this post was interesting and informativexx

thanks for reading<3

[yuesya]

“You need to eat me.”

The white-haired girl in front of him blinks, “That’s an odd way to start a conversation.”

Eligius briefly chokes at that uncaring, blasé response. “… I’m being serious here.”

“So you are.” Even so, the girl’s voice remains unperturbed, and her expression does not change. “Would your strange request have anything to do with the visitors who passed through recently?”

… That is a remarkably understated way of referring to the most recent Sarkaz travelers who’d visited Arkos. Travelers who’d come specifically in search of Miss Salome, too. From the heavy robes and tight wrappings that consisted their attire, from the necrosis-type Arts that they commanded, it had been obvious that they were Nachzehrers.

Nachzehrers –beings who were the very personification of war; gruesome, relentless warriors known to be devoted to the battlefield, who reveled in the slaughter.

But the standing policy of Arkos is that all visitors are welcome. Save for those who threaten the stability and wellbeing of the settlement itself, or commit crimes within its borders.

And so the Nachzehrers had been allowed to enter Arkos, just as so many others had been allowed before them, and no doubt far more would be allowed after in the future.

Eligius had regarded their Nachzehrer visitors with wariness and curiosity in the beginning. Which swiftly morphed into shock and outright alarm, when they had accosted Salome on one of her routine patrols around the mountains.

“You’re Herleva’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“My name is Naftali, a soldier who once served under Commander Herleva of the Withering Court. I apologize that it took so long for us to find you –I’ve come to bring you home.”

…

Salome had refused to leave with them.

… Much to the relief of many, Eligius included. Though their numbers were steadily increasing, it was undeniable that Salome was the heart of Arkos, and if she left, then in all likelihood they would end up scattering across the land once more. Misfits and travelers and wanderers with no place to belong, and no place to rest.

(No place to call home.)

…

Eligius had known that Salome was Sarkaz for a long time now, but he hadn’t realized that she was Nachzehrer Sarkaz. She certainly didn’t look the part; Nachzehrers were said to possess bodies that easily withered and rotted away like the necrosis Arts that they commanded, and Salome did not display any of those traits. She had a pair of distinctive Sarkaz horns sitting on her head, and that was it. Were it not for those curved horns, she probably could’ve passed as a Pythian girl with her pointed ears and long, snake-like tail covered in glittering white scales–

Or so Eligius had thought.

Because he’d seen it, the other day. Salome usually wore clothing that covered most of her skin, including a veil across her face, but he’d glimpsed her taking off her gloves –only to reveal blackened fingertips, eerily reminiscent of necrotic rot, which caused Eligius’ blood to run cold.

Was it because of her Nachzehrer blood? Was she –was she somehow rotting away? Was her Pythian blood not enough to offset the horrifying effects of her inheritance?

Wracking his brains and ruminating over what he’d overheard from the Nachzehrer visitors, there was only one potential solution that Eligius could think of. Through devouring the dead, Nachzehrers were able to add the strength of the fallen to their own, so–

“You need to eat me,” he repeats. Because if she doesn’t, if her situation worsens, then…

Salome arches an eyebrow. “Do you want to be eaten?”

…

… No. Of course not.

The day that Eligius had left Kazimierz, a broken husk of a knight who had failed his family and could no longer even properly swing a blade anymore… Eligius had thought that there no longer remained anything left for him to protect. Not that he even possessed the strength to protect anything, not as a disgraced, crippled knight driven out of his homeland.

Fate had led him to Arkos, eventually. He’d aimlessly followed a merchant caravan as a cheap hired hand, and somehow ended up staying in Arkos when a Sarkaz girl killed the head of the caravan. The man had a sexual proclivity aimed towards children, and had acted on those urges in Arkos –Salome had sliced the despicable merchant into bloody pieces for it.

Eligius had thought of his days as a knight in Kazimierz, of all the harsh training he’d undergone… only to be helpless in face of injustice and wrongdoing all the same. A knight must be honorable above all else. But what worth was there in honor when it was something that could be traded and bought by the monolithic corporations that ruled Kazimierz?

Arkos… is not perfect. The buildings are shabby and run-down, and the rooftops have a tendency to leak when it rains. There is no particular schedule for when merchants are passing through, and resources are always running tight. Sometimes, brash mercenaries end up causing trouble, even with the threat of Salome hanging over their heads.

But at some point, Arkos had grown to be precious to Eligius. The tenacity of the people that lived here, with all their storied pasts, and the young leader who never allowed the opinions of others to prevent her from doing what must be done.

Eligius is no longer a knight. With a body had been ravaged by vicious poisoning and missing his dominant sword arm, his days as a knight of glorious Kazimierz are long over.

But even so, there must be a way that he could still protect what was important to him. Even if he wasn’t the one holding the sword himself.

Eligius squares his shoulders and looks towards Salome determinedly. He knows that he is not the only one who is willing to become her strength through being devoured by her, but it’s better that a useless cripple like him becomes the first to die, so that the others–

“You don’t look like you want to die,” Salome says. Then, turns around to pick up a… shovel? From behind her? “Here.”

Eligius falters, automatically accepting the dull shovel with his sole remaining hand, “What is this?”

“A shovel,” Salome responds. Fair, but that’s not what Eligius meant– “Seeing as you have enough time on your hands to be thinking about useless things, you can go work with the others on developing the terraced gardens first.”

Eligius gives a small start, “But you–”

“I’m not interested in cannibalism. Let me know once you’ve figured out how to grow potatoes properly here.”

With that said, Salome turns and walks away.

Leaving Eligius standing in the street by himself, holding a shovel.

…

… It’s nothing but a rusty shovel, given to him haphazardly by a girl who doesn’t even bother to toss a second glance back towards him as she departs. But for some reason, the shovel rests in his hand with a greater weight than the sword he’d once held during his knighthood ceremony, and there is a strange emotion welling up within his chest–

Eligius tightens his grip on the shovel, exhaling slowly.

[ladybugmania]

THE FALLOUT. Ding ding Round 1

Ding ding. The bell tolls, and the ring is drawn in ash and gold, not for sport, but for ruin. What was once a calculated alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has turned into a televised descent, one of betrayal, vengeance, and looming revelations.

They danced in shadows, Trump, the political pyromancer; Musk, the tech-oracle with too many sparks and not enough control. Together they fed a machine powered by ambition and denial. $280 million in subsidies, backroom influence, sealed handshakes... all gone up in smoke. And now? The machine has exploded. The alliance is dead.

This isn’t a political dispute. This is myth collapsing in real time. The serpent has bitten its tail so hungrily it has begun to devour itself. One head hisses through campaign speeches and veiled threats; the other tweets and deletes, circling the truth like a predator unsure whether to strike or confess.

What comes next? Possible truths that will scorch the walls of both parties:

– Did federal contracts mask a deeper, transactional loyalty?

– Were political favors exchanged for silence on corporate overreach?

– What secrets lay buried in the data streams, private meetings, and “donations”?

Musk, once hailed as the rebel genius, now looks more like a fallen demigod, trapped in a spiral of his own making. Trump, sensing the turn of the tide, lashes out.

And in Trump’s case? He’s another basket case entirely. As long as he’s the self-proclaimed leader of the Morons, he’ll continue acting like an entitled dick, loud, reactive, and convinced that every flame he starts is somehow a torch of freedom. He doesn't lead; he provokes. He doesn't build; he inflates. And when his allies turn to ash, he simply looks for more gasoline.

So here we are. The two-headed snake has split, and each side is arming for war, not realizing the battlefield is already bloodstained.

But here’s the haunting truth: There may be no escape from this implosion. Not for Trump. Not for Musk. Unless...

Unless Musk does the unthinkable.

If he wants remorse, if he wants redemption—not just from the public but from history itself, then the path is narrow and steep. The only way out of this descent is sacrifice. And that means giving back what his ambition consumed.

Let him donate most of his wealth. Yes, MOST! To the very people caught in the wreckage of the systems he helped exploit. To the workers, the displaced, the voiceless. To climate repair, child hunger, education, and truth.

Because at the end of all of this, money will not save him. Rockets won't fly far enough. Silence won’t protect him. The snake has split, the kraken has stirred, and the reckoning has begun.

What they both do next will decide not just how they’re remembered—but whether they deserve to be.

M H