#Big Cypress

[ravensarca]

A big one! Alligator mississippiensis (from 2012) in the Big Cypress Preserve, Florida USA.

¡Uno grande! Alligator mississippiensis (desde 2012) en la Reserva Big Cypress, Florida, EE. UU.

[magicaguajiro]

Swamp Witch Travels: The Everglades

The Seminole War that never ended, a charm to Split a Storm and an Ancient Island. For centuries, the Everglades has been the object of wonder of many influential Floridian figures who each recognized its immense beauty and power. This River of Grass is a major center of life and biodiversity, as well as mysteries and Spirits uncharted, but will it still be around for the Swamp Witches of tomorrow?

The Everglades is going to shatter all of your preconceived notions about Swamps. It is a place of great power and duality. On one hand, this aqueous Land is covered in sparkling, clear, MOVING water. This water is the Life and Blood of the state, flowing from the Heart of the Everglades, Okechobee (Big Lake) The health of this ecosystem in turn affects the entire country. On the other hand, a place of Danger, Death and Rot, but for the purpose of Cleansing and Purification (not just rot for rot’s sake). As the water flows through this vast ecosystem, it is cleared of pollutants by plants and limestone while washing away scars left by man on this Land, until all is returned anew. It is a multifaceted, firm but gentle Spirit.

The Everglades is a union, a pact almost, between the Land and the Water to form the Swamp we know and love.

I am no stranger to the Glades. I was born and raised in the western Everglades, in the Big Cypress water basin. Fakahatchee and Picayune Strand were favorites of my parents as I was growing up, and we lived way out in the woods anyways so I always feel at home in the Glades. Many of my Spirits who are intrinsically tied to me, one might call a Spirit Guide or Angel, feel connected to Swamps and places where Water and Land converge. The Everglades is my home, but it is also a Spirit Ally, and a sacred place to the modern Indigenous Peoples of Florida, including the recognized and unrecognized Seminole and Miccosukee.

(PSA: this post will likely be part of a series only scratch the surface of the intricacies related to the Glades.)

Pa-Hay-Okee, “Grassy Waters”

Pa-Hay-Okee is the Seminole-Mikasuki name for the Everglades. I was blessed to be able to take a trip to see the Real Florida when I took an airboat ride with Buffalo Tiger Airboats, owned and operated by Betty Osceola. Betty is a conservationist and member of the Miccosukee tribe, located in the Eastern Everglades. The Seminole and Miccosukee are the descendants of various groups of Florida’s Original People from all over the state. The relationships and history of Florida’s Indigenous groups is complex. Before colonization and to this day we have had multiple groups who all have different beliefs, cultures, origins, and relationships. Today, we have various groups who are federally recognized as well as both Traditional and Reconstructionist groups who don’t seek recognition from the government, the most well-known being the Traditional Seminoles in Big Cypress.

Certain aspects of Seminole culture predate colonization, like the Chickee and some hunting techniques, while others, mainly linguistic and spiritual, are the result of groups joining together or adapting to new circumstances, such as patchwork. Many of the Seminole can trace their ancestry to groups in North Florida and surrounding states. These groups would live in various parts of the State, including the Everglades, at different times of the year following routes taken by seasonal migrations of game and water.

These people were forcibly removed, pushed South or murdered so their land could be taken in a conflict known to the United States as the First, Second and Third Seminole Wars. As they were pushed South, they encountered and assimilated various remaining populations of Pre-Columbian groups like the Calusa and Tequesta.

If you ask the modern members of these tribes, they will tell you it was a single war that is still being fought to this day, although with lawyers instead of weapons. You see, the Seminole and Miccosukee still have never signed a treaty with the US, and continue to have to fight for their Sovereignty and Land to this day. This has earned the Indigenous People of Florida the title of the Unconquered Peoples. Today, the tribes maintain traditional ways while also dealing with ever-encroaching settler beliefs and people. They still live off the land, but through the lens of eco-tourism most often rather than through subsistence living like many elders lived in their youth.

On my airboat trip, I got to stop and walk around Tear Island, a place where two Indigenous families began living in the 1800s and then abandoned in the 1920s. Being on these far off Islands, surrounded by the swamp and only accessible by boat, is where I feel most connected to my own Indigenous Taino ancestors, who would have traversed this same place but in a dugout canoe rather than an Airboat. The spirits of generations of people who lived and passed on are still here, within the water and trees, but also gathering around the cooking chickee when a fire is lit by their descendants.

High Tide at Chokoloskee

Known as the Western Gateway to the Everglades, we have Everglades City. It borders the Big Cypress Preserve and is a great place to stop to visit the Museum of the Everglades. The first settlers came here in the 1800s, it was incorporated in 1923. Past Everglades though, lies Chokoloskee. An Island with a Seminole name meaning ‘Old House’. This Island was only reachable by boat until 1956 when the bridge was built. John Weeks, the first permanent settler of Naples was one of the first settlers here as well. Before that, it was inhabited by the Calusa for more than 1,500 years.

Stop by HavAnnA Cafe on your way to the southern tip of the Island where you’ll find a large red building on stilts. This is the Smallwood Store. Founded in 1906 by Ted Smallwood, this store was one of the only places Indigenous and White Floridians could go to trade for necessities. Ted Smallwood was a well-known ally of the Seminole and Miccosukee peoples, even learning to speak the language. Today, his granddaughter runs the store which is a museum and gift shop. There is even a replica of Ted himself, pictured above.

This history of this store and island is long, and tragic. A nearby massacre during the ‘Third Seminole War’ caused the remaining Indigenous people here to flee the Island. Later on, a famous murder of a well known criminal happened right outside the Smallwood Store. You can read more about both, and the 100 year anniversary of the building being raised here.

This is also a great spot to see where the fresh water of the Everglades meets the saltwater of the Florida Bay. Definitely give this place a visit.

Splitting Storms: An Indigenous Folk Protection Charm

For some time now, I have noted the striking similarities between Seminole and Taíno beliefs around Twins and Weather. We even share a simple protection charm to ward off a bad storm I will share to you all.

In Seminole belief, Twins are intrinsically tied to the weather. Many elders believed that keeping twins together can be dangerous, and they should be raised separately. To them, one is Thunder and the other is Lightning, even going as far to saying that having two twins in the same chickee can cause it to be struck.

In Taíno myth, we have two sets of twins associated with weather. Boinayel and Marohu are the Cemi related to the Wet and Dry seasons, Boinayel being the Raingiver and Marohu literally meaning “Without Clouds”. Then we have the ones who I would say share similarities to the Seminole Twins, Coatrisque and Gautaubá. These are Twin sons of the violent aspect of Atabey, known as Guabancex, Cacique of winds. Coatrisque is torrential rains, while Guatauba is Thunder and Lightning himself.

The charm is very well documented in both groups, as well as many others, and very straightforward. It’s the underlying belief that makes these two charms so similar. The linked article from earlier even includes a brief explanation of it.

Basically, when you know a big storm is coming, you want to place an axe in a spot on the front of your house, usually on a piling or piece of the roof that extends below the ground. Tie it down if you wish, for the winds. If you can, do it so the blade looks like it is coming down on the storm. The goal is to split the storm so it goes around the house. If we look at the myths, it’s clear the axe is there to split the Twins from each other, forcing them to go around the house, leaving it protected.

In the Caribbean, in practices like Lúcúmí and Palo Monte, we see the use of Matari, ‘Thunder Stones’. Genuine thunder stones from the Caribbean are actually said to be relics of Taíno axes, shaped like a tear drop almost, either passed down or found and used for various purposes, one being to ward off Lightning and Thunder!

Will Your Kids Know the Glades?

The Everglades are vital to my spiritual practice and lifestyle, as well as that of thousands of other Floridians. Even if you don’t live in the Swamp, its health affects the entire country.

Today, the dangers facing the Everglades are almost as abundant as the dangers inside it. Overdevelopment threatens the entire state. Just like we saw with Split Oak Forest recently. Environmental Protections seem to mean less and less because they don’t have the teeth to defend themselves. Included in these threatened protections is the sovereignty of the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes, who just had to fight to keep Big Cypress as a preserve so they can continue their traditional use. They are fighting to hold onto their Land to this day.

All while threatening the Traditional Use by Indigenous Peoples, they continue to allow oil drilling even approving new projects within Big Cypress. The Army Corps of Engineers also heavily harms the environment every year through mismanagement of Okechobee and of the water levels within the Glades. It is up to everyday Floridians to fight to protect and better manage this precious natural resource before its gone forever. It is up to Witches all over to be stewards of our Lands, wherever that is. For us Florida Witches, we need to organize, donate and hex our politicians.

Luz 🕯️

[chloroplst]

[the-birth-of-art]

Happy 25th to Big Cypress

[phishartdotnet]

Commissioned setlist: Phish Big Cypress 12/31/99

setlist via phish.net

This was one of the first setlists I had done that wasn't part of the tour when I started in 2014. When I started selling them on lot, I'd often be asked if I had made one for Big Cypress yet! It required a lot of new art for the songs, and I had to make them larger than my usual setlists due to the number of songs they played!

Prints Available

[waywardluminarychaos]

15 Free Things To Do in South Florida and the Keys

Want to save a bundle while visiting South Florida and the Florida Keys? Read on:

We recently bought tickets to go to Dry Tortugas National Park, and those tickets are not cheap. Add to that a few days in the Keys, and your budget will definitely feel the pinch. However, as we discovered, there were plenty of free (and almost free) things to do in our two weeks between Fort Lauderdale and Key West. There was one card in our wallet that helped us out the most- our military ID.…

[naycelium]

Hinoki, Caretaker of the Forest and it's Seedlings 🐇 🌰

[cirr0stratus]

all the bayou stories end with drowned

inspired by THIS post

[taiturner]

Lauren Ambrose & Tawny Cypress as VAN PALMER & TAISSA TURNER Yellowjackets ◆ 2x04 "Old Wounds"

[sitting-on-me-bum]

In the World’s Largest Cypress Forest, Surf Durrani Captures Atmospheric Autumnal Colors

An atmospheric journey through the Big Cypress Bayou at the edge of Caddo Lake in eastern Texas—part of the largest cypress forest in the world—reveling in the unique effect of the trees as they transform into autumnal shades of orange and yellow, draped ethereally in moss.

[housecow]

I find it strange how you'd like to get so fat that you depend on someone but at the same time you're saying that you wanna do gardening. It's like there is a confrontation between your kink and your regular life...

in fantasy (or with a lot of consideration between me and my feeder) i’d become dependent. realistically, i’ve always dreamt of having my own garden and i think i could keep up with it at over 350lbs tbh

why can’t i have both…… scooter accessible garden pls. with raised beds i won’t have to bend over too much 🥺

bonus. bacon and tomato sandwich w home grown red snapper variety tomatoes, one of the only beefsteak-like varieties that grow in TX 🥳 DELICIOUS w mayo and some black pepper.

[mrs-trophy-wife]

[memewhore]

Peekaboo!

[wildflowercryptid]

thinking about kieran again... particularly about how i feel like he struggles with a weak sense of self and how him identifying so heavily with ogrepon, (or at least the version of ogrepon he originally knew,) probably helped him stabilize how he saw himself, only to have something he considered so core to his identity essentially ripped away from him. not only that, it was by someone he seemingly wanted to trust and open up to, (which i doubt he does very often.)

i definitely think that the way he's handling things is far from healthy, but i can get why he'd have such an intense reaction to losing something that was so important to him and basically being betrayed by someone he wanted to consider a friend.

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for May 19, 2021; #264.

Main Source ft. Nas + Akinyele + Large Professor: “Live At The BBQ”

Scarface: “Seen A Man Die”

EPMD: “So What Cha Sayin’”

PMD ft. Das EFX: “What Cha Gona’ Do”

Black Sheep: ”Strobelight Honey” (original)

Leaders Of The New School: “International Zone Coaster”

Live Squad: “Heartless” (YG’s RMX)

Beatnuts: “Props Over Here”

Big Daddy Kane: “Prince Of Darkness”

Trends Of Culture ft. Grand Puba: “Valley Of The Skinz”

Grand Puba ft. Mary J. Blige: “Check It Out”

Organized Konfusion: “Stress (Extra P)”

Ultramagnetic MCs: “Ego Trippin’”

Almighty RSO: Revenge Of Da Badd Boyz”

Tucka Da Huntaman: “Watch Your Back”

Diamond D: “Sally Got A One-Track Mind”

D-Nice: “Call Me D-Nice”

De La Soul: “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)”

Jungle Brothers: “Straight Out The Jungle”

Gang Starr ft. Nice & Smooth: “DWYCK”

Nice & Smooth: “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow”

Outkast: “Benz Or A Beamer”

Slick Rick ft. Warren G: “Behind Bars”

Disposable Heroes Of Hip-Hoprisy: “Television, The Drug Of The Nation”

Lost Boyz: “Renee”

Kurious Jorge: “Uptown Hit”

Cypress Hill: “How I Could Just Kill A Man”

Masta Ace: “Born To Roll”

Grand Daddy IU: “Sugar Free”

Craig Mack: “Get Down” (Q-Tip RMX)

Keith Murray: “The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World”

Kriss Kross ft. Supercat: “Alright”

LL Cool J: “I Shot Ya”

Goodie Mob: “Soul Food”

Arrested Development: “Tennessee”

Paris: “Outta’ My Life”

Intelligent Hoodlum: “Grand Groove”

Thug Life ft. 2Pac: “Pour Out A Little Liquor”

Naughty By Nature: “Written On Your Kitten” (QDIII RMX)

Bonus Omega; second hip-hop, rap, golden-era set.

[baebeylik]

Earrings. Dorothy B. Cypress. Seminole. Big Cypress Reservation, Florida, America. 1964-1965.

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.