#Jeffrey Shaman

[ash-and-starlight]

Books of 2023

the list nobody asked for <3

My reading habits had gone a bit stagnant in the past couple of years so this year i made the effort to engage in reading again and wow books really are good!! who would have thought! Sharing this year's book log with the small reviews i did while reading yeah i am That kind of list lover if u feel like being nosy, (and maybe even help mi crowdsource reading recs based on my likes 👀🤲?)

The left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula i Need to know your thoughts on omegaver- [gunshot] THAT ASIDE yeah. mrs Le Guin you've done it again. I can see why everyone got their brain chemistry altered by this book.

The Membranes - Chi Ta-Wei another brain chemistry altering book. would love to discuss it with a gender studies major lmao

Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie its a v atmospheric and poignant story, I know I would have loved it more if I was familiar with the rich religious/cultural background it draws from

The Masquerade Series - Seth Dickinson Crazy insane in the membrane about this series. one of the most compelling worldbuildings I've ever seen, and most importantly it features one of the most crazy wet pathetic scrunkly meow meow protagonists i've ever had the pleasure of reading about.

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides i liked the writing style of this book a lot! idk how well it holds up re: intersexuality topic, but its a very engaging read.

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power - Jude Ellison, Sady Doyle The title says it all honestly, its a beautiful, thought provoking and engaging essay, spanning eras, pop culture phenomenons, and real life events on the topic of women and horror.

The cat who saved books - Sōsuke Natsukawa this was so cute and heartfelt, it will really make you go Ah Yes, this is Why we Love Books <333

The Locked Tomb Series - Tamsyn Muir now when people say there is a girl who is the cursed sacrifice of 2000 infants who falls in love with the sleeping embodiment of the soul of the Earth (barbie) and also another girl who is the only survivor of the aforementioned sacrifice and is. a Jesus metaphor? and also the two girls become one at some point. and every book is a different genre. and god is bisexual. and memes survived the nuclear apocalypse. I can just nod and say so true.

The Area X Trilogy - Jeff VanderMeer Rotating this series in the microwave of my mind at the speed of light it's soSO GOOD!! the movie doesn't even come close honestly u NEED to read the books. and then go touch grass and be aware of every strand in a completely new way.

The Dawn of Yangchen - F. C. Yee nice read! I was more invested in the worldbuilding crumbs than in the actual story lmao, I will forever think about the HEATED airball rivalry between the air temples and about the swt greetings / bethrotal armbands.

Inuit Stories of Being and Rebirth: Gender, Shamanism, and the Third Sex - Bernard Saladin d'Anglure starting w a disclaimer bc I feel like the topic of native colonization was ignored when it should have been way more prominent when talking about the context of where and when these testimonies were collected?? That aside it was very interesting and well put together, with first account testimonies of Inuit elders about their myths, lifestyles and beliefs.

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee i read the book after having seen the tv series (which i also rlly recommend). Very moving story about a family and its generations, from Korea under Japanese colonization to modern day America.

Her body and other parties - Carmen Maria Marchado sometimes I go about my day then I remember this book exists and stare at the wall for 30 minutes.

Dictionnaire de l'impossible - Didier Van Cauwelaert big miss. this collection of articles about "strange impossible phenomenons" sounded so quirky and interesting but i sure would have loved if the author hadnt so clearly picked a side. and also way too much church for my tastes.

He who Drowned the World - Shelley Parker Chan Im not even gonna speak about this one if you've followed me since july you know what pits of insanity and despair i'm in

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin Sometimes!! the book with pretty covers put in the "famous on socials" bookstore section!! are good!! It's about being othered it's about connection it's about diaspora it's about love and friendship and most of all it's about viddy games.

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel reading this post-covid and learning it was written in 2017 was A TRIP. Psychic damage at every page. still feeling very normla.

The Mask of Apollo - Mary Renault Ugh i desperately wanted to like this book because the setup is so interesting and full of potential, but the end result was just. flat. flat story flat characters the plot focusing on the wrong things at the wrong times i was so DONE when i reached the end otz.

Babel - R. F. Kuang LOVED the worldbuilding in this, the "lost in translation" system of magic is one of the most interesting things ive ever read. I think theres something about the writing in general that didn't win me over completely?? but all in all a very good

Red Ocean - Han Song This sure is a Book. That i've Read. its so profundly strange and unlike anything ive come across that i dont even know what to feel about it. i think 90% of my confusion comes from Not Getting Cultural References so if someone has a "red ocean explained" essay plz send it my way bc i couldnt find one.

[wub-fur-radio]

Appealing Sounds of Confusion & Dismay

Nothing is absolute; everything is possible. – Hassan-i-Sabbah

If you’ve been dismayed to be feeling even more confused than usual of late, Wub-Fur Internet Radio wants you to know you are not alone and wishes to do what we can to help. Toward that end we offer this two part streaming mix of appealing sounds from around the planet and across the multiverses of contemporary psychedelic/stoner/doom/space rock music. Featuring 25 new tunes from 25 of your favorite modern psych combos, including Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Black Sand, Sonic Moon, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Queens of the Stone Age, Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders, Druid Fluids, Dead Feathers, Dead Shaman, Pink Fairies, Gong, Goat, and 13 more bands who are dismayed but not afraid to be confused.

▶︎🎶 Listen on Mixcloud: Part One | Part Two

Running Times: Pt. 1: 1 hour, 14 seconds; Pt. 2: 59 minutes, 52 seconds

Tracklists

Part One

Repeat Transmission (0:55) — Brown Spirits | Coburg, Australia

Just an Illusion (4:29) — Black Sand | New Zealand

Flutter By (4:41) — Druid Fluids | Adelaide, Australia

Let It Out (3:47) — The Wans | Nashville, TN

Give It Time (3:54) — Sonic Moon | Aarhus, Denmark

Gardeners of the Earth (5:20) — White Canyon & The 5th Dimension | MG, Brazil

Gila Monster (4:36) — King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Melbourne, Australia

Mild Davis (4:46) — Frankie and the Witch Fingers | Los Angeles, CA

Negative Space (3:53) — Queens of the Stone Age | Palm Desert, CA

What It Is to Be Free (4:12) — Kind | Boston, MA

Counting Up and Down (3:18) — Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders | Philadelphia, PA

Those Disruptors (5:25) — Modoki | Tokyo, Japan

La Storia Dell'Aviditia (4:30) — Futuropaco | Oakland, CA

Trying to Keep Control (6:29) — Dead Shaman | Switzerland

Part Two

Robbery (9:56) — Dead Feathers | Chicago, IL

Another Sailor Who Dies at Midnight (3:06) — Tangerine Stoned | Italy

Join the Resistance (5:35) — Goat | Norrbotten County, Sweden

Montezuma (4:49) — Edena Gardens | Copenhagen, Denmark

Hassan I Sahba (6:02) — Pink Fairies | London, UK

Tiny Galaxies (3:51) — Gong | UK

Something To Fall Back On (3:50) — The Wytches | UK

FTW (7:09) — LSD | Dublin, Ireland

In My Own Dream (8:19) — The Third Mind | Downey, CA

Your Confusion May Now Be Visible (4:50) — DWLVS | San Francisco, CA / Philadelphia, PA

Barely a Season (2:26) — Abronia | Portland, OR

All tracks released in 2023.

[larsbeelzebub]

A Jeffrey Lee Pierce portrait, work in progress!

I am obsessed with the man’s music, be it The Gun Club, solo or otherwise. It seems shamanic, like the secrets of the universe are hidden somewhere in either the music or lyrics.

“Your mistress has left her home

Gone back to the dances

The smoking dens are starting up

For life's own enhancing

Nobody goes to the war

Since there's none to go to

We just sit around the cafè bars

We sit waiting for you

We need you, oh Lucky Jim

Where have you gone, oh Lucky Jim”

The Gun Club - Lucky Jim - 1993

[frank-olivier]

Mexico Unexplained

Pachita: Psychic Surgeon, Medium & Mystic (November 2017)

Ida Cuéllar

The story of Dr. Jacobo Grinberg, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, who sought to combine his interest in shamanism and telepathy with a more rigorous scientific understanding. His sudden disappearance in 1994 and the following police investigation forms the basis of this documentary study.

El secreto del doctor Grinberg (2020)

Jeffrey Mishlove (New Thinking Allowed)

Alex Gomez-Marin, PhD, expresses his admiration and respect for the wide-ranging career of anthropologist/neurologist, Jacobo Grinberg, who mysteriously disappeared in 1994.

Alex Gomez-Marin: The Brain and the Universe - The Jacobo Grinberg Story (January 2024)

Concrete Blonde - Bajo La Lune Mexicana

Sean Munger

In 1998, several women associated with "Tensegrity," the belief system of 1970s New Age guru, cult leader and literary hoaxer Carlos Castaneda, vanished upon Castaneda's death. All but one of their cases remain unsolved. What happened to these women, and why did they follow Castaneda in the first place?

Sean Munger: What happend to the "Witches" of Carlos Castaneda? (July 2018)

Jimmy Akin (Mysterious World)

In the late 1960s, Carlos Castaneda claimed to reveal the drug-fueled, mystical teachings of a Native American sorcerer, launching the New Age movement. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli explore who Castaneda was and what he taught and the truth behind the mysteries surrounding him.

Jimmy Akin: Carlos Castaneda - Godfather of the New Age (Death Cult?) (December 2020)

Concrete Blonde - Jonestown

Guru Viking

In this interview I am joined by Nyei Murez, personal student and scribe of best-selling author and nagual sorcerer Carlos Castaneda. We discuss who Castaneda was, and Nyei gives a detailed history of his lineage up to the present day. We find out how Nyei first met Castaneda, and explore her intensive course of study and training under his personal guidance. We learn about Castaneda’s writing process, including stories of Nyei’s close collaboration with him on several best selling books. Nyei also talks on the nature of power, and shares insights into the current geo-political situation.

Nyei Murez: Scribe of Carlos Castaneda (May 2020)

In this interview I am once again joined by Nyei Murez, personal student and writing collaborator of best-selling author and nagual sorcerer Carlos Castaneda. In this discussion, we learn about the art of dreaming in the tradition of the nagual. Nyei talks about the various different stages and training approaches to the art of dreaming, including how to become lucid - waking up in the dream and even to changing the dream environment. We discuss how to identify beings from other realms, so called ‘dream scouts’, and how to meet and communicate with other people, living or dead, while asleep. Nyei also discusses how to use the dream state to manifest favourable circumstances in the waking world, and how to defend against psychic or energetic attack from other skilled dreamers.

Nyei Murez: The Art of Dreaming (June 2020)

Thursday, March 7, 2024

[bartfargo]

Everybody: Stockpile genuine pictures of conservatives being weird. The Q shaman. Trump hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein. Trump holding Ivanka in a way that no father should ever touch his daughter.

Once you have accumulated a good-sized file, whip it out every time someone on the right puts up a phony picture trying to make us look weird. Let them know which of us are buying the tickets to the freak show, and which of us are on display therein.

It is very funny seeing Trump supporters lose their shit over being called ‘Weird’.

It absolutely attacks them at their core.

[nightguide]

Celebrity lecturer/leaders announced: (regularly updated)

Eva Green (11th River): Forensic sensation in colour therapy and bio-chemical anthropology (Master of Science (MSc)

LP: Civil law (channeling arabic) in ethical investing post-shamanism (History + Science) (Doctorate)

Sarah J. Maas: Proto-Indo European Disambiguation Pangea (world building by language hex corp.) (Doctoral degree: graduate)

Daniel Radcliffe: Agoraphobia spectrum in Paganism mind control (Foundation degree: Masters)

Maren (@marenaltman: tiktok): Higher National Degree in Avoidant Individuals Ethics in intimacy affairs international (Bachelor of Engineering: BEng)

David Bowie: business affairs in social liquefication in South Asian households (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB)

Demetra George: health and social care (UK awarding body of NI affairs in LA distribution: social arts)

Jonah Kagen: Al-Ghazali theology in Gnosticism (NI awarding body of Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Ariana Grande: David Bowie awarding body of student council of womens rights of Pakistani jurisdiction awards of honour in humanity (religious trauma council arts): menial therapy for heartbroken daughters of parental loss

Tom Cruise: fan-fiction eternal: the meta-terrestrial arts of SMUG phonics (Master of Chemistry (MChem)

Katy Perry: Ark ingress - Ius (Rectangle: -dipper- Gravity Falls (Orionis): cartoon english language in animation (Master of Research (MRes)

Kharo Walid: Ark ingress - Insanis (Parallelogram: -mabel- Gravity Falls(cassiopeiae): cartoon literature in physical reality (Master of Research (MRes)

Jeff Buckley: Viola Morphing Calligraphy (music theosophy: Foundation degree)

Fiona Apple: Queen's Gambit (betting) (Doctorate in architecture (D.Arch.)

Bridgit Mendler: astronomy (Doctoral degree)

James Corden: Si (introverted sensing: Doctorate degree)

Jimmy Fallon: Fe (extroverted feeling: Riaz Rights in neuro-chemical biology of exterior space)

Hailee Steinfeld: Ne (extroverted intuitive: Bumblebee (Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)

Matthew Gray Gubler: Enneagram type 1 (Bachelor of Education (BEd)

Dean Lewis (Dr. Stone Wilson): the anatomy of the Ciclo (Rose Tyler Eden: governmental forces for Star Trek USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) 4444444 (lawsuit degree: daredevil)

Rogue: dates to take with you on a Monday morning (undergraduate: culinary arts (acting)

Matilda Ramsay: Airline management aviation course in Arabian cuisine (hell's kitchen)

Jeffrey Dahmer: Congolese English to American African Heartbreakers association in Jamaican Latin English careers service in Foundation (TV series): Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Ross Lynch: Disney physics for jaded Arabian students (heartbroken kids into Grey's Anatomy (Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Hideo Kojima: University of Vectors: Despicable Me (Associate degree in UAE (Teacher Training course for American Psychos)

Matt Groening: Professor of Arts in telepathic communicae (Universal Studios wizarding industry: Foundation degree)

Declan Donnelly: Japanese physics of board game arts of multimedia Lilith and safe-keeping (Doctorate of Veterinary medicine (D.V.M)

Ruby Rose: Only Murders In The Building: House M.D. (Schizophrenia) (Bachelor of Science (BSc)

Mika: Cartoon offspring- Generational maps of the books of Maestro (Elysium) (Bachelor of Laws (LLB)

Jeremy Kyle: Sacrificial arts of Television Presenting (law & order) (Associate degree: level 1)

Maisie Peters: The art of petty Hoboken technology in cake fixing (wealth degrees in fame: Rio de Janeiro + Recife - level 1 - 101) and residence in New Jersey

Anthony Keidis: Epstein's Software in luminary technology (RHCP_CD_CRASH_COURSE): Doctorate in Acupuncture (D.Ac.)

River Phoenix: My Private Idaho (the woman of your lifemares: i am back) Associate degree (BA)

Arlyn Phoenix: dietician corporation in Nestle (apprenticeship in student foreign affairs in Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. and SEGA in motherhood)

LT. Tara Hamlin: GEOGRAPHY (BRITISH CANARY ISLANDS) (annual Peretta Montague V awarding body: Genovia)

Perrie Edwards: MUSE: Nightingale: Demi Lovato (actor's hell) (New Eden degree of England 2024 Edexcel 1-99 = Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Caroline Flack: SUNS: Nightingale: Demi Lovato (harbinger's) (New Eden degree of England 2024 Edexcel 1-99 = Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Sabrina Carpenter: 1950's: Nightingale: Demi Lovato (maestro become) (New Eden degree of England 2024 Edexcel 1-99 = Bachelor of Arts (BA) + MOONTALK - lullibee in weathers for you - demi lovato

Ester Dean: MODERN: Nightingale: Demi Lovato (dante's paradox) (New Eden degree of England 2024 Edexcel 1-99 = Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Whitney Houston: Levels of perception of a woman's world: nudity part 1 (undergraduate course in harmony) (South Africa)

America Ferrera: Ugly Betty (the art of starting over) in collaboration with DULUX DECORATOR CENTER (UK/NI) (Doctor of Fine Arts D.F.A)

dangerbean55: (@dangerbean55: tiktok) Stranger Oddity world bending what if's (Master's Degree in Law(LLM)

Kim Kardashian: Law and Skims (fashion brand now beginning a world new light: asshole dematorium) (Master of Philosophy(MPhil)

Joud Kayali: musicians paradise (law + knives out order) (associate degree in human odour: project monarch's pillar)

Doug Aitken: otherworlds (illuminati) the forgiving heart that bleeds (Magonia: adromeda) (Foundation degree)

Olafur Eliasson: spectrum (brave spaces international award) Maternity (atwood sciences: Master of Research (MRes)

Farah Elsayed: Reptilian agriculture of the Greco-arts (rockerfeller-villainy association) history in cubits: meta-architecture level 1 (Foundation degree)

Linna Riaz: Deciphering the soul (multiversal mods of Shada) MBBS

[shamanflavio]

Community-Based Shamanic Healing | Insights and Rituals

I was recently recommended this book, next are the top 5 Key Insights from American Shaman: An Odyssey of Global Healing Traditions Combining Indigenous Wisdom with Modern Healing Practices: Jeffrey A. Kottler highlights how traditional shamanic healing, with its holistic approach to mind, body, and spirit, can be effectively integrated into modern psychological therapies. This unique blend of…

[yo-sostenible]

Un equipo de la Universidad de Columbia, en EE UU, ha modelado la rápida y expansiva propagación de conductas suicidas en ese país después de que tres famosos se quitaran la vida. Los investigadores esperan que sus hallazgos puedan ser empleados por los servicios de prevención y salud mental. El actor y comediante Robin Williams, que se suicidó en 2014, en una imagen de 2008. / Wikipedia Por Ana Hernando Se ha debatido mucho sobre el efecto contagio que pueden tener los suicidios, esto es, cómo la cercanía real o percibida con alguien que se ha quitado la vida puede aumentar el riesgo de que personas vulnerables hagan o intenten imitar estas conductas. ¿Pero se puede cuantificar este efecto? Esto es lo que se han preguntado investigadores de la Universidad de Columbia (EE UU) en un estudio publicado esta semana en la revista Science Advances. Para ello, el equipo, liderado por Jeffrey Shaman, catedrático de Ciencias de la Salud Medioambiental en esta universidad, ha desarrollado un modelo computacional que revela la rápida y expansiva propagación de conductas suicidas, después de tres casos muy conocidos: el del actor Robin Williams, que se quitó la vida en 2014, el de la diseñadora de moda Kate Spade y el del experto culinario y presentador de TV Anthony Bourdain. Estos dos últimos se suicidaron en 2018 con tres días de diferencia. El objetivo de la investigación era examinar la dinámica subyacente en la propagación suicida. Descubrieron que los sucesos de 2014 y los de 2018 provocaron un gran aumento de pensamientos y conductas suicidas entre la población estadounidense Los autores indican que los hallazgos pueden proporcionar un marco que ayude a medir este efecto imitación con el fin de comprender, prevenir y contener mejor su expansión. Shaman comenta a SINC que anteriormente se habían documentado casos de imitación tras eventos de suicidio prominentes –reales o ficticios–, pero añade: “No ha habido esfuerzos por confirmar si el contagio del suicidio se propaga realmente de una persona a un grupo. Nosotros hemos desarrollado este modelo para llevar a cabo esta cuantificación”. Similar al de las enfermedades infecciosas Este experto es también conocido por haber desarrollado modelos de gripe y SARS-CoV-2. El actual modelo de contagio suicida tiene una estructura similar a los que representan otros sistemas infecciosos, incluyendo el número de individuos capaces de transmitir el contagio y el número de personas susceptibles de ‘infección’. “No existe un único factor que cause el suicidio o la idea de llevarlo a cabo. Sin embargo, una parte se atribuye desde hace tiempo a procesos sociales o contagiosos. La proximidad o familiaridad con personas que han ideado, intentado o muerto por esta causa puede inducir a la imitación en personas susceptibles”, señala Shaman. Según el INE, el número de suicidios descendió en 2023 por primera vez en España desde 2018. Los datos provisionales indican que un total de 3.952 personas se quitaron la vida el año pasado, un 6,5 % menos que en 2022. Por su parte, en EE UU, las tasas de suicidio aumentaron un 37 % entre 2000-2018 y disminuyeron un 5 % entre 2018-2020 antes de volver a su punto máximo en 2021, de acuerdo con los datos de los CDC (Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades). Fuentes de datos El modelo de contagio del suicidio de Columbia utiliza dos fuentes de datos. La primera, el total de llamadas semanales a la Línea Nacional de Prevención del Suicidio de EE UU, actualmente conocida como la Línea de Prevención del Suicidio y Crisis 988, que se utilizó como estimación de los pensamientos suicidas o ideación. La segunda fuente se derivó de los datos de mortalidad del Sistema Nacional de Estadísticas Vitales. Las estimaciones del modelo calculan que tras la muerte de Williams en 2014 se produjo un  gran aumento de las tasas de contagio del suicidio, incluido un incremento aumento de mil veces la probabilidad de que una persona empezara a pensar en quitar...

[katherinehelmscummings]

"Just get it over with" does not come with guarantees

“Just get it over with” does not come with guarantees

This past Wednesday morning health and biology research scientists joined National Public Radio reporter Rob Stein for an interesting discussion on the Omicron variant, its explosive ability to spread, and what that might mean going forward. I am adding emphasis to part of the interview that really stuck with me, as so much of the public’s “get it over with” attitude has pervaded the approach to…

[lailoken]

“The idea that associating faeries and Witches with the dead related to an initiatory phase of the faerie encounter makes sense of why faeries are often confused with the dead, and why Witches are relentlessly associated with death. The Witch as poisoner of the well and bringer of disease is much like the apples of the Underworld upon which the Queen of Elphame claims "all the plagues of hell are upon," which could even be taken literally as diseases.

There is a risk in passing through the realm of the dead to get to the Crooked Path, there is a risk of an incomplete initiation that brings back demons of madness and disease instead of healing powers. For this reason many of the motifs of Witchcraft have to do with initiatory death and the Underworld, even though it is as much about the realm of Faerie as it is about the world of the dead. What we see in Witchcraft are images of blackness, skulls, bones, poisons and narcotic ointments, curses, animalistic transformations, cannibalism, perverse sex, and sorcerous tortures. This is all the uninitiated or partly initiated ever get to see. Our faerie light, the cunning fire, is hidden from view, but hidden in plain sight.

Initiation in other shamanic cultures involves things like dismemberment, eating of the flesh and blood by demonic entities and heating and forging symbolism. Eva Pocs talks about the way something was often removed or put in during a Witch's initiation in the Balkans. She says the removal of a bone or even the little finger was required in some parts of Europe. Just as Witches sucked illnesses or fairy darts out in the British Isles so did other Witches remove a bone from the body of an initiate, scratch them and take their blood for a pact or take something else from them that would serve as a relic of their personal power. The procedures of healing and the processes of induction into the cult resonate profoundly, and initiation can be seen as a form of drastic healing.

Things may also be inserted into people's bodies, both by faeries and Witches. You can see in the following charm that way back since the dark ages both faeries and Witches have been linked together in the practice of throwing elf shot or "witch shot" as it was also called.

The tenth century metrical charm “Against A Sudden Stitch" (WiÐ fœrstice) offers remedy against sudden pain (such as rheumatism) caused by projectiles of either ése [gods], ylfe [elves] or Witches (gif hit weere esa gescot OÐÐE hit wœre ylfa gescot 0ÐĐº hit wære hægtessan gescot) “be it Ése-shot or elf-shot or witch-shot." This brings to mind the physical ways in which Witches are renowned for putting things in people, such as pins of blackthorn into the heart of a poppet doll. The bewitched were sometimes seen to vomit up pins, and the tangled hair of the one who had hexed them. In this way both for good or ill, Witches and faeries were united in being held responsible for either removing strange body parts like an extra unnoticed bone, or instead inserting magical objects into the body of either a victim or potential initiate. As we have seen, when it comes to the realm of Faerie and humans the only difference between victim and initiate is a strong familiar spirit who acts as a kind of bridge and guide between the worlds.

Eva Pocs gives an account of how death and resurrection experiences were part of becoming known as a woman or man of Faerie. Lady Wilde also spoke how Irish Faerie Doctors often acquired their trade through having spent time in Faerie following abduction. Pocs tells us in her Fairies and Witches at the Boundary of South-Eastern and Central Europe that the living ones, as in people who had not passed through the initiation trauma, were not permitted to gaze upon the Otherworld in Balkan traditions. But the light-shadowed people who were either faerie already, or who had been taken away and "changed" were allowed to know it. The light- shadow was perceived as an aura around the person's head like a halo.

"As far as 'transitory death' and temporary soul journeys are concerned, they, according to several beliefs, mean initiation; if someone has ever looked into that other world,—eg. Has seen the fairies who must not be seen by a living person,—from that time on he/she is considered initiated." Or as another account from the area puts it: “The faeries killed him but revived him, giving him power." 

During these abductions the iele takes out a piece of bone and replaces it with a stake or wheel spoke. One year later in the same location they put back the removed bone. This trope of something being removed or inserted into the body of the initiate is found in many shamanic cultures throughout the world. In some cases the shaman is believe to be in possession of an extra bone that must be counted by the spirits.

These faerie motifs of abduction, initiatory death and repatriation into the community with altered status, and the insertion or removal of body parts and blood are all clues to better understanding how Witchcraft flows forth from the Faerie Faith. Eva Pocs points out the following similarities. Just like faeries:

"The witch, for instance, flies in the form of a crow or a whirl-wind, sits in a swallows nest, where she seems to sometimes be little, sometimes big, and sometimes disappears, she walks on the top of trees as quickly as the wind; or the whole witch company 'transforms into crows and alights on wil- lows'. They travel in green coaches on the top of the trees..."

Of course this close connection between the Faerie Faith and Witches was muddied by persecution of the Craft. The faerie practices were increasingly assimilated into the household and moved away from the wilderness, with Sicilian Fairie Witches going from house to house, rather than out into the forest. Meanwhile Witchcraft was given all of the dangerous Otherwise characteristics, the ones so crucial to initiation that were slowly being stripped from the faerie narrative. In the process the realm of Faerie was losing its teeth and claws, and Witchcraft was being vilified almost out of existence.

All of the negative or dark attributes of the faeries, which were originally part of their primordial ambivalence, were gradually settled on Witches. Cunning practices became strongly associated with Faerie, and Witchcraft with demons, even though originally it is almost impossible to make this distinction in a meaningful way. In this way most forgot that Witches serve with the right hand as surely as they blight with the left, a characteristic shared with the fées of Brittany. Faeries throw darts and blast crops as surely as they bestow blessings and cure the diseases they cause.

LOnce faeries, and the human practitioners of magic who had faeries for familiars, both shared in those characteristics, including the ones that do mankind good, and those that do mankind ill. Faeries, and the Witchcraft that grows forth from it into the human side of the hedge, carry with them all the plagues and poisons of the Earth, and also the potential inoculation and medicine that affects every cure.

Only those who have passed through the world of the dead are offered access to the Third Path. Only he who has walked that path and come back wearing the virid doublet of Faerie and learned to keep silent, can now come back and eat of the fruit upon which all of the plagues of Hell alight to find the secret of their cure. In the Underworld, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life and Death are the same tree.

Even in Britain where we don't find the bone tak- ing motif and only occasionally see an explicit spiritual death followed by resurrection, we do find the passing of the breath, where a Witch's shadow is able to enter someone else, giving them soul, through the breath and mouth, or illnesses is sucked away with the mouth. Witch teats also allow something to be sucked away as a form of nourishment to the familiar, who also sometimes drank the Witch's blood drops. Familiars were sometimes put in another person by blowing them into someone's mouth and we may conjecture during sexual encounters with faerie beings where vital force was being taken out and inspiration put in.

The relationship between faeries and Witches is as much peppered in the language of consumption and assimilation through eating as it is in sexual ex- pression. Witches and their familiars live off each other, eat of one another. Here do we perhaps find the origins of the "eat of me" theme behind the Housel or Red Meal. Where some Witches consume the body and blood of their Devil and his Dame, just as the Christians consume Jesus Christ.

In this natural religiosity of consumption and mutual nourishment we see the foreshadowing of all such edible sacraments. The spirit world is understood to enjoy blood. As early as the 13th century in Ireland Alice Kyteler sacrificed a black cock at the crossroads to the spirit Robin Artisson, her spirit lover and familiar—himself a man of Faerie, a dweller at crossroads.

Jeffrey Burton Russell says of Robin Artisson: “As much like a faerie as a witch's familiar, Robin appeared in a number of shapes, a cat, a shaggy dog or an Ethiopian."

Alice was also said to gamble about on a salve-covered broom (no talk of flying on it only of putting ointment on it mounting it and moving around) so perhaps something was introduced into her body via the salve. Even if the straddling of the broom does not suggest intimate applications of the unguent, flying ointments, regardless of how they are administered are always an herbal formula given to them from outside the hedge, which is put into the body via the pores of the skin.

Another Witchcraft tradition, prominent mainly in Britain that involves taking something out, is the practice of taking blood above the breath. This procedure, where one suspected of bewitching someone was attacked and scratched badly enough to make blood flow, usually above the nose and mouth, was believed to neutralize their power for a time. We can conjecture that the reason has to do with the way power or Virtue is considered to be stored in blood and breath and is connected via an invisible thread to the power of the familiar spirit nourished by these two things. The Witch's power and virtue is expected to leak out in great glut in blood above the breath because so much power lives in the skull. Drawing the blood above the breath can be seen as an attack on the Witchs familiar as well as herself. It is quite illuminating to look closely at the scratching attack on Joan Guppy, whom we have mentioned earlier in relation to Faerie Doctoring.

"They scratched her face with overgrown brambles, saying that Guppy 'was a witch and they came for the blood and they would have it and her life also before ... they left her." Not just blood but "the blood" — witch-blood. This statement is reminiscent of the sweet blood faerie Witches were believed to have in Sicily. We can conjecture that when they say they came for the blood and would have "her life" before they left, what they actually meant was her soul force or magical virtue, as they didn't actually kill her. Witchblood, sweet blood, the power that holds a tenuous thread, like a bridge made of one hair, between this world and the paradise of Elphame—a thread that must cross the abyss of Hell and is like-wise just as capable of unleashing it.”

—

Sounds of Infinity

Chapter 9: ‘Faerie Doctors and Magicians’

by Lee Morgan

[mednerds]

Why Vaccines Alone Will Not End the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic in the United States has raged almost uncontrollably for so long that even if millions of people are vaccinated, millions more will still be infected and become ill unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing measures until midsummer or later, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University.

The arrival of highly effective vaccines in December lifted hopes that they would eventually slow or stop the spread of the disease through the rest of the population. But vaccines alone are not enough, the model shows. And if precautions like working remotely, limiting travel and wearing masks are relaxed too soon, it could mean millions more infections and thousands more deaths.

There is no doubt that getting vaccinated protects the recipient. Still, several infectious-disease researchers contacted by The New York Times cautioned that it would be months before enough people in the United States will have gotten the shots to allow for normal life to begin again.

Only then will the number of people with immunity — those who have had the disease and recovered, plus those who have been vaccinated — be large enough to take the wind out of the pandemic, said Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia who shared his team’s modeling calculations.

Dr. Shaman estimates that more than 105 million people have already been infected across the U.S., well above the number of cases that have been reported. And his projections show millions more infections are yet to come as the vaccine rolls out.

Social distancing, masking and other measures should remain in place until late July, “and that may be optimistic,” said Dr. Shaman. Otherwise, yet another resurgence of the virus is possible.

“There are people who are going to want to relax the controls we have in place,” Dr. Shaman said. “If we start thinking, ‘We’ve got a vaccine, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we can stop in a couple of months’ — that’s way too soon.”

The coming months are critical in the race to reduce new infections and deaths, since there will ultimately be fewer people for the virus to infect as the pandemic drags on.

Lifting restrictions in early February, after most health care workers and nursing home residents are set to be vaccinated, would still mean far more infections in the long run than keeping restrictions in place until mid-March, for example.

Even with current precautions, some areas of the country have let the pandemic rage so uncontrollably that it is too late for the vaccine to have a major impact, Dr. Shaman said. His group estimates that 60 percent of the population in North Dakota has already been infected. Vaccines will help, but the pandemic will mostly burn out on its own, as fewer and fewer people are available to infect, he said.

On the other hand, in Vermont, with roughly a 10 percent infection rate, the vaccine could protect nearly the entire population if it is deployed quickly enough, Dr. Shaman said. California is teetering somewhere in between as new outbreaks take place.

The model takes into account factors like the speed and order of vaccine distribution, the effectiveness of the vaccine after one and two doses, current social distancing measures and the transmissibility of the virus. It assumes that groups like health care workers and older adults will be prioritized according to C.D.C. guidelines, and vaccination will continue at a pace ramping up to five million doses per week.

The group considered scenarios in which current social distancing measures were relaxed earlier or later in the vaccine rollout, and what might happen if they were strengthened. The research was financed by Pfizer, one of the vaccine makers, as well as the National Science Foundation and the Morris-Singer Foundation.

Of the scenarios the researchers examined, those in which restrictions were strengthened and then kept in place until much of the population could receive the vaccine resulted in some of the fewest total infections.

Other researchers said they agreed with Dr. Shaman’s broad conclusions, although the model involves a number of approximations, and it has not yet been published or subjected to formal review.

The finding “passes the gut check,” said Trevor Bedford, a geneticist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington. He said the pace of vaccine rollout was an unknown that could change the conclusions. The Biden administration has said it intends to accelerate distribution, but those assertions have yet to be tested.

Dr. Bedford also cautioned that a new variant of the virus that recently emerged from the United Kingdom and that is believed to be more transmissible than others circulating in the United States “could cause more of a spring wave than what was modeled here.”

Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of biology and statistics at the University of Texas at Austin, said that Dr. Shaman’s reasoning “all makes intuitive sense.” Dr. Meyers said she agreed that the uncontrolled outbreaks in many places in 2020 have lowered the benefits of a vaccine.

“Unfortunately, we've let this virus spread extensively and are launching the vaccination campaign at the height of the threat,” Dr. Meyers said. “The more the virus spreads before the vaccine reaches people, the fewer deaths we can prevent with the vaccine.”

Dr. Meyers added, though, that mortality figures could come down sooner than infections with the right vaccination strategy, perhaps allowing some parts of the country to open up more quickly than expected. That depends on highly exposed frontline workers and those who are most at risk of death getting vaccinated quickly, she said.

“We may get to the point where, even though the virus is still spreading, it’s just less deadly on a population level and policymakers feel comfortable relaxing some of the measures we now have in place to protect our health care systems and save lives,” Dr. Meyers said.

Over all, the findings are probably unwelcome news for millions of people who would like to return to normal life, from a guilt-free night out at a restaurant to chatting about football scores at school dropoff, as soon as possible.

Policymakers who will have to lay down and sometimes enforce those restrictions in 2021 are already aware of the long haul still ahead, said Mayor Jenny A. Durkan of Seattle in an interview.

“I think that the modeling is absolutely credible,” said Ms. Durkan, who has received praise for incorporating science into her own policy decisions. The mayor said she was preparing Seattle to continue social distancing measures “at least through the summer and probably into the fall.”

“It’s just human nature to hope,” Ms. Durkan said. “I think that people thought that if there was a vaccination that it would be safe to gather again, and it’s not.”

Vaccinating people provides collective protection because the virus spreads by hopping from person to person. If the virus encounters someone who cannot catch the disease, that eliminates a path to infect someone else.

For simplicity, in his team’s models, Dr. Shaman assumed that neither those who have recovered from the disease nor those who receive vaccinations could develop it or pass it on again. He took the effectiveness of the vaccine to be 95 percent after the two standard doses for the vaccines available now.

All models incorporate certain approximations, and Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York, said that scientists would be cautious in using the new calculations to determine precisely when the disease is likely to subside. Dr. Lee said that his own modeling determined that the virus could drop to much lower levels by July.

That condition, sometimes referred to as “herd immunity,” does not mean the disease has been eradicated, Dr. Lee said. “Reaching the threshold of herd immunity means there are additional protective effects from people around you being immune to something,” Dr. Lee said.

Susceptible people can still get the disease once herd immunity has been achieved, said David Engelthaler, who leads the infectious disease branch of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona. Case numbers, however, are no longer growing exponentially, and they may stay relatively constant, he said.

“You’re not going to wipe this thing out by achieving herd immunity; clusters and spikes continue to occur,” Dr. Engelthaler said.

Still, he said, growth will inevitably slow and stop — in his view, a bit earlier than some other researchers are projecting. He said the combination of immunity from vaccines and infection could begin reining in the pandemic by late spring or early summer.

“Then we can start thinking about normal civilization again,” Dr. Engelthaler said.

Methodology:

The data presented here comes from a team led by Marta Galanti and Jeffrey Shaman at Columbia University in collaboration with researchers at Pfizer. The model assumes a vaccine efficacy of 90 percent 10 days after the first dose and 95 percent one week after the second dose — and that those vaccinated will ultimately receive both doses. The model also assumes a vaccination schedule following the C.D.C. guidelines for different groups, followed by a distribution ramping up to five million doses per week of other adults and children.

Historical case data is used to estimate the number of past infections and effective reproduction rate in each state as of Jan. 10, 2021. Infection projections are based on the virus having a basic reproduction number of 2.4 without any nonpharmaceutical interventions, including social distancing restrictions.

In each scenario, restrictions are fully relaxed at the date indicated, except those in which restrictions are strengthened. In these scenarios, restrictions are gradually relaxed over the following months. For scenarios in which restrictions are strengthened, the basic reproduction number is lowered to 1.5.

By Matthew Conlen, Denise Lu and James Glanz (The New York Times)

[fyblackwomenart]

The Shaman" Illustrated by Jeffrey Oyem

[weeping-gospels]

bandwagon bitch

Get to know the bitch!

alias / name: Dove

birthday: June 16th

zodiac sign: Gemini

height: 5’3

hobbies: writing, occasional singing, voice acting, hyperfixating on anything rat related, illustrating, occasional gaming

favorite color: Lavender or velvet

favorite book: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

last song: No by Plenka

last film / show: that one Jeffrey Dahmer Netflix series

recent reads: Headtaker (still reading)

inspiration: crippling depression

story behind url: Betty used to own that improvised Keep before moving on to the shared portion of Drachenfels and she’s a shaman

fun fact about me: i own 3 rats (Yuletide, Clover, and Sage) that im constantly researching and posting about because I finally own rats after wanting one for years

that also all have fucking respiratory infections again so it’s a pain in the ass shoving a dropper in their fussy mouths and one is newly weaning off and keeps trying to nurse off of Yule who doesn’t have the nips for that so I lost nearly an entire night of sleep over Clover crying loudly for her tits and couldn’t get milk so clearly owning rats is a fun hobby

Tagged by: @warhammer-fantasy-muses 🖤

Tagging: YOU, BITCH

[laresearchette]

Monday, November 21, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: KIDS BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP: GOBBLE GOODIES (Food Network Canada) 9:00pm BELOW DECK (Slice) 9:00pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

NETFLIX CANADA THE HANGOVER THE HANGOVER: PART II MY LITTLE PONY: WINTER WISHDAY STORYBOTS: ANSWER TIME

FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 7:45am: England vs. Iran (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 10:45am: Senegal vs. Netherlands (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 1:45am: USA vs. Wales

NHL HOCKEY (SN Oilers) 7:00pm: Oilers vs. Devils (SN Flames) 7:00pm: Flames vs. Flyers (SNWest) 7:30pm: Hurricanes vs. Jets (SN) 7:30pm: Islanders vs. Leafs (TSN5) 10:30pm: Sens vs. Sharks (SNPacific) 10:30pm: Knights vs. Canucks

ONE DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS (CTV Life) 7:00pm:  Abby, who has inherited the Haven Restaurant and Inn, is unable to manage both sides of the business, so she teams up with hot-shot chef Preston to shake up the holiday menu and get an investment from a restaurant mogul.

NBA BASKETBALL (SN Now) 8:00pm: Celtics vs. Bulls (TSN2) 8:00pm: Warriors vs. Pelicans

MURDOCH MYSTERIES (CBC) 8:00pm: The sudden death of a key witness leaves Murdoch physically unsettled.

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 8:15pm: 49ers vs. Cardinals

RIDLEY ROAD (CBC) 9:00pm (FINALE): Vivien races to secure evidence against Jordan; Jack faces mortal danger.

HIGHWAY THRU HELL (Discovery Canada) 9:00pm: Aggressive Towing copes with a slick situation in the Valley while Reliable's new Highway 3 base battles a snowstorm; Jamie, Al and Kurtis hit the Coquihalla on an emotional day.

PROPERTY BROTHERS: FOREVER HOME (HGTV Canada) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE):  Jonathan and Drew Scott are on a mission to turn families' ordinary houses into their lifelong dream homes; couples who are settled in their home but need the brothers' expertise to make it perfect will qualify for a complete makeover.

PRINCE ANDREW: BANISHED (Crave) 9:00pm: The story of how, through arrogance and lust, Prince Andrew's scandals and his friendship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein nearly sank the British monarchy.

MUD MOUNTAIN HAULERS (Discovery Canada) 10:00pm: The Glovers fight harsh winter conditions on the highway while low bedding their 45-ton winch machine to Erie Mountain; when winter slams Gollen, Craig steps up his exit strategy, but breakdowns and a collision on the block threaten to delay the job.

ACTING GOOD (CTV Comedy) 10:30pm: The NDN Wresting Federation returns with the annual Battle in the Bush but when the most infamous wrestler misses the plane, someone must step in.

BLOOD IN THE SNOW FILM FESTIVAL (Super Channel Fuse) 12:00am: Mournful Mediums:  A selection of "Blood in the Snow's" finest medium length shorts, featuring short films: "Vicinal," "Spark," "AlieNation," "The Fore-men," and "Angakusajaujuq - The Shaman's Apprentice."

[feelingbluepolitics]

"The blame for the enormous loss of American life, many experts say, lies in a failure of leadership by [t]rump, whose administration politicized the use of masks and left states to implement a patchwork of inconsistent measures that did not bring the virus under control.

"'It wasn’t that he was just inept,' said Jeffrey Shaman, a Columbia University professor of environmental health sciences who has modeled the virus’s spread. 'He made something that could have very easily turned into a point of patriotism, pride and national unity — protecting your neighbors, protecting your loved ones, protecting your community — into a divisive issue, as is his wont, and it cost people’s lives.'

"By comparison, Vietnam, a nation of 97 million people, has confirmed just 35 virus-related deaths, Dr. Shaman added."