#Willows Wisconsin

[dat2ndaccount97]

Still find it funny how the Malibu Barbie Caffe is only in New York and Chicago and not anywhere near California. I feel like a CA location would do pretty well and fit the theme way better. Also The menu sounds really good imo.

Also Funny how Malibu Barbie (either the original doll or that new art that's being used) isn't anywhere to be seen in any photos I could find for either location nor in the marketing. Besides Barbie isn't even from CA she's from Willows, Wisconsin.

[bo1908]

Midge Hadley

[amerasdreams]

wait-- Barbie is actually from Wisconsin!?!

[damn-daemon]

When the air is gold, life is all the richer...

[julesofnature]

“The essence of wisdom is to act in harmony with nature.”  ~Osho 

Willows symbolize inner wisdom, dreams, harmony, and freedom.

[driftlessdiscoveries]

[patiiences]

[greenwitchcrafts]

May 2024 witch guide

Full moon: May 23rd

New moon: May 7th

Sabbats: Beltane-May1st

May Flower Moon

Known as: Bright Moon, Budding Moon, Dyad Moon, Egg Laying Moon, Frog Moon, Hare Moon, Leaf Budding Moon, Merry Moon, Moon of the Shedding Ponies, Planting Moon, Sproutkale, Thrimilcmonath & Winnemanoth

Element: Fire

Zodiac: Taurus & Gemini

Nature spirits: Elves & Faeries

Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Cernunnos, Diana, Frigga, Flora, Horned God, Kali, Maia, Pan, Priapus & Venus

Animals: Cat, leopard & lynx

Birds: Dove, Swallow & Swan

Trees: Hawthorne & rowan

Herbs: Cinnamon, dittany of Crete, Elder, mint, mugwort & thyme

Flowers: Foxglove, lily of the valley & rose

Scents: Rose & sandalwood

Stones: Amber, Apache tear, carnelian, emerald, garnet, malachite, rose quartz, ruby, tourmaline & tsavorite

Colors: Brown, green, orange, pink & yellow

Energy:  Abundance, creative energy, faerie & spirit contact, fertility, intuition, love, marriage, material gains, money, propagation, prosperity, real-estate dealings, relationships & tenacity

May’s Flower Moon name should be no surprise; flowers spring forth across North America in abundance this month!

• “Flower Moon” has been attributed to Algonquin peoples, as confirmed by Christina Ruddy of The Algonquin Way Cultural Centre in Pikwakanagan, Ontario.

May’s Moon was also referred to as the “Month of Flowers” by Jonathan Carver in his 1798 publication, Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America: 1766, 1767, 1768 (pp. 250-252), as a likely Dakota name. Carver stayed with the Naudowessie (Dakota) over a period of time; his expedition covered the Great Lakes region, including the Wisconsin and Minnesota areas.

Beltane

Known as: Beltaine, May day, Roodmas & Cethsamhain

Season: Spring

Symbols: Eggs, faeries, fire, flowers & maypoles

Colors: Blue, dark yellow, green, light pink, orange, red, white yellow & rainbow spectrum

Oils/Incense: Frankincense, lilac, passion flower, rose, tuberose & vanilla

Animals: Bee, cattle, goat & rabbit

Mythical: Faeries

Stones: Bloodstone, emerald, lapis lazuli, orange carnelian, rose quartz & sapphire

Food: Beltane cakes, cherries, dairy foods, farls, green herbal salads, honey, meade, nuts, oat cakes, oats, strawberries & sweets

Herbs/Plants: Almond, ash tree, birch, bramble, cinquefoil, damiana, frankincense, hawthorn, ivy, meadowsweet, mushroom, rosemary, saffron, satyrion root, St.John's wort & woodruff

Flowers: Angelica, bluebell, daisy, hibiscus, honeysuckle, lilac, marigold, primrose, rose, rose hips & yellow cowslips

Trees: Ash, cedar, elder, fir, hawthorn, juniper, linden, mesquite, oak, pine, poplar, rowan & willow

Goddesses: Aphrodite, Areil, Artemis, Cybele, Danu, Diana, Dôn, Eiru, Elen, Eostre, Fand, Flidais, Flora, Freya, Frigga, Maia, Niwalen, Rhea, Rhiannon, Var, Venus & Xochiquetzal

Gods: Baal, Bacchnalia, Balder, Belanos, Belenus, Beli, Beltene, Cernunnos, Cupid, Faunus, Freyr, Grannus, The Green Man, Lares, Lugh, Manawyddan, Odin, Pan, Puck & Taranis

Issues, Intentions & Powers: Agriculture, creativity, fertility, lust, marriage, the otherworld/Underworld, pleasure, psychic ability, purification, sensuality, sex/uality, visions, warmth & youth

Spellwork: Birth, Earth magick, healing, health & pregnancy

Activities:

• Create a daisy chain or floral decorations

• Decorate & dance around a Maypole

• Set up an outdoor altar & leave offerings to faeries

• Prepare a ritual bath with fresh flowers

• Light a bonfire or candles & dance around them

• Set aside time for self care

• Gather flowers & use them to decorate your home or altar

• Prepare a feast to celebrate with friends/family

• Make flower crowns

• Bake bannocks, oat cakes or cookies

• Hang wreaths decorated with ribbons & flowers

• Plant flowers in your garden

• Start a wish book/box/journal

• Go on a walk & gice thanks to nature⁸

• Cast fertility or a bunch spells

• Fill small baskets of flowers & small goodies, then leave them on your friends/neighbors doorstep as a gesture of goodwill & friendship

Beltane is mentioned in the earliest Irish literature and is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Also known as Cétshamhain ('first of summer'), it marked the beginning of summer & was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect cattle, people & crops, and to encourage growth. (Today, Witches who observe the Wheel of the Year celebrate Beltane as the height of Spring.)

Special bonfires were kindled, whose flames, smoke & ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires & sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused & then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire.

These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí. Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire.

In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush: typically a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers, ribbons, bright shells & rushlights. Holy wells were also visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty & maintain youthfulness.

• The aos sí (often referred to as spirits or fairies) were thought to be especially active at Beltane. Like Samhain, which lies directly opposite from Beltane on the Wheel of the Year, this was seen as a time when the veil between worlds was at its thinnest. At Samhain the veil between the worlds of the living & the dead is thin enough that we can connect & convene with our beloved dead, here at Beltane it’s the veil between the human world, and the world of faeries & nature spirits that has grown thin. Offerings would be left at the ancient faerie forts, the wells and in other sacred places in an effort to appease these nature spirits to ensure a successful growing season.

Some believe this is when The Goddess is now the Mother & the God is seen as the Green Man or the wild stag. It celebrates the symbolic union, mating or marriage of the Goddess & God & heralds in the coming summer months. It represents life rather than Samhain on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year.

Other Celebrations:

• Rosealia- May 23rd

Rosalia or Rosaria was a festival of roses celebrated on various dates, primarily in May, but scattered through mid-July. The observance is sometimes called a rosatio ("rose-adornment") or the dies rosationis, "day of rose-adornment," & could be celebrated also with violets. As a commemoration of the dead, the rosatio developed from the custom of placing flowers at burial sites. It was among the extensive private religious practices by means of which the Romans cared for their dead, reflecting the value placed on tradition (mos maiorum, "the way of the ancestors"), family lineage & memorials ranging from simple inscriptions to grand public works. Several dates on the Roman calendar were set aside as public holidays or memorial days devoted to the dead.

Roses had funerary significance in Greece, but were particularly associated with death & entombment among the Romans. In Greece, roses appear on funerary steles  & in epitaphs most often of girls. Flowers were traditional symbols of rejuvenation, rebirth &memory, with the red & purple of roses & violets felt to evoke the color of blood as a form of propitiation

Sources:

Farmersalmanac .com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

Wikipedia

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Encyclopedia britannica

Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living

[kp777]

By Kenny Stancil

Common Dreams

Apr 25, 2023

"We need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."

In response to U.S. President Joe Biden's Tuesday announcement that he is seeking reelection in 2024, four youth-led advocacy groups urged the incumbent to push for progressive priorities during the remainder of his first term and campaign on policies that motivate young voters to cast ballots for him.

In a letter addressed to Biden, March for Our Lives, Gen Z for Change, Sunrise Movement, and United We Dream Action wrote: "If we're going to excite one of the leading voting blocs for Democrats, we need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."

"As the organizers of millions of young people across the country, we know that in order to secure wins against fascism in the 2024 presidential election, Millennials and Gen Z will have to turn out to vote in full force," the groups argued, sounding the alarm about the dire consequences likely to ensue if the increasingly authoritarian Republican Party takes control of the White House.

"Young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory... When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."

"Following the results of 2018, 2020, 2022, and most recently the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2023, it is clear that young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory," says the letter. "The equation is simple. When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."

"Going into 2024, our youth coalition is deeply committed to defeating fascist, right-wing extremism and the eventual Republican presidential nominee," the letter continues. "Young people are clear that the runaway extremism of abortion bans, threats to trans students, criminalization of immigrants, and the all-out assault on our climate are existential threats to our generation and generations to come."

However, when the Biden administration makes "bad decisions"—such as approving the Willow oil drilling venture and other fossil fuel projects, entertaining the revival of migrant family detentions, or otherwise "settling for the status quo"—it becomes "harder for us to get young people to the polls," the groups lamented. "That's why we need you to listen and co-govern with us if we're going to be able to mobilize the young voters we need to win."

The organizations implored Biden "to lead with our generation's values and policies at the forefront of your campaign and your next year in office," contending that his 2020 platform was essential to defeating former President Donald Trump—who is seeking the Republican nomination for 2024 despite facing various legal issues—and that progressive policymaking, particularly last summer, inspired the young voters who ultimately minimized the Democratic Party's losses in the 2022 midterms.

In the spring of 2022, "young voters were largely disillusioned with politics and were not excited to vote," states the letter. "That changed once you passed a historic climate bill, passed overdue gun safety legislation, and sought to cancel student loan debt—resulting in the second-highest youth midterm turnout in the past 30 years. Now, more than ever, we cannot abandon this two-part strategy—run on bold ideas young people can rally behind and have significant legislative victories to back them up."

"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign. Do not take our generation for granted."

"Going into the 2024 presidential election, it is clear that our opponents are getting even more ruthless and extreme," the groups warned. "Across the country we've seen abortion bans, transgender bathroom bans, [and] book bans in schools imposed by Republican extremists. We've seen Republican electeds say they will do nothing to stop gun violence, expel those who disagree with them from office, and attempt to ban educational opportunities and threaten the livelihood of immigrants in our communities. They must be stopped."

"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign," says the letter. "Do not take our generation for granted."

"We are a generation that grew up through crisis—from watching storms decimate our communities to practicing school shooter drills to living through a global pandemic," the letter adds. "Throughout all of these crises, young people have shown up to demand the transformational change the country needs. We are fighters for a better world. That will not change in 2024."

[barbielore]

According to the Wikipedia page for Ken:

In the Barbie mythos, Ken met Barbie on the set of a TV commercial and is her boyfriend, per promotional box inscriptions from his debut until 2018.

On the other hand, the Barbie Club News Magazine from his debut in 1961 cites that they met at a (haha) Barbie-Q.

(Incidentally: doesn't it feel charming, to modern eyes, that Barbie is being described here as "Now ... old enough to have dates"? It feels like Barbie and Ken have been a couple for so long, it's hard to imagine a time when it was questionable whether Barbie could feasibly have a romance.)

Now, I don't want to call Wikipedia a liar - but though I have found other sources that also cite that Barbie and Ken met on the set of a TV commercial - such as this Time article - I can't find box text that makes this clear. The Barbie Wiki says this to, but the citation points to a dead link. The Barbie Media page says it too, and as an official Mattel website, they'd know - but I won't feel like this is properly put to rest until I see the box text that says it.

The Barbie Vlogs, on the other hand, say that Ken was Barbie's next door neighbour when she relocated from Wisconsin to Malibu at age 8. Curious then, that the Willows WI series shows Barbie trying to become homecoming queen in Willows -- but Barbie lore isn't always consistent.

But still - I've spent a long time scouring over vintage Kens, and can't source this for sure. So I am forced to conclude that the "set of a TV commercial" is a retcon because Mattel didn't want to stick to their initial "Barbie-Q" story.

I'll be honest, it doesn't take much to convince me to look at vintage Barbies -- especially vintage Barbie ads.

[bluesilver]

Malibu Barbie —Aesthetic

Barbie's Life

Barbie is from Willows, Wisconsin. Despite this, she lives in a mansion beach house along Malibu, California. Specifically, she lives in the Dream House with her three younger sisters and several pets. Barbie is a popular high school student with several friends. She also has a boyfriend, Ken.

[julesofnature]

Most everyone is familiar with soft and fuzzy pussywillows that emerge in the springtime. Not everyone knows that willow (Salix spp.) is a highly medicinal tree! White willow bark in particular is a powerful pain reliever—it actually has the same compounds in it as aspirin!

[driftlessdiscoveries]

[nachoaveragejoe234]

Barbie movies settings (including mentioned places that aren't the setting of the movie)

Nutcracker and Swan Lake - Russia. Based on Russian ballets, Tchaikovsky can be seen in a picture in Clara's house, Ivan has a Russian name and accent

Rapunzel - Germany

12 Dancing Princesses - Germany. Based on a Brothers Grimm story

Princess and the Pauper - England. Based on The Prince and the Pauper, which was set in England

Magic of Pegasus - Netherlands during winter. Annika is a Dutch name and several characters, including her, wear vaguely Dutch clothing. Other places that have been theorized are Scandinavia and Russia.

Fairytopia trilogy - Portugal. Elina mentions knowing Mariposa, who's from Spain, and is "cut off from Flutterfield".

Barbie Diaries - Malibu, California

Island Princess - Italy. Names such as Rosella, Antonio, Luciana, and Ariana already tell us a lot, but the sunny weather, the characters all having tans, and some of the architecture also indicate this.

Christmas Carol - London, England

Three Musketeers - Paris, France

Diamond Castle - Europe, likely Germany/France, and/or Greece. Liana and Alexa wear stereotypically European dresses, the house looks like a traditional French cottage, but the Muses wear togas and the Diamond Castle itself looks vaguely Greek temple-ish on the inside.

Thumbelina - United States. Updated the setting and time period to the 2000s, clearly not in Denmark.

Fashion Fairytale - Paris, France

Mermaid Tale - Malibu, California

Mariposa - Spain. Also because of the accents.

Mermaid Tale 2 - Australia (the Ambassadors are however coded as Korean, African, Brazilian, and Russian), maybe New Zealand (Aquellia is implied to be near it)

Fairy Secret - Malibu, California (Gloss Angeles is another dimension)

Princess Charm School - Europe. No indication as to where "Gardania" is. However, most speaking Charm School students are from other places (Hadley is from South America, Isla is from Japan, Portia is from Scotland, and Josette is from Africa)

Princess and the Popstar - Monaco. Meribella looks like Monaco, with it's small status and how rich it is. Also Amelia mentions her grandma knowing the King of Spain.

Mariposa and the Fairy Princess - Malta. Shimmervale is "across Fairytopia", and the British accents of many people, as well as several dark haired background fairies, some with light skin, some with dark skin, a common feature of Maltese people.

Pink Shoes - United States, France, Russia (The ballet world uses Giselle, a French ballet, and Swan Lake)

Pony Tale - Switzerland

Pearl Princess - Denmark. A mermid story with some similarities to The Little Mermaid.

Secret Door - Europe (Zinnia is another dimension)

Princess Power - Europe or an alternate reality America, or somehwere in the near distant future

Starlight Adventure - Space, in the future

Great Puppy Adventure - Willows, Wisconsin

Puppy Chase - Hawaii

Rock N Royals - Europe (with campers from other European places: Sloane from Scotland, maybe her two friends are American as they resemble Dua Lipa and Halle Bailey vaguely, Aubray from Ireland, Genevieve from England, Svetlana Petranova from Russia)

Spy Squad - Los Angeles, California

Video Game Hero - United States, "Japan". Her video game is heavily Japanese inspired, with animesque characters and Nintendoesque visuals.

Dolphin Magic - Malibu, California

Princess Adventure - Europe

Lost Birthday - United States

Big City Big Dreams - New York

Mermaid Power - Malibu, California