#can we create new genders by simply performing new acts or giving old acts new meaning?

[citizen-saint]

i haven’t thought about xenogenders and whatnot for so long but reading performative acts and gender constitution gave me like. an entirely new angle to think about them

[catharsis-in-a-bottle]

ALL MY THOUGHTS ON GENDER:

A brain dump / essay-ish thing

Hello, dear humans! I had no particular inspiration for this massive chunk of text beyond “it’s late and there are thoughts in my little human brain.” And so here are all my current thoughts on gender - all of the thoughts that I can... think of... at least. Disclaimer: much of this is speculation and personal opinion. This isn’t a research essay. This is a brain dump. These are thoughts that have been shit out of my head, tidied up, and sprayed with perfume; proceed, therefore, with a critical mind.

There arises a thought, and likely a rather common one among those who think about gender on a regular basis. What if this heap of gender baggage - the expected appearance, personality, and occupation of a given sex - did not exist? What if people disregarded genitalia in favor of raising all sexes with the same status quo, or perhaps even without expressional expectations?

My question is: what, then, would become of gender dysphoria? If the differences between men and women in society were not so heightened - if the existence of nonbinary people was something normalized... I don’t think I would be dysphoric. My mind would be nonbinary - as gender itself is possibly an intrinsic part of neurology, whereas the gender baggage (roles and expectations) is socially constructed - my mind would be nonbinary, but there wouldn’t be an ideal body to ‘transition’ to. So what would I do? The only difference now would be biological sex. And perhaps, for some, this alone is enough for incongruence and/or dysphoria.

And if all sexes were raised not only equally, but better yet encouraged to express themselves as they wished - how might the face of the earth be changed? In terms of fashion, form-fitting clothing would not be made only to accentuate “feminine” curves. Maybe it would simply accentuate *human* curves and features. If the only recognized differences between sexes were natural physical appearances and roles in reproduction, and we DID NOT create gender roles to accommodate those roles in reproduction... Our world, the products we create, the ways we act... everything could be very, very different.

This imagined world is, of course, an unlikely outcome of our societal evolution. In the animal kingdom, different sexes are assigned different roles and jobs. Why should humans be any different? The task of physical labor to men arises from the sole biological factor of higher potential muscle mass - and in our prehistory, that muscle mass was real. Everyone was working hard as hell in the fight for survival.

And so the differences in sexes grew and grew. With a gap in the jobs they were expected to perform based on their reproductive and physical capabilities, societally recognized men and woman drifted apart. And as humankind grew, these differences were portrayed in wildly different ways in differently developing cultures. So in our prehistory, there were hunters and gatherers, caretakers and fighters; but in the beautifully diversifying cultures developing across the globe, the gender baggage differed. Ideas of femininity, masculinity, neutrality, and combination of expression were quite different as one moved from place to place. In western culture, neutrality was rejected and stomped upon, while in many non-western cultures, neutrality, ambiguity, and overall third genders received their own baggage and thrived in the gender arena (which is now a term, thank you very much.)

Gender expression and gender roles were socially constructed. But what of gender itself? What is gender? We say it’s a personal identity, what’s in our minds and hearts. Is it neurological? If so, that would explain gender incongruence at the base level - feeling that incongruence based solely upon one’s sex. If not, if gender itself is in fact entirely social construct and not just the baggage, what of transness? What would it mean to be trans? That’s not my place to answer, because I don’t know and all of these rhetorical questions are sheer speculation. Whether or not gender is an intrinsic, neurological part of our individual selves, trans people still exist.

And not only do trans people exist, but we deserve to live as the height of our true personal expression. Freedom is so fucking important. Speaking your mind and being yourself and showing the world, or showing a loved one, or knowing and loving who you are - this is all freedom, this is all personal expression. For trans people it is emancipation and liberation from the shackles of all of that gender baggage. In one way or another, gender differs from biological sex, and the sheer difference in what each gender is supposed to do, present as, act as - that difference is what feels so absolutely, goddamn confining. If we returned to my unrealistic little scenario in which we somehow suppressed the evolution of gender baggage, the societal confinement would not exist. It would be biological confinement. And who knows what that would entail; certainly not I, a non-omnipotent little Homo sapiens.

Being a woman and having society tell you you’re a man is confining. Being a man and having society tell you you’re a woman is confining. Being nonbinary and having cultures in which that is simply *not historically a thing* tell you that “you’re whatever’s in your pants” is confining. In my own personal experience in western society, this enby confinement is different than that of binary confinement, as a neutral role - a good old nonbinary baggage suitcase - is a new thing. Nonbinary PEOPLE are not new; a nonbinary suitcase (I love making terms up) is new though, once again illustrating the difference between the gender baggage and gender itself. The struggle of nonbinary people is not to be compared to that of binary trans people, as it is a separate category. They are related but not the same. Binary trans people push against gender baggage that has developed, evolved, and existed for centuries; nonbinary trans people are making a new category (in cultures in which that isn’t a defined gender role). And we don’t necessarily want to create any more ‘baggage’ for nonbinary people, as once again this is what causes that suffocating feeling of confinement within society.

Xenogenders are sort of similar in this sense - an entirely new category is surfacing. At first I did not understand them. But not understanding something is never a basis for disrespect. I don’t know the people identifying as xenogenders, and I don’t know how they feel or what their personal struggles are, so who am I to say “ahahaha trender”? Their existence does not affect me. “But they make the trans community look like a joke.” Well, people with xenogenders are not the face of the trans community, and those who think they are simply cherry-pick the “cringiest” examples in a varied community that they can find, which is already shitty in itself. And also, the problem is not “trenders”. The problem is people with already transphobic mindsets, whether that be passively transphobic or actively transphobic. That mindset is just being extended to this emerging group of people. I don’t give a shit if someone uses neopronouns or describes themself using a neogender, because I do not know them and their existence does not affect me negatively in any way, nor does it affect the trans community negatively. By simply their identity, they are not hateful or discriminatory. And so what trans people should really be fighting against is passive and active transphobia within society - the actual, real life problem. We shouldn’t be turning inwards and setting our own dogs loose on each other.

Here we are in the world. Femininity, masculinity, neutrality and ambiguity have become established fashion codes and expressional standards in my good ol’ western society. Occupational gender roles still exist heavily, because that’s literally an intrinsic part of our evolution as humans, but these occupational roles are being fought against. Which is due, because anything otherwise would be archaic and non-progressive. Personality and personal expression are still heavily scrutinized when differing from one’s own assigned gender. The latter is an issue; the fashion codes and expressional standards have their deep problems, such as violence on the basis of expression, but once femininity, masculinity, neutrality, and ambiguity have been extended and allowed to all genders and socially accepted, these issues should fade. It’s sad that we must base the resolution of violence on social acceptance. But we must push for this social acceptance. We must push for the elimination of confinement, and for the absolute freedom of personal expression for all people; once real, true freedom of expression becomes normalized, becomes the status quo, it will no longer be met with challenge and hate.

That’s one thing we want deeply in life. To exist as we wish to exist without challenge and hate.

That concludes my... words. I hope that entire thing could be perceived as relatively orderly. I encourage you to leave your thoughts in the notes or ask a question or whatever you want to do.

[tutyayilmazz]

The timing makes sense to Cheryl Cooky, an associate professor at Purdue and sociologist who studies gender and sports.

“People have been more reflective of their lives during this pandemic, and for athletes, it’s not a time for the Olympics or a time to just focus solely on your sport,” she said. “They can take time to step back and think about some important philosophical or existential questions.”

---I’ve copied the article below the cut as a summary of the past few weeks’ events:

Gymnasts Worldwide Push Back on Their Sport’s Culture of Abuse

On Instagram and other social networks, gymnasts have tagged posts with #GymnastAlliance to share their own experiences in the wake of a new documentary that highlights verbal and physical abuse by coaches.

By Juliet Macur

A culture in gymnastics that has tolerated coaches belittling, manipulating and in some cases physically abusing young athletes is being challenged by Olympians and other gymnasts around the world after an uprising in the United States.

Many current and former competitors, emboldened by their American peers, have broken their silence in recent weeks against treatment they say created mental scars on girls that lasted well into adulthood.

One gymnast, who is just 8 years old, said a coach tied her wrists to a horizontal bar when she was 7 and ignored her as she cried out in pain.

At a time when the Tokyo Olympics would be in session, had they not been postponed until 2021 by the coronavirus pandemic, gymnasts have been sharing horrific stories of coaches body-shaming them, stifling their emotions, using corporal punishment on them and forcing them to train with injuries, using the pursuit of medals as a way to rationalize shameful behavior.

Chloe Gilliland, 29, a former member of the Australian national team, recalled her coaches telling her that she was “a bad child” and “a danger” to her own body because she was too heavy. At 17, she thought of killing herself because, she said on Instagram, “I felt like it was easier to end my own life than to give in to what they wanted me to be.”

Catherine Lyons, 19, once a top junior competitor for Britain, said coaches would hit her and harass her about her weight, and when she was 7 or 8 she would cry so hard that coaches would shut her inside a cupboard until she composed herself. Later, she said, she learned she had post-traumatic stress disorder because of the treatment. She told ITV News: “I wasn’t worth anything. I wasn’t a human. I was a commodity rather than a child.”

Other gymnasts have simply said on social media, “I am one of them.”

The stories from gymnasts in all levels of the sport are part of a coordinated effort, similar to the #MeToo movement, calling for the sport’s leaders to eradicate existing norms that in reality are not normal at all.

“I was told many times that gymnasts should be seen and not heard because the sport is all about being the good little gymnast,” said Lisa Mason, a 2000 British Olympian who was among the gymnasts to speak out recently.

Mason, 38, said her coaches threw shoes at her and scratched her when she did not perform perfectly. Once she was made to stay on the uneven bars until her hands were blistered and ripped, only for a coach to pin her hands down and pour rubbing alcohol into her raw wounds, she said Friday in an interview.

Looking back, Mason called the atmosphere “insane,” especially because gymnasts who start training seriously at a very young age are often left alone with coaches.

“So many of us are done with normalizing the abuse that we were told was needed to make champions,” Mason said. “We want change, and it’s incredible that so many of us are coming together to demand it.”

The gymnasts have made an impact. National gymnastics federations in Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium have begun investigations or requested inquiries into alleged abuse, with the Dutch federation saying it would suspend its entire women’s national team program as it looked for answers.

Jennifer Pinches, a 2012 British Olympian, said on Friday that this most recent global push to change the sport was sparked by a Netflix documentary, “Athlete A,” which depicts the harrowing training of American elite gymnasts and the cover-ups that surrounded U.S.A. Gymnastics’s sexual abuse scandal involving its longtime doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar.

“It was a tipping point that enabled this movement to happen,” said Pinches, who saw the film when it was released in late June and persuaded more than 30 British gymnasts, including Mason, to post a joint statement on social media condemning “the culture that didn’t put athlete health and well-being first and allowed Nassar to act.” Mason, who had already posted a scathing Instagram commentary on the sport’s culture, suggested that the group use the hashtag #GymnastAlliance. Now, there have been more than 700 posts with related tags on Instagram alone.

Back in the United States, Jennifer Sey, a 1986 national champion and one of the producers of “Athlete A,” was stunned that the film prompted so many athletes to come forward about their experiences, especially when athletes had so many previous chances to speak up.

Over the past 25 years, there have been several books about abuse in the sport, including one by Sey in 2008. There also were Nassar’s sentencing hearings in 2018, during which more than 150 girls and women spoke out about his molesting them. Many said the sport’s culture of fear and silence made them vulnerable to Nassar’s abuse.

In April, Maggie Haney, who coached the Olympian Laurie Hernandez and other gymnasts, was suspended for eight years by U.S.A. Gymnastics for verbally abusing and mistreating athletes. It was among the first times — if not the first — that a top American coach had been punished for that kind of abuse.

Yet gymnasts saw this moment in 2020 as a perfect time to bring worldwide change to nonsexual abuse in the sport.

“This time, you can’t say the accusations are against just one bad apple, one bad coach or one bad system, and then dismiss them,” Sey said. “I think a lot of these women who came forward continued to suffer because of their coaches’ cruel treatment, and they don’t want to suffer anymore. They don’t want future generations to suffer, either.”

The timing makes sense to Cheryl Cooky, an associate professor at Purdue and sociologist who studies gender and sports.

“People have been more reflective of their lives during this pandemic, and for athletes, it’s not a time for the Olympics or a time to just focus solely on your sport,” she said. “They can take time to step back and think about some important philosophical or existential questions.”

In speaking up, some athletes have been forced to process some dark memories.

“Athlete A” prompted Olivia Vivian, an Australian star of the reality competition “Ninja Warrior” and a 2008 Olympian, to surface troubling memories of her gymnastics career that, according to an Instagram post, she had packed away “deep, deep down.”

It was the first time she thought about the culture of fear in gymnastics, she said Sunday in a telephone interview, and she was overwhelmed because she always considered the mistreatment to be normal. She said her coaches often yelled and threatened her, saying the gym would lose funding if she didn’t make the world team. She recalled them using her as an example to younger girls of what it takes to be a hard worker, bringing them to her so they could see her torn-up, bleeding hands. They would say, “You need to push through like Olivia pushes through,” she said.

The pressure and stress broke Vivian after the 2008 Olympics, she said, and it took the positivity of gymnastics at Oregon State and the “Ninja Warrior” community to build her back up. Still, since “Athlete A,” Vivian has turned to a psychologist to work through her sadness and guilt over not speaking up sooner so she could have saved other gymnasts.

“It’s going to take a bit of time for me to work through this,” Vivian said. “But I’m glad I told my story for the sake of the sport and maybe give other gymnasts the strength to stand up.”

One person familiar with the abuse gymnasts like Vivian have described is Gerrit Beltman — because he used to coach that way. In 2013, Beltman was the subject of a book that accused him of tyrannical behavior while coaching the Dutch national team. He has also coached elite teams in Canada, Belgium and Singapore.

But in late June, as part of an investigation by the Dutch newspaper Noordhollands Dagblad, Beltman apologized for his actions and said he was “ashamed.” Ten current and former Dutch national team gymnasts came forward with accusations of abuse in that report.

“It was never my conscious intention to beat them, to yell at them, to hurt their feelings, to belittle them, to gag them or make constant derogatory remarks about their weight,” Beltman said in Dutch. “But it did happen. I went too far because I thought it was the only way to instill a winning mentality in them.”

He said he copied techniques from colleagues and previous coaches who had delivered many champions. When coaching in Canada, he said in the newspaper report, he realized that his style needed to change.

Now Beltman says a shift in the sport is “a matter of bitter urgency,” and his daughter Reina agrees. She was an alternate on the Dutch Olympic team for the 2016 Rio Games and coached by her father when she was young. She was among many Dutch gymnasts who posted on social media about past abuse, later explaining in an interview that she has struggled with low self-confidence as a result. When asked about her father’s coaching, she declined to comment.

Reina Beltman did say, however, that her father’s decision to speak about his past means there is hope for the sport.

“The best thing that could happen right now is for coaches to be honest and apologize for what they’ve done, so the gymnasts and the sport can move on,” she said. “We just have to have this conversation and, of course, changes won’t be made over one night, but it’s a beautiful thing to take responsibility and try to make things better.”

The next step, said Mason, the British Olympian, is for the sport to create a way for athletes to report abuse to an independent organization without fear of retribution by their federation or coaches, who have the power to keep them off top teams, including a national or Olympic team. Many athletes who recently came forward told Mason they did not trust leaders in the sport to investigate coaches.

It is no wonder they are skeptical: Some athletes and leaders still doubt that emotional abuse is real.

Liubov Charkashyna, a former Belarusian rhythmic gymnast, is the president of the athletes’ commission at the International Gymnastics Federation, the world’s governing body for the sport. One of her jobs is to listen to athletes’ concerns and fight for athletes’ rights inside the federation. But in 2019, she said the number of women who said they were abused by Nassar was exaggerated because some women were just trying to get revenge on their former coaches or earn money.

And less than two weeks ago, the former gymnast Svetlana Khorkina of Russia, a three-time Olympian and 20-time medal winner at the world championships whose voice is still powerful in the sport, told Sport Express that the recent wave of abuse allegations is silly.

“There are certain things in the profession that are necessary for success,” she said in Russian to the sports newspaper, and asked why the gymnasts just didn’t quit the sport, leave the coaches or file lawsuits. “It’s just self-promoting, ugh!”

Athletes hesitated out of fear and uncertainty because abuse was so normalized, Mason said. She said she was disappointed, but not surprised, to hear Khorkina’s comments because “when you tell a difficult truth there will always be people trying to discredit you.”

Still, Mason expects even more gymnasts to call for changes in the sport. She said she had heard from many gymnasts training for the Tokyo Games who would not come forward until the Olympics were completed. They do not want to jeopardize their chances of being chosen for their team, she said.

Those competitors are just some of the many women who have reached out to Mason since she first posted about “Athlete A,” to share their experiences and vent. They say they no longer feel so scared and alone.

“We have a great chance at changing the sport because so many of us are finally being heard,” Mason said. “There’s so many of us and we’re so loud that you can’t ignore us.”

[smithereensbymaisie]

There was once a demon named Émond

A brief warning: This is an entirely fictional piece that is based on a dream of mine, but it does mention child trafficking and child labour, so please proceed with care. Your well-being is the most important. This is also written in the heat of the moment, so the subjects that this touches on may be poorly-researched or misinformed. If that’s the case, please kindly let me know. It’s uncertain whether this will have a follow-up, and although I will try my best, there’s no promises. Lastly, English is not my first language. With all that said, I hope you enjoy this weird dream of mine.

---------------------------------

There was once a demon boy. Well, not exactly “boy”, since demons’ age, sex, and gender just did not work that way, but he liked being a young boy, so why not? Wayward was the word that he deeply identified with, and it did not help that he also disapproved of certain rules and values of the demon world. After too many times refusing to perform his duty of being an “upright and devoting member of the community”, The Council of Demonic Society put limitations on his magic before casting him to earth as a punishment. The demon would not be able to return until he successfully tempted seven kings into wrongdoings.

He had no intention whatsoever to complete the task.

On earth, still in the form of a young boy, he decided to simply live on the street and went by the name Émond. His magic, though limited, was still more than enough to suffice, so his new life mainly consisted of magicking whatever food and drink he needed if he was feeling lazy, and stealing if he was feeling particularly bored or adventurous. He could no longer make money out of thin air, though, so that was a shame. He then decided that he would feel adventurous most of the time, which was terrible news for shop owners in the area.

That way of living lasted for about as long as the lifespan of a dragonfly. Wandering the land of the living without any permanent shelters, money or full power, Émond found himself being snatched from the street and sold to some kind of twisted organisation located in a desert faraway. All the manual labour was young boys who had to stay in tents. There were also adult supervisors who lived in brick houses nearby. The children were chained together at the wrists in groups of seven when they worked and forced to dress in uniforms at all times, which consisted of too big a shirt and a pair of baggy trousers that looked like they had been vomited out by an entity that solely produced eye-achingly bright red-colored clothes. There were about five groups of seven red-clothed children. Usually, they had to work in the desert under the sun, digging sand for wood, animal or human bones, and if they were in luck, scattering pieces of jewellery; in general, anything that was not sand and could potentially be sold for money. On special occasions, the boys were given the job to act like “feral cheerleaders” in a spectator sport taking place on a dune near where they put up their tents. The so-called sport apparently included gruesome murders performed by men on horses. They were told to scream, clap and jump manically whenever someone was killed or badly injured to “set the atmosphere”, metal chains clinking and air thick with the pungent smell of fresh blood.

Naturally, Émond did not get on well at first. He was made fun of by adults and children from other groups, as well as having to endure snickers from his own for his rather chubby body and long mop of curly hair, although he did not give a monkey’s about that. He liked this body. What truly annoyed Émond was the fact that he was expected to take commands from these ridiculous, violent, crude supervisors, whom he ignored out of spite most of the time, and just as often, they got furious and took that anger out on the children in his group. Whenever that happened, the demon would use the little power he was allowed to his advantage. He created a strong and urgent urge to fall asleep and planted it inside the minds of red-faced supervisors. Being in the thrall of demonic magic, they had to crawl back into their bed and slumber for the next hour; he then wiped their memory of his unruly behaviour, which oftentimes resulted in a dopey and silly facial expression when they finally woke up from the unnatural sleep.

Very quickly, other boys in the group started to pick up on the pattern and confronted the demon on one late afternoon.

“How did you do that?”, one child named Asher asked him when they had finished the work for the day. The supervisors had taken off their chains and retired to their brick shelters. Their tent had been put up properly for the freezing forthcoming night, and sunbaked wood and dry grass had been provided for each tent for fire.

“Do what?”

“Stop the adults from hitting us, obviously”, another small child, Neil, he recalled, turned to him, squinting his hazel eyes.

The demon soon found himself the object of curious and suspicious gazes from six little humans. Well, he thought to himself, they are going to stay with me for quite some time anyway, I may as well get on with it.

He told them everything, from the fact that he was not as human as it seemed and there was an entire world full of his kind to the event of his punishment and his life before being taken here. Émond also told them that his magic abilities had certain limits, and that yes, he could make the supervisors forget about his scornful attitudes and behaviour, but no, he could not do the same for memories concerning other people, the boys included. As that was the case, the demon could not wipe away the existence of six children from the minds of several supervisors and help them escape. Also, they were in the middle of a desert, it was not a very good idea to venture out without sufficient resources, knowledge of their current location or a map for direction. Émond had expected the boys to get terrified, accuse him of lying, or laugh in his face and consider him insane, but that assumption was quickly proved wrong. Apparently, the demon had not been very subtle with his magic, and as it was, he found himself surrounded by six fearless, inquisitive little creatures.

“Do you have horns?”, a boy named Alex, twelve years old with wide brown eyes and short hair of indiscernible color, asked him. “I heard that demons have horns.”

“Well, I can have horns if I wish to,'' came his answer, “but those things are just terribly inconvenient, are they not?”

“You can change how you look? That’s wicked awesome!”, exclaimed another child, Alfie, who was sitting cross legged next to Alex. The other children just looked at Émond with even more wonder evident on their faces.

“I wholeheartedly agree with you, child.”

“Wait, so are you really a boy, then? And how old are you, exactly?”, asked a fifteen-year-old named Victor, which made him the oldest of the six.

“No, I’m not really a boy, I’m a demon. We don’t normally categorize our kind into boys and girls, or anything like that, really. There are certain types that run The Council, but that place is full of stiff demons that know no fun, so let's not count that. Most of us just exist or don't. And it’s rude to ask people of their age.” Then, after a beat of silence: “Also, I don’t remember. It’s been a while since I last checked a calendar.”

“What about magic? Can you do magic now? I want to see it!”

The children looked at him excitedly. Happy to entertain, and also starting to feel a bit cold, Émond magicked a burning fire next to their tent. It crackled cheerfully and smelt sweeter than any scents the children had ever smelt before.

The last remnant of sunlight was starting to fade on the horizon. The group of seven shifted closer to the fire, basking themselves in the warmth, hoping that the biting cold of the desert night would not seep into their bones.

“Do demons have parents?”

That question took the demon by surprise. He contemplated for a while before settling on an answer: “You know what, I’m not sure. The first memory I have is waking up alone on the floor of a dimly-lit room with only one door. The knowledge of my power and who I was just…magicked itself there, I suppose. I then opened the door and found an entire world of demons on the other side.”

“Oh”

“Right, it did get a little overwhelming.”

“I have a mother,” said Little Henri, aged eight, after a while, “She’s still waiting for me to come back, I’m sure. I just hope she doesn't cry so much anymore.”

And so, the conversation turned to the life stories of each child. Henri was the youngest in the group. He loved visiting the park with his mother when she came home from work. The ducks in the park’s pond, in his opinion, had been the most interesting citizens he had ever encountered, aside from his mother, of course, and a source of endless entertainment. Alex and Alfie were of the same age. They were orphans and had lived together on the same street before being kidnapped. The A-Duo, or TAD for short, was how they had called themselves back in the glorious olden days of mischief. Mind you, they were still TAD and still full of shenanigans, but artfulness was now their main focus to avoid the beating from supervisors, whom they called “visors” because “really, it’s impossible there is anything super about them”. Émond found it funny. Neil and Asher were brothers, aged ten and fourteen respectively. While Neil was an energetic little boy and was often found conversing amicably with The A-Duo, Asher was rather reserved and quiet. They had lived in a loving family, although both knew that “sufficient” could hardly be used to describe their home. Neil had been snatched from a vacant playground on a humid summer afternoon. Asher had witnessed the incident and rushed to his little brother without thinking, which had resulted in him being rendered unconscious with a bat in the head. They had both been dragged away from view in an instant. Asher had woken up with a mild concussion to find Neil hugging him tightly, sleeping, cheeks still streaked with tears. The pair had travelled with a dealer for about a week before being sold to this place. The oldest among the children was Victor, who sported a perpetual grim face. He was reluctant to talk about his family, but the little information he provided was telling enough: he had been sold by the hand of his own kin. The pain of that memory seemed to etch on his brow, cling to the downward corners of his mouth and the dimmed color blue of his eyes. Sensing the unease, Asher steered the conversation away from Victor, asking Alex and Alfie about their latest mischief.

“Well, since you insist,” said Alfie before the duo plunged into every detail concerning The Sandy Bums Operation with obvious pride. Victor looked at Asher gratefully.

By the end of the conversation, Henri and Neil had been fast asleep. Alex and Alfie were struggling to keep their eyes open and failing spectacularly. Victor ushered the two inside the tent, meeting with little protest, and followed them with Henri in his arms, while Asher gently scoped up his little brother. For a moment, the gentle crackling of the fire was the only sound that dared to disrupt the quiet night.

“Why haven't you escaped on your own?” A hushed voice broke the silence. Asher seated himself beside Émond, hazel eyes fixed on his profile. “You know, you have magic and all that, and I reckon you also have better endurance than us humans. So why?”

Chuckling lightly, the demon turned to look at him: “Why do you ask? Do you want to get rid of me that much?”

“Not really,” Asher shrugged, letting out a sigh, “just curious.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. The flickering fire threw long shapeless shadows on the ground, unfailingly scented the surrounding air with its enticing aroma.

“It doesn't sit right with me, whatever that may mean coming from a demon,” Émond said after a while, still resolutely staring at the fire. “Leaving the children here when I walk free and wreak havoc to the world, knowing that I might have been able to aid their escape in some way, doesn't sound very fair, does it? It's bad for business, anyway, that not everyone is given the same chance to do evil.”

A smile grazed Asher’s lips. It was a small, fleeting thing, but in this harsh and unforgiving place, it was more precious than gold. “You know, I think I get why those stiff demons rejected you. You are terrible at being a demon.”

“Wow, thanks so much for that”, said Émond, feigning outrage.

“You would make a pretty decent lad, though, if you were a human being”, Asher carried on, unfazed.

That threw the demon into a lapse of silence. He looked in bewilderment at the child beside him, dirty face and matted blond hair. Then, softly, as if he feared the image of that boy might shatter before his eyes: “But I'm not, aren't I?”

“No, you aren't,” the boy gently shook his head, “but I choose to see you as such anyway.”

They sat in silence for some time before pulling the sweet air into his lungs, Asher patted Émond on the shoulders and stood up, stretching and yawning: “I don’t know about you, but I’m knackered. Going inside now. You coming?”

“The night sky is too beautiful”, Émond replied simply.

“Alright. Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight.”

There was a soft rustle of fabric, and then, once again, Émond found himself embraced by the chilly stillness of the desert night. The sky was indeed beautiful. He might as well admire the stars while he could.

[kukkotar]

Maternal gift-giving

"At the beginning of my research on motherhood—then a young mother in my twenties myself—I realized that there is something deeply wrong with family and motherhood and the way motherhood is presented in the media and in politics. The public discourse is dominated by two subjects. One is about work and family, that is, the economic view; the other is about procreation—birthrates and their political implications. Within both debates, mothers as such do not appear …

'Having it all' is supposedly the objective (e.g., Sandberg) for women who want both children and work. In Europe this debate is dominated by the social democratic viewpoint and its concept of freeing women by including them in the workforce and encouraging a career. … This economic discourse is based on the concept of liberal feminism's understanding of equality (with men) without questioning neoliberalism or its philosophy, rules, and practices.

The other subject on the daily agenda is the reproductive one—abortion legislation and practice, birthrate decline in Europe, and reproductive technologies. All these debates are dealt with in a moral and normative manner. Women's bodies and procreative ability are objects of discussion, though not debated with women themselves. ...

The low birthrates in Europe since the 1980s also brought a new incentive to accelerate population politics. The norm of the two-child family is constantly pursued and propagated in politics, media, and—not the least—by the economic demands of a higher amount of human resources. … We thus realize that motherhood is central to political and economic debates, but not so for the mother herself with her needs, accomplishments, or constant giving. Maternal gift giving is not labelled as such, and is thus nonexistent in political and economic terms. …

My thesis is that the idea of motherhood today—which I call 'patriarchal motherhood'—is based on the historical matricide, which can be retraced in myth, psychology, science, medicine, law, politics, philosophy, and religion. The mother is still alive—as she is still required as breeder, caretaker, and worker—but the conditions and the constraints in which she is living are the result of a violent transformation. …

A key term here is patriarchy … [it] consists of the Latin term pater (meaning father) and the Greek term arche (which can mean dominance or beginning). It is the father who wants to replace the mother as the origin and creator. That is done in material form, but also by means of symbolism and myths, such as that of Zeus who 'gives birth' to his daughter Athena out of his head. What the historically younger version of that myth conceals is that before supposedly giving birth, he had swallowed the goddess Metis who was pregnant with her daughter. Thus, like today, patriarchy depended on absorbing maternal potency to imitate the creation of life. ...

During the last decades, Michel Foucault's postmodern approach and critical theory of modernity was applied to feminist theory and ousted feminist social science approaches. Judith Butler and others developed the theory of gender performativity, denying that there is anything natural in the female body, thus rendering it impossible to talk about women in a collective sense. Furthermore, this concept, widely accepted in academia, has caused a shift toward individualizing the 'female problem,' and leaving a systemic view behind. In a 'gender neutral' world, the collective understanding of women is vanishing and political activism against structural injustice and violence is rendered impossible.

By favouring an individualistic view and an 'identity approach,' 'womanhood' is reduced to a rhetorical problem and feminism is losing is transformative power. It may be speculation as to whether this was, in fact, the aim of the theory of gender performativity, but what we do know for sure is that this approach contributes to the patriarchal project of abolishing the mother. …

I am unable to even find a word that can describe the 'constant weaving a net' that women provide on a daily basis. It contains the world of emotions in which mother and child are immersed from the day of birth; the sharing of time; the process of cooking and sharing meals; and the female and maternal network that comprises mothers and friends. Maternal culture is embodied by the whole sphere of artisanal and handcraft activity by sharing circles and creating spaces by its acts of production. ...

Motherhood was historically split into physical (the womb) and caring functions (which were oppressed, ridiculed, and exploited). … There is an ultimate goal, namely to get rid of the mother altogether. It is her body and her creative potency which has to be eradicated, at which time the male creation puts itself in her place, turning female creativity on its head. Her vividness is to be eradicated, and pregnancy is to be turned from a supposedly uncontrolled, wild, and unpredictable act to a calculable, controlled, and measurable one of modern technology. …

Patriarchal motherhood must be understood as an institution, as the mother's body, her work, and her creative potency are transformed into a kind of administrative unit. By providing food, housing, and care, the mother and housewife embodies economy in its true sense. This is the shadow economy upon which the official economy is based …

The frame in which maternal life is permitted is the nuclear family, a concept created in the beginning of patriarchal times to impede woman's free sexuality and pregnancies regardless of the father. Within marriage, procreation became transformed into a controlled and supervised duty. Since then, a non-married mother was considered to be a shame, and the married mother a blessing. The seizure of 'illegitimate' children was common throughout Europe until the 1970s. Over time and space, the family was normatively shaped in manifold ways, but its aim of preserving control over the reproductive process never altered.

Also the European/North American idea of motherhood and the nuclear family is an export good to non-western societies. It is communicated or violently imposed by means of religion (missionaries), economics (private property, creation of a new workforce), or political measures (introduction of paternal family name) on non-patriarchal societies—for example, the Khasis in Assam, India, or the Mosuo in South China. …

A characteristic of mothers' lives in patriarchy is the constant state of being overworked and exhausted, not only when the mother is single, but also when she is in a relationship. Statistics prove time and time again that working mothers are usually subject to an imbalance of childcare and household work. Today paid employment is an economic necessity to maintain the household; the leftist slogan of gaining freedom through employment is and was never true. Female salaries are low and usually considered an add-on to the main income of the male, which is still considerably higher. Female employment was and is seldom self-realization, but simply a matter of survival. Thus mothers gain exhaustion instead of the promised freedom of economic independence. …

In making the burden of the constant care, responsibility, management, and raising of each child the responsibility of an individual, society rids itself of any understanding of common sharing. … Instead of sharing work with others, mothers perform their day-to-day tasks in 'solitary confinement' (Rich) according to detailed instructions on carrying out motherhood. … The mother is led to believe that she should not care about or prioritize her own needs, that neglecting herself is normal, and that her notion of constant failure and guilt is natural. The patriarchal mother is also unaware of the norms that make sure that she will never be able to keep up with expectations.

In this sense, the perverted mother shall follow an ideal of a heterosexual relationship that is supposedly the best place for her children and herself. It is presented as 'natural,' as children are conceived by a man and a woman. In this 'natural' pairing, men and women are kept together in a lifelong unit as a nuclear family. The patriarchal mother is made to believe that a lasting romantic relationship in marriage is the norm. The truth contradicts this all the while: the family is the most dangerous place for women and children because of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, and danger of a violent death. A lifelong loving relationship is the exception while unhappy unions, divorces, and separations are the statistical norm. …

The perverted mother has to be kept under control and under psychological, pedagogical, legal, and medical observance. She has to function within that framework and within the nuclear family. If she fails she is punished socially and legally. In other words, she represents the essential role of the family machine—a kind of family caricature, free of spontaneity and liveliness, an entity of constraints and of duty to society and nation. The world of the creative mother-child culture is belittled, devalued, supposedly old fashioned, unnecessary, and undesirable. These efforts are vilified and reduced to providing fast food, getting the children ready for school in a militaristic manner, organizing and managing them, and turning them and the mother herself into factory inmates. …

We have to become aware of our own colonized mind. We have to stop believing that mothers ought to be in an isolated state. We have to give up the idea that individual motherhood is the norm.

We also have to realize that the nuclear family is the worst place to live in peace and to raise a child. We also have to consider the next generation and not fall into the trap of raising our children with the wrong pictures of the holy and sane family that are portrayed in the media and popular culture. We have to sustain them in finding their autonomous ways to a satisfying life, raising children in community, and having a healthy personal sexual life and romantic relationships that may vary over the course of time.

What should be our model for this new understanding of a freed personal life? In fact, the solution is old and the models are still in place. The answer is matrilinearity, which has been in practice since the beginning of civilization all over the world, and in some (mostly remote) areas of the world still exists, although the attempts to patriarchalize these societies are increasing. …

Starting to live by way of matrilinearity means:

▴ Understanding motherhood as a collective caring principle carried out by many—thus the opposite of an idealized isolated mother image. Motherhood itself, from the time of pregnancy, is to be understood and respected as the embodiment of connectedness.

▴ Family and kinship is defined through the maternal line, not by marriage. Like Russian nesting dolls, the offspring of the maternal body form a linear tradition that can never be denied. Family is about belonging to and sharing with a specific group or clan. When the father tried to make himself symbolically and in reality the head of the family, he turned the logic of matrilineally completely on its head.

▴ The maternal brother is the social father of his sister's children. He is the support of all the mothers in the family. So the maternal line also includes men, but not husbands or lovers. Sexual relationships are considered a private, very personal matter, and thus not an integral part of the familial community system. Love within the family has a completely different character and importance than the desire for a lover. For the Mosuo, who practice visiting marriages, the idea of building a life on mutual sexual attraction seems completely incomprehensible and irresponsible.

▴ Housing in a close vicinity is an important factor for the interdependence of the community and family. By forming a net of relationships, mutual support can help children grow up safely in an enduring community.

▴ Contrary to the Western concept of ego, which can only be developed by matricide, there is no need of a violent act in order to be an independent person. The idea of the 'mature ego' is usually equated with an attitude in which the objective reality is thought of as being radically separated from the subject. Instead of 'cutting the cord' as is demanded in European and North American cultures (or else risk the accusation of having failed in 'adult life' if you return to your parents' house), adult children and grandchildren in matrilinear families are still connected to their maternal home by a movement of back and forth, continually leaving and returning."

Mariam Irene Tazi-Preve, from her essay, "The Perversion of Maternal Gift Giving: Initiating the Matrilinear Motherhood NOW Movement," published in The Maternal Roots of the Gift Economy, edited by Genevieve Vaughan, 2019,

[kgoldtemporarygallery]

The Wild Ones: Christian Michael Filardo 11 — 30 Νοεμβρίου 2019 Instagram @kgoldtemporarygallery

Το πρότζεκτ The Wild Ones παρουσιάζει το έργο ανερχόμενων διεθνών φωτογράφων μέσα από τον λογαριασμό της πλατφόρμας στο Instagram (@kgoldtemporarygallery). Η online έκθεση εξετάζει τις αναζητήσεις, τάσεις και τους πειραματισμούς στη σύγχρονη φωτογραφία, με σημείο αφετηρίας τις προκλήσεις της εποχής της εικόνας.

Ο προσωπικός απολογισμός του Christian Michael Filardo (ΗΠΑ/Φιλιππίνες, 1991) εξυμνεί τη νεότητα και την πνευματική δύναμη μέσω μιας αισθητικής παπαράτσι. Έλαβε BFA στην τέχνη της περφόρμανς από το Κρατικό Πανεπιστήμιο της Αριζόνα. Έχει εκθέσει διεθνώς και το έργο του βρίσκεται σε ιδιωτικές συλλογές στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες. Γράφει κριτική για το PHROOM και είναι συνιδρυτής του χώρου τέχνης Cherry στο Richmond.

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Συνέντευξη του Christian Michael Filardo στη Βίκυ Τσίρου

Το γεγονός ότι έχεις διπλή υπηκοότητα σού επέτρεψε να περνάς αρκετό χρόνο μεταξύ της Ασίας, της Ευρώπης και των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών. Πώς ενσωματώνεις αυτή την εμπειρία του ταξιδιού στο έργο σου;

Η εθνικότητά μου, ως Φιλιππινέζος-Αμερικάνος, είναι πολύ σημαντική για την κατανόηση της προσωπικής μου ιστορίας και της ταυτότητάς μου. Ορίζει τα εμπόδια της καθημερινότητάς μου και οδηγεί σε μία εγγενή πολιτική χειρονομία όταν δημιουργώ μία φωτογραφία ή γράφω ένα ποίημα. Τα ταξίδια με επηρέασαν επίσης ως παρατηρητή. Δημιουργώ έργα από την καθημερινή μου εμπειρία και η συνεχής κίνηση τροφοδοτεί μια πιο πλούσια πρακτική. Είμαι τυχερός που έχω ταξιδέψει τόσο πολύ και ελπίζω να συνεχίσω έτσι.

Δουλεύεις με διάφορα μέσα και τεχνικές, από φωτογραφία και κολάζ έως συγγραφή και μουσική. Πώς τα βλέπεις να αλληλοσυνδέονται;

Νομίζω πως το καλλιτεχνικό έργο ενός ατόμου είναι ο αντικατοπτρισμός του με τον ένα ή τον άλλο τρόπο. Όλα αυτά τα μέσα συνδέονται απλώς λόγω του ότι είμαι εγώ ο δημιουργός. Υποθέτω πως όλα είναι εξίσου επιτελεστικά. Μου αρέσει η ιδέα πως όλη η παραγωγή τέχνης είναι επιτέλεση.

Φαίνεται να απολαμβάνεις τη χρήση του φλας σε όλες σου τις φωτογραφίες…

Όχι σε όλες, αλλά σε αρκετές. Είναι ξεκάθαρα μια στυλιστική επιλογή. Μου αρέσει η υπερέκθεση των κυριότερων σημείων στο φως. Προσθέτει την ιδέα της διασημότητας στο καθημερινό. Μία αμείλικτη αισθητική παπαράτσι. Όλα είναι άξια προσοχής, επομένως χρησιμοποιώ το φλας για να δώσω έμφαση σε ό,τι βλέπω.

Η τελευταία σου σειρά “Γερόντιον” αναφέρεται στο ομώνυμο έργο του T. Σ. Έλιοτ. Ποιοι είναι οι αγαπημένοι σου στίχοι από το ποίημα και γιατί;

Υπάρχουν πολλοί αξιομνημόνευτοι στίχοι για να εντοπίσω μόνο έναν. Μου αρέσει η σκέψη ότι το νέο μου βιβλίο και σώμα έργων που φέρουν το ίδιο όνομα καθρεφτίζουν το πρωτότυπο έργο του Έλιοτ. Στην εκδοχή του, βλέπουμε έναν άνδρα να μαραζώνει, χωρίς ζωή και ελπίδα. Προσπαθεί στο τέλος, να εντοπίσει την πνευματικότητα. Ανακαλύπτει ωστόσο ότι είναι η αντανάκλαση της υστερίας του. Η οργή του είναι προσωπική. Το έργο μου εντοπίζει αυτή την οργή και την μετατρέπει σε πνευματική δύναμη. Χρησιμοποιώντας τον πόνο για να βρεις την αγάπη και κάτι πέρα από τον εαυτό σου. Είναι επίσης ειρωνικό καθώς δεν είμαι ηλικιωμένος. Είμαι ένας νέος άνθρωπος που δεν συμμορφώνεται με τους ρόλους των φύλων και έχω ρομαντική άποψη για τη ζωή και την αγάπη. Με τη σειρά μου, θέτω την ίδια ερώτηση που έθεσε και ο Έλιοτ, αλλά μέσα από μία ανοιχτή και ευάλωτη αποδοχή του εαυτού μου προκειμένου να προχωρήσω πέρα από το “εγώ”. Χρησιμοποιώ τον ίδιο τίτλο για να ενισχύσω το έργο μου μέσα στην ακαδημαϊκή και ποιητική δομή της ανθρωπότητας. Αναγνωρίζοντας και αποτίοντας φόρο τιμής σε ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου ποιήματα, είμαι σε θέση να εξυψώσω τις δικές μου εικόνες και τα κείμενα.

Πώς ήταν η εμπειρία της επιτέλεσης για την κάμερα στο “Ντους”;

Ήταν ένα διασκεδαστικό και χαοτικό έργο. Χρησιμοποίησα μια υποβρύχια μηχανή στο ντους και με φωτογράφισα με ληγμένο φιλμ διαφανειών για περίπου μισό χρόνο. Δημιούργησα έτσι την ακολουθία που βλέπεις στην ιστοσελίδα μου. Τράβηξα τις φωτογραφίες στο απόλυτο σκοτάδι, χωρίς καμία σύνθεση. Ειλικρινά, είχε πολλή πλάκα!

Είσαι ιδιαίτερα ενεργός στα κοινωνικά δίκτυα. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη ότι δεν είναι πάντοτε ξεκάθαρο ποιές από τις εικόνες σου προέρχονται από την καλλιτεχνική σου πρακτική και ποιες από την καθημερινότητά σου, πώς χρησιμοποιείς αυτές τις πλατφόρμες;

Για μένα τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα αποτελούν μια ευκαιρία για ευάλωτη επικοινωνία. Μου αρέσει να λέω στους ανθρώπους όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερα. Θα αποκάλυπτα τα πάντα για τη ζωή μου σε οποιονδήποτε μου το ζητούσε. Η ζωή μου είναι η καλλιτεχνική μου πρακτική, έτσι χρησιμοποιώ τα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης για να κατανοήσω καλύτερα την παραγωγή μου σε εικόνα και κείμενο. Με βοηθά να επεξεργάζομαι ιδέες, να γνωρίζω καινούριους ανθρώπους και να κοινωνικοποι��ύμαι. Επιμελούμαι αυτές τις σελίδες για να τις βλέπουν όλοι.

Τι θυμάσαι από το ταξίδι σου στην Ελλάδα;

Είναι μία από τις αγαπημένες μου χώρες. Έχω περάσει πολύ χρόνο στην Αθήνα και τη Σκόπελο. Πήγαινα σχεδόν κάθε βράδυ για χορό με τη φίλη μου Δέσποινα στην ταράτσα μιας αποθήκης, στο κέντρο της Αθήνας. Στη Σκόπελο μελετούσα χαρακτική και κολάζ. Θυμάμαι ότι το φαγητό ήταν εκπληκτικό, οι άνθρωποι φιλικοί και το τοπίο πανέμορφο. Για έναν ξένο είναι παράδεισος. Ελπίζω να επιστρέψω.

Πες μας τρεις λόγους για τους οποίους θεωρείς τον εαυτό σου “Wild One”.

Είμαι ευάλωτος, είμαι ευαίσθητος, είμαι παρών.

The Wild Ones: Christian Michael Filardo November 11 — 30, 2019 Instagram @kgoldtemporarygallery

The project The Wild Ones presents the work of emerging international photographers through the Instagram account of the platform (@kgoldtemporarygallery). The online exhibition examines quests, trends and experiments in contemporary photography, starting from diverse challenges brought by the age of the image.

Christian Michael Filardo's (USA/Philippines, 1991) personal history celebrates youth and spiritual power through a paparazzi aesthetic. The photographer received their BFA in Performance Art from Arizona State University. Filardo has exhibited internationally and their work is held in private collections throughout the United States. They write critically for PHROOM and are a co-founder of the Cherry art space in Richmond.

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Christian Michael Filardo interviewed by Vicky Tsirou

The fact that you have dual nationality has permitted you to spend a lot of time between Asia, Europe and the United States. How do you embody this traveling experience in your work?

My nationality as a Filipino American is very important to me when it comes to comprehending my personal narrative and individual identity. It defines the obstacles of my everyday life and leads toward an inherently political gesture when creating a photograph or writing a poem. My travels have also influenced me as an observer. I make work from my daily experience and physical movement in space lends to a more abundant practice. I’m lucky to have traveled as much as I have and hope I can continue to do so.

You work across various mediums and techniques, from photography and collage to writing and music. How do you see them intertwined?

I think an individual’s artwork is merely a reflection of them in one way or another. All these mediums are bonded simply by the fact that I am the creator. I suppose they are all performative in one way or another too. I like to think that all art making is performance.

It seems you enjoy using the flash in all your photographs…

Not all of them but a lot of them. It’s definitely a stylistic choice. I like to blow out the highlights. For me it adds the idea of the celebrity to the everyday. A relentless paparazzi aesthetic. Everything is worth looking at it, so we are going to really use the flash to emphasize what we are seeing.

Your last series “Gerontion” refers to the homonymous work by T. S. Eliot. Which are your favourite lines of his poem and why?

There are too many memorable lines to locate a favorite one. I like to think my new book and body of work act as a mirror to the original work by Eliot. In his version, we find a man withering away, his life dry and stale; he has no hope. He tries to find spirituality in the end. In turn, he finds it is a reflection of his own hysteria. There will be wrath, but it will be personal. My body of work is about actually locating that wrath and turning it into a spiritual power. Using your pain to find love and something beyond the self. It’s also ironic because I am not an old man. I’m a young person who does not adhere to gender roles and I have a romantic outlook on life and love. So, I pose the same question that Eliot does but through an open vulnerability and acknowledgement of myself in order to move beyond ego. I use the same title in order to give a power to my work within the academic and poetic structure of humanity. By acknowledging one of my favorite poems and paying homage to it, I’m able to elevate my own images and text.

How was performing for the camera for your “Shower”?

This was a fun and chaotic project. I took an underwater camera into the shower and shot expired slide film self-portraits for about half a year. Ι then sequenced them into what you see on the website. These images were taken in complete darkness with no composition. Honestly, very fun to make!

You’re really active on social media. Considering that it’s not always quite clear which of your images derive from your art practice and which from your everyday life, how do you use these platforms?

To me, social media represents an opportunity for vulnerable communication. I like to tell people as much as possible. I’d reveal anything about my life to anyone if they asked. My life is my art practice, and in turn I use social media as a way to further understand my image making and writing. It helps me to process ideas, meet new people, and find community. It is a place curated by me for anyone to see.

What do you remember from your visit to Greece?

Greece is one of my favorite countries. I spent a lot of time in Athens and Skopelos. I’d go out dancing with my friend Despina to this warehouse rooftop in the middle of Athens almost every night. When I was in Skopelos I was studying printmaking and collage. I remember the food being amazing, the people being friendly, and the landscape beautiful. For a foreigner it’s paradise. I hope to go back.

Tell us three reasons why you consider yourself a “Wild One”.

I’m vulnerable, I’m sensitive, I’m present.

[trenchkoat]

transgender name & gender mark change resource post.

So now that everything is said and done, I want to talk about my experience about working to get my legal name and gender marker changed. I live in Florida, so prices and locations will obviously differ. Brevard County, Melbourne thankfully as all of their legal offices together in one section, so it’s easier to travel back and forth. This is in hopes that helps people to get it done as quickly as possible, as the information I found on an official Transgender Equality site was grossly outdated. I did these at the same time after my name my hearing was complete and all I was asked for at the SSA and DMV were for the court order and the affidavit. That’s literally it. It was done in 15 minutes once we were up.

DISCLAIMER: This may not be relative to all counties, states, etc. However, this is not a controversial case and your agents under no circumstances are legally obligated to give their opinion or refuse you because you are transgender. This is an every-day thing for them. If you ever wind up with a clearly troubled agent that refuses your name changed based on your gender orientation, file a complaint, I don’t know the process, but do something, holy hell.

IMPORTANT: If you are changing your female or male name to another that is for the opposite gender (say, Debra to Michael or vice versa), you will be asked to provide an affidavit from your physician, therapist, or - if you’d had top surgery in my case, from the acting surgeon who performed this surgery. I was given it after I was checked out as a patient, I imagine others do this as well. DO NOT LOSE THESE DOCUMENTS. The affidavit will also be used as proof for your gender change.

I. Filing for the name change.

I made the unfortunate error of looking to the internet for this information instead of asking those who created it in the first place. Of course, like me, you might be turned around as well and not be aware of the many branches of the government and who takes care of what.

First of all, the Court of Clerk is responsible for all of this, and there is no charge to go or do anything, especially if it’s to ask questions! Once I was at the desk, I explained that I actually had no idea what I was doing, but this (outdated) packet told me that this is where it all began. You have to go to the one in your county that you are currently residing in and be able to provide an address of that residency.

Everything begins with the Legal Petition for Name Change, or Petition for Legal Name Change, however it may be worded. You’re allowed to ask for a copy of this and I imagine, if it’s not free, a copy of the entire thing and everything document you’ll need to fill out (you may need to ask for more information on certain points like me) would be like... two bucks? Even certified copies of documents are inexpensive.

1. You will need to visit your local sheriff department and request your prints are taken for background check. This was about $20. You don’t have to tell them what it’s for other than a background check and legal name change.

A note: At any time you can have the file actually, well... filed. It ranges from county to county, state to state, but comes to somewhere around $250 to $401. I know this sounds expensive and yes it is, but I imagine this is so their time isn’t wasted for people filing for their name to be changed to “Batman V. Superman”. This is a serious legal matter.

2. This is usually the suggested first step as the background check can take from a week to a month, maybe more. I imagine it depends on the location and what their work looks like. This will be sent electronically as a sealed document to your Pro Se agent you will have submitted and filed everything with - this agent is still at the Court of Clerk and you will be directed to them. Once this is all there, along with everything else in the document filled out, your case will be listed “complete” and ready to proceed to the next step.

Another note: Everything in the packet is pretty basic, your name and history of work, asking if you’ve ever been bankrupt, etc. You will have to (at least I did) list as many residences you’ve lived at since you were born so this is something I went to the parents for. If you do not have this access, I imagine you can ask them if you can put the last one you remember. For example, I had some missing and I said neither my mother nor myself knew where it had been; this didn’t affect anything at all for us.

II. The hearing itself.

Once everything is uploaded to your case number, including the background check which again may take longer than expected so it’s advised to get it done ASAP and file along with it, no waiting game. You will be assigned a judge, a case number, and be asked to call the judge’s secretary (not sure of the actual job title, I’m sorry, Theresa) to arrange a court date.

I was told that you will not be able to choose your day or time.

Now, as I mentioned before, in Brevard all our legal branches are in one district, rather right across from one another or on a different floor. For me, on the date of my hearing, it was on the third floor of the same building as the Court of Clerk. I signed in, waited until I was called, and went in.

They might ask you to fill out the Final Disposition form as best to your knowledge (of course not signing for the judge, that would be stupid), I forgot to because I was in a rush but that’s alright, Theresa helped me out with that.

NO THIS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE IN THE OPEN COURTROOM YOU SEE IN SHOWS AND MOVIES. Or, God, I hope it doesn’t for any of you. That would be insane. It was simply in the honor’s chambers. She came out and sat down and welcomed me. The process consisted of handing her my information and affidavit. She read everything, it all looked good, and she asked me the usual questions after I swore that I would tell the whole truth, etc. I am doing this to escape bankrupty or any legal trouble? Things like that.

When asked to give a reason, you merely have to say that you are transitioning and looking to change your name to your now preferred. If they ask for any proof regarding your “trans-ness” (and I can’t imagine that is in the least bit professional) you are not obligated as far as I know? Because that’s most likely a breach of your own privacy and overall... shitty???

Once it was all squared away, she signed and wished me a good day! Theresa made me official copies to keep, and others were e-copied to my official files.

It was done.

II. The judge isn’t responsible for the gender marker.

This comes down to the SSA (Social Security Administration), and I had been turned around by this. It apparently isn’t a “legal” matter in terms of the judge needing to be convinced, as far as my research has led me. All they require is that affidavit, as well as your court order for name change if you’re doing them at the same time and... yeah, it was easier.

Again, no questions other than if I’m doing this to avoid yadda-yadda or have malicious intent. It took about... five minutes of my agent typing before going “okay, it’s done” and handing me a paper declaring that I had this done on said date. It didn’t cost anything.

She said it would be an “overnight refresh” for the system to log this actual change to be used for the DMV, but as far as I was concerned, it was official! And very, very shocking how smoothly and just... unbiased the interaction was. 24 to 48 hours is the suggested waiting period before going to the next part...

III. The DMV, getting that license/ID.

Okay, so the DMV can be horrible sometimes but not always and in regards to this, those agents still aren’t allowed to refuse your service based on you being transgender because you literally have legal documents and the SSA to prove them wrong.

All you have to say is you’re looking to update your name and gender marker on the license, you’ll be asked to provide the infamous documents we’re all learning to love to carry back and forth everywhere and it should be set. They might ask several times to check everything to make sure there are no mistakes.

If you’re updating your address from an old one, they’ll need two kinds of proof of this address, I don’t think it matters if your older name is on there, I remember that being stated. I literally did not have anything so she offered to, no joke, give me a basic level fishing license that would have my name and the address I wanted on it. This counts as an official document they can use.

So now I can properly go off-shore fishing, I guess.

I think for my initial ID it cost $20 to print but this time it was around $37, so obviously be prepared to pay for the new one. It’s nice and shiny and please look nice when you go because oh god, I had to ask politely if I could retake. My hair was a cowlick mess.

BEFORE I FORGET: Since they’ll clip your previous card to mark it’s no longer valid, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you should hang onto it in case you need to provide further proof of your “previous identity”.

IV. Other things you will need to update ASAP.

Obviously, you should have your birth certificate “amended” but I have not reached out to do this yet as I can file for it through the mail. And you should be able to anywhere, just look up where your closes Department of Vital Statistics is, what they’re called, visit their site to see if you can do it only, through mail, or go there for an appointment if that’s easier.

Note: I went through the process of filing for the name change but it didn’t give me the option of the gender marker change there so it’s probably best, if you go through mail or in person if you get the same as me on your branch’s site.

You’ll need all your lovely files packed up and ready to go, further proof of identification (SSN, I imagine, original certificate) and that’s why I would think going in person is better. Having those very vital documents being handled and wondering if it will end up in the wrong hands... yeah. I don’t know how long this process takes and I’m not really headed for it ASAP so okay maybe this one isn’t an emergency. As far as I know, the only thing a birth certificate is used for, or the reason you would need it amended, is to update your passport with new name, gender, etc. And yeah, oh, duh, put your passport on the list if you’ve got one.

I literally have no idea if everyone just has one or only needs one for if they’ve traveled out of the country before. My father is from England so we did a lot of bouncing back and forth.

NEXT!

Okay, this one actually is very important and should be done same-day or as soon as you can. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR NAME ON YOUR BANK ACCOUNT(S). I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THE HELL WOULD HAPPEN IF SUDDENLY YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO ACCESS IT. You will have to show everything to your bank branch to get it updated for your account, again it’s a very unbiased and easy action. I was even given an enthusiastic congratulations from the clerk, it was very nice. There was no charge, I was given temporary checks as a back-up if anyone needed proof of who owned the account.

They did not cancel my current card but a new one will be mailed to you at the address provided with it. That didn’t change for me so updating that is beyond me. I imagine it’s the same as the rest.

Less immediate things that come to mind are things like... subscriptions to delivered goods, Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, sites like that. Obviously your paypal but the name change request is pretty easy through this process since you can now just fill out the form. I haven’t done it to its entirety yet but I assume they’ll ask for the scan of your new ID.

IV. Other notes and general advice.

> If you post your exciting news online anywhere with a photo of your new license, I recommend censoring out your DOB, current address if it’s on the front, obviously, and at least most of your ID’s number. Seems small but it’s still information that strangers who past the photo can use.

> This may take longer than it did for me, but that doesn’t make it any less exhausting. I couldn’t sleep sometimes, I barely had an appetite as the days crept closer and the anxiety was pretty normal. It lingered once I got home with everything done... but it faded. What came next was PURE, UNADULTERATED EXHAUSTION. Please take whatever time off you need to recover or just regroup and let yourself breathe. I’m still waking up having no idea if the process was real or not and I am suffering from this weird disconnect of it all??

> Go crazy, celebrate! You did it!  I treated myself with ice cream and a nine-hour nap. For some this might be a mid-step or their last. I am a trans man who has yet to be on testosterone to for me, that feels like my “last” step in transitioning. There aren’t real milestones in transitioning, however, everyone goes at their own pace and does what feels comfortable to them. 

Wherever you are in your journey, I’m very proud of you.

If you see information that may be confusing, please don’t hesitate to message me personally asking for clarification and I’ll try to get back to or ask someone who may know.

If you want to include fees and locations and advice regarding your own county and state, please, please do. As I said, this was only for Brevard County in Melbourne, FL. I can’t imagine it doesn’t differ here and there.

Good luck, everyone.

[thearcanistparadise]

Saz Lafontelle

“The necromancer that loves to learn new ways to explore the limits of life and death.”

This character is also in F-List, this is his page (NSFW).

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Fav. Food: Angel hair with mushroom dressing

Fav. Drink: Black coffee

Fav. Flower: Dark purple orchid

LI: Valdemar

BFFs: Perfice (OC), Feibbis (OC), Volta, Julian, Nadia.

Yes, he’s highly inspired by me lol

I’m actually genderfluid, I would say while Saoirse is inspired by my feminine side, Saz is my masculine side. I’ve already created a lot of stories about him, most of them I just adapt for him to fit in the lore he is in. This one is based on the story where he is a member of the Lafontelle family.

Saz has a huge crush on Valdemar and has a really hard time trying to hide his desire for them, he often feels anxious around them and had been wanting to ask them out since he got to the palace. Sometimes he just wanted them to tie him on the tables and play with him as they please.

Family and childhood

Saz was born in the Fitzgerald family, twin brother of Saoirse Fitzgerald, son of Maeve and Aiden Fitzgerald, two important members of the family.

The Fitzgerald family was part of the Alumina clan, a coven of witches blessed on their crown chackras by light spirits, granting powers of clarevoyance and really strong connections with the spiritual realm. The more power they have in their crown chackra, silver white locks start to appear on their hair.

The Fitzgeralds were really conservative and stern, one of the most traditional families of the clan, they had a name to preserve.

Saz already knew he was transgender since his early teens, and was really curious about the dark magic his family condemned so much.

Saoirse was really worried and, instead of asking “her sister” about what whas happening, she told their mother about how strangely “she” was acting.

Their parents then searched on his room and found not only his journals and male clothes, but also books of dark magic. He was 13 by that time.

As a punishment, his father took his powers away and obligated him to relearn magic from the beginning, along with rigid and cruel rules, such as forbidding him from leaving the house and obligating him to use certain clothes chosen by his mother, who dressed him every morning.

When he completed 14 years old, and wasn’t allowed to celebrate his own birthday, as part of the punishment. Feeling abandoned, completely desperate, he ran away from home that night. He regretted it by the morning, but it was too late to go back.

The family temple was hidden by a glamour, that could only be taken down by a spell he couldn’t cast anymore. He was lost in the city, homeless and lonely.

 Perfice and the Lafontelles

By the time Saz was homeless, Perfice was visiting his city, searchging for special magical grapes to make wine. They crossed paths a couple of times, until she got curious and decided to try and talk to him.

It was long since Perfice last had a deal with a human and ate a soul. In the beginning of their relationship, it was all just a game for her. She promised giving him everything he wanted until he turned 21, and his soul would be hers. It was hard for him to accept, but his starving stomach and the idea of having his life back spoke louder.

She protected him, supported him, and taught him the magic simple humans are able to practice. It was nothing compared to the power he had with the blessing of the spirits, but it was good to cast magic again. She also supported him a lot about his gender questions and sexuality.

By the day he turned 21, Perfice was supposed to eat his soul. But after practically raising a kid since his teens, protecting him as her own child, she developed a feeling of motherhood towards him, and he felt the same for her. She just couldn’t end that.

She wasn’t obligated to eat his soul, it was simply hers. She could do whatever she wanted with it. So, instead, she bound his soul to her magical core, granting him immortality from aging, and adopted him as her son.

 A new life

Being now a new member of the Lafontelles, Saz couldn’t even remember his old family anymore. All he could think of were his new opportunities of knowledge and power to become the sorcerer he always wanted to be, and enjoyed his new family who loved him.

Now he had the right to use the family ring and necklace, that granted him some of Perfice’s powers. And being close to Perfice, and studying the occult arts, he couls now join The Antumbra.

The Antumbra is the fraternity that Perfice, Feibbis and other members of the family participated. It was a group that welcomed “any creature that wanders in the darkness”, with the intention of sharing knowledge, power and connections.

Saz was a natural. He passed the tests to enter the fraternity with barely no effort and started making really good friends and learning new things.

It was by that time he officially chose the name “Saz” for his social name. His first guide and teacher in the fraternity, Liara, gave him this nickname. In her hometown’s old dialect, “Saz” was the word for “gracious”.

 The need for something more

In The Antumbra, after reaching the first level, the member must choose a path and an interest area, and look for a new teacher to guide them until the second and third levels. The teacher can be from outside the fraternity.

By the time, he was reading necromancy and medicine books, out of curiosity and thirst for knowledge. He wondered if necromancy could be used along with science to improve medicine and save lives.

When he had the idea to start studying medicine, he started having this weird dreams.

It was only him. Alone in the woods, sometimes in the shore, sometimes in the middle of city. Naked. Skyclad, actually. Submerged in an endless night. It was only him and his only company was the moon. No… Moons. There were two of them. Two gigantic bright red moons on the night sky.

And to understand why that was happening, we need to go back a few years, when he was 19, back in the day when his deal with Perfice was still going on.

After thinking a lot about it, he finally decided he wanted to take his breasts off. from a long long time, Perfice was friends with Valdemar. She then asked them for help, and they offered themselves to perform the mastectomy.

As soon as Saz arrived the dungeons and met eyes with Valdemar, he was already blushing and didn’t know where to put his face. There was something in their intimidating tall body and sadistic look that was… Alluring?

When he started having those dreams, he finally decided he wanted to study necromancy and biology. Perfice thought it would be a good idea to ask Valdemar to take him as their apprentice, since they already knew each other and the doctor was so strongly connected to death.

Of course Valdemar noticed Saz had a crush on them, it was actually kind of obvious. And they didn’t really care in the beginning, they were very professional and serious about the lessons. But after knowing him better, they couldn’t help but feel attracted too, Saz deserved his name.

He was not only gracious and studious, but he was also different from the other doctors when witnessing Valdemar’s cruel and macabre methods. He was curious, thirsty for knowledge, always taking notes and making interesting questions. He kind of reminded Valdemar from the days they were still human, discovering the mysteries of death and life.

 Pounding hearts

Saz was in the middle of his second level when he finally performed his first successful surgery and necromancy spell, he also found out he had a really strong power to bring people back to life from the edge of death. To celebrate, Valdemar decided to give him a tour in The Death’s Realm, which was still in their power by the time.

It was like Hades showing his realm to Persephone. Saz was completely faccinated, from the macabre things to the fantastic ones. He was curious like a child, asking about everything he saw. Valdemar could feel an involuntary grin forming on his face, he was almost cute to watch.

At some point, they reached a dark grove replete of insects glowing in the dark. The pink-ish lights reflecting on Saz’s skin was too beautiful to ignore. Valdemar finally approached him, observing each graciously shy movement the necromancer made, until having him facing backwards a huge tree, his only option to look them in the eyes.

He then could understand. The dreams he had, those weren’t moons. They were Valdemar’s eyes.

The doctor pulled his mask down, their both seductive and intimidating semblance sending chills down his spine and creating butterflies in his stomach. When they closed the distance between their lips, Saz couldn’t do anything but melt into their touch.

 The rest of the story will be told in posterior posts ;)

[cxncordia]

Magical system for the blog:

Since all my guys have some way or another the use of magic, I decided to create a nifty magic system that encompasses most (if not all) of their universes. This is based on the Sanderson’s laws of Magical Systems (particularly, the second law) and it’s mostly a work based on The Magicians.

Ability: Use of magic to alter the reality itself. Magic is performed through the use of spells, which are unitary events represented through a medium to be altered to the will of the caster. In other words, the caster creates a representation of how the world should be according to the Magician’s will through the medium. Magic is both the skill and the fuel used to perform these alterations.

Limitations: The possibility of changing an event is limited by the skill of the caster (some changes of reality are way too difficult for the caster to perform), the amount of fuel available in the space surrounding the caster (that is, how much magic is available to perform) and finally, the circumstances, that is, all the details that encompass the reality they are trying to change: the planets positions, the amount of air, the position of the sun, the soil, the type of plants and such.

Weaknesses: Lack of skills, lack of fuel and lack of mediums/ingredients to perform.

Further constructions:

These alterations can be performed by the use of a medium, that is, a representation of the event through the use of the human body and the human skills. These mediums could be incantations (oral language), written or drawn signs (graphic language) and through gestures (fingertutting, dancing, or kinetic motions).

The larger the event that the caster wants to impact, the more mediums the spell may require.

The larger the event that the caster wants to impact, the more fuel they may require.

Magic (as a fuel) is an invisible resource that is distributed through all the universes and beyond. Some spaces are heavier in magic than others. There is a belief that ley lines or pipelines are spread all over the universe and these are the ones that distribute magic.

Magic (as a fuel) can cluster around emotions, objects or even organisms, manifesting in magical fauna and flora and magical instruments.

Parts of these manifestations can be used in spells to fuel the same or act as catalizer or preventers even.

Since magic can manifest through objects, Magicians can charm certain objects to perform specific spells when certain conditions are met.

Precisely because magic manifests organically in some beings, every magician has a Discipline, a specific set of magical skills that can be cast without the limitations or with very little affect from the weaknesses. That said though, some limitations and weaknesses (the lack of magic fuel or even the lack of fingers) trump over the Discipline.

Though it’s uncertain, we could infer then that Magic can manifest as a sentient organism, which is what we could consider a Deity. These beings are either natural (birthed from Magic itself, also known as The Old Gods) or artificial (created either by stealing the magical resources from another deity, assessing large quantities of magical fuel and then absorbing them or because the deity passed down the skill onto a human). 

The magician himself is a beacon of magic. Magical fuel is called to the Magician and then allows it to pass through, fueling the representation of how the world is supposed to be and thus, allowing the change of the circumstances that created the event.

How much magic can the Magician draw and how much magic can pass through them depends entirely on the skill level of the caster. Apprentices could only cast a few spells without tiring themselves up while Master Magicians can create amazing spells with the flick of a finger.

If too much magic passes through the caster at the same time, the caster may end up with their physical body burned and magic impregnating into their spirit, creating a new organism: a Niffin, beings that are made of absolute magic and, given they possess no body, they possess no consciousness of what is right or wrong. The only way to reverse this is for the Niffin to inhabit a new body all for themselves... which is very hard to be done, but not impossible.

Deities on the other hand have their physical bodies made of magic, thus they do not suffer the effects of the Niffin. They also do not have to make a representation for magic to be cast, they simply have to will it for it to happen, because they are made of magic. Which also means that none of the weaknesses and limitations of the system apply to them.

Universe tailoring:

Though I will be using this system for almost anything that has to do with Magic, there are a few exceptions that I need to present.

Chilling adventures of Sabrina:

Magic is a skill that is only given to witches and warlocks, who are themselves of another species (most likely born out of the interbreeding of humans and demons). Witches do not age like normal humans do.

As a skill, it’s natural and it comes almost as second nature to all witches, who then go to school to refine said skills. So, the limitation is that only those who possess the genetic disposition can perform magic.

Since the origin of magic is of demonic nature, a weaknesses is anything that is holy or blessed can diminish, hamper or even destroy the magical effects.

The skill requires no use of medium. Kinetic mediums (gestures, pointing, body language) are used mostly to direct where the effect is desired.

The more individuals perform the same spell at unison, the more control is given over the event and the more chances of success are presented.

Spells, in this case, are instructions to obtain a specific outcome. So, in order to obtain something, you need to possess the instructions. 

How these instructions are obtained in the first place is hard to say. Since the show has a large Abrahamic inspiration, it’s safe to say that many of these are either created by Lucifer or were stolen from the same instructions that God used to create the universe.

The ingredients in this case are symbolic of the event that is trying to be controlled, giving the magic a fetishizing and primitive aspect.

Through the use of the ingredients where the caster performs on them a symbolic representation of the desired outcome.

American Horror Story:

Magic is, again, a genetic concept that is passed down from generation to generation, originated from one individual, most likely a Deity, though this is also unclear.

Every generation has a witch that rises above all else, which is called The Supreme. The exact qualifications of what makes one witch above the rest and what not, is not known. However, to fully ascend to that role, one must pass the test of the Seven Wonders.

It’s unclear why, but silver bullets are a definite weakness for witches and warlocks alike, as well as fire. While witches can be killed by any other mean, these two methods seem to be the most effective to keep a regular dead. 

The Seven Wonders are seven specific skills that push the boundaries of magic skill in the caster. These skills are available to all witches and warlocks, but only a few can master most of them and only one can master all of them.

Magic is closely linked to the genetic history of the individual, meaning that there are particular spells or skills that are unreachable depending on the caster ancestry.

Magic is also linked to the sex of the individual, which means that witches will be always superior in magic skills than warlocks, because the testosterone in the blood blocks the magic. So far, it’s not known if a FTM or MTF have a change in their skills after their gender reassignment. (Considering the very transphobic/homophobic views of Ryan Murphy, it seems unlikely).

Since it’s biological, magic can appear in organic ways in some individuals, giving them specific powers or skills. This manifestation can be one of the Seven Wonders or can be a different supernatural skill entirely. For easier plotting matters, all the manifestations of my characters are related to the few Wonders they dominate.

Spells can be then divided in two: ritualistic and improvised.

Ritualistic spells require specific circumstances: incantations in a specific language, specific ingredients, specific environmental circumstances or even specific graphical representations and should follow very precise instructions. Where these instructions come from or who created them, is unknown.

Improvised spells are mostly manifestations of magic through the will of the caster. Normally, these manifestations require the use of a kinetic medium (pointing, moving eyes, waving hands, touching or interacting with the universe) from the caster to will events into happening.

This is as much information I will gather on the topic. If there is another universe to be exploring, consider this post to be updated.

Now, who uses what? Here goes the list:

Virgil: The Magicians

Valerian: The Magicians / CAOS

Enzo: The Magicians

Julio: CAOS

Andrew: AHS

Vico: The Magicians / AHS / CAOS

Garrett: The Magicians

Harper: The Magicians / AHS

[paleomancy]

Deconstructing the Masculine and Feminine Archetypes

In religious history, folk magic, and occultism the dichotomy between “masculine” and “feminine” energies often play a large part in mythological and therefore ritual construction.  I propose that the use of “masculine” and “feminine” encompass multiple different aspects of magic and ought to be deconstructed for more potent spell development.

In less academic terms, since I’ve spent too much time writing scientific articles: the traditional “masculine” and “feminine” archetypes are actually a combination of multiple aspects of magic that are unnecessarily gendered.  By taking the different aspects of these two archetypes apart, we as occultists can select the particular aspects that are most useful to us.  These are: reaching and receptive, creation and destruction, and attraction.

Obviously I’m leaving some qualities out, but I’m just going to focus on these 3 for now.

Reaching and Receptive

Examples

A paintbrush and a canvas

A spoon and a bowl

A snake and an empty den

These two qualities could also be considered “passive” and “active”, where one is acting upon the other to create something new or otherwise change the state of the receptive object.  In the three examples above, the reaching object acts on the receptive object to perform an act of creation (paintbrush and canvas), destruction (spoon and bowl), and occupation (snake and den).  These actions are fundamentally different in nature, but both have reaching and receptive objects that allow the action to occur.

There is more to this particular relationship than meets the eye, however.  In order for these two objects to function as intended, there are other ingredients needed.  The paintbrush needs paint or ink in order to act on the canvas, or it leaves no marks; a bowl with no food in it has no need for the spoon.  For the reaching and receptive objects to function, one must provide the paint or make the food.  A house is not a home until the creature living within it changes it in some way, often influenced by other experiences brought in from outside the base relationship of the reaching and receptive objects.

In relevance to magic and spellcraft: you could draw a sigil on paper, but the effect of the sigil will change depending on the ink used to write.  Are you carving it into wax?  Are you writing in blood?  India ink?  The middle components will change the impact of the spell as much as the reaching and receptive components do.  If I were to create a protective sigil, for example: I could use a silver pen nib, ink made from a suspension of oil and black salt (heavy on the charcoal), and cedar wood as the writing block.  In this way, all three components are working in tandem to create the desired symbolic impact of the sigil.

Creation and Destruction

Examples

Spring and Fall/Summer and Winter

Birth and Death

Beginning and End

Creation and destruction are frequently referenced as feminine and masculine qualities respectively, and may be some of the qualities tied most strongly to the archetypes.  They can be seen best in the Wiccan wheel of the year, where the Horned God takes over from the Triple Goddess as the harvest season ends and everything dies off for the winter, only to relinquish his reign again come spring.  The act of creation is also associated with childbirth, for good reason, and assigned qualities of motherhood.  

Creation and destruction are often depicted as opposites, but are better described as cyclical.  To quote my favorite tumblr post: “Decay exists as an extant form of life.”  Even as things die, other life springs from their bones.  Entire ecosystems are built around the death of whales in the deep ocean, some lasting as many as 100 years.  To construct creation and destruction as separate from one another weakens magic by creating a divide where one should not exist.

In relevance to magic and spellcraft: some spells work best where a system of renewal is set in place, and some may rely on creation or destruction specifically to begin a new cycle or end an old one.  Cord-cutting or burning spells, a method of destruction, functions to end an old cycle but may be best complimented with a second spell to begin a new cycle.  Seeds might be planted to start a new cycle or celebrate the beginning of a season or event.  A houseplant that goes dormant might be given offerings to form a spell that cycles according to the natural rhythms of that plant.

Attraction

Examples

Magnets

The Moon and The Tides

Surface Tension

Attraction is the quality I’d most like to separate from the archetypes of the “feminine” and “masculine” simply because it predisposes those who rely on masculine/feminine imagery to blindness over the potential for the traditionally “feminine” and “masculine” to attract like objects.  Attraction, as I define it, is simply the act of two objects being drawn to one another through forces physical, spiritual, or mental.  

For example, the moon controls the tides due to its gravitational pull on the earth.  Because the water is malleable, it rises and falls in accordance with the movements of the moon -- the moon, however, is not necessarily attracted to the oceans, but to the mass of the earth itself.  These are two different attractive forces working to produce a visible influence on the planet: the gravity of the moon on the oceans and the gravity of the earth on the moon.  You could even expand this analogy and say that the gravity of the earth also acts on the oceans in opposition to the moon, giving us three different attractive forces and subverting the traditional dichotomy of masculine-feminine attraction.  Attractive forces build on and interact with one another in innumerable ways.  To expand the water analogy, surface tension is the result of attraction between trillions of water molecules that make up a single droplet.  There is no upper limit on the number of attractive forces that can be at play in a given situation.

From a more human perspective, attraction should still remain ungendered.  To gender human attraction would be to devalue friendships and reduce complex systems of interaction (in both humans and non-human life) to a two-sex baseline that does not hold true for most of the natural world.  Minds are attracted to one another based on perceived similarity -- like attracting like -- as well as differences that compliment the personality and mentality of both individuals.  Friends and partners share interests and personality traits, but rarely do they share completely similar views.  In this same sense, opposites don’t attract either!  Rarely does a relationship between two extremely different people thrive simply because they need things from each other that neither can provide because they lack similarity.

From a spellcraft and magic perspective: the law of attraction is already well known for most folks practicing magic.  When you construct a spell, consider the relationships (symbolic or otherwise) between the structure of the work and the desired intent.  For example, if you’re using hair as a taglock in a spell consider these things:

Did the hair fall off naturally?  

Was it plucked?  

Did I cut it off in secret?  

Was it cut and given as a gift?

All of these factors, and many more, can influence the impact of a spell.  A lock of hair given as a gift for remembrance is going to fare better in protective spells, while hair cut from someone in secret is going to be far more effective when used banefully.

I have more thoughts on this, but alas!  It’s 1 in the morning and I have a date with some dirt early tomorrow.

[lightoftruth]

It’s being described as “the most comprehensive assault on Christianity in America ever written into law,” “a dangerous threat to our nation,” “the Left’s woke new heresy code,” and “something no American should stand for.” What is it? The so-called “Equality Act” that was recently introduced to Congress. But it’s for anything but “equality”—it’s for destroying freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in this nation, as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

It’s for anything but “equality”—it’s for destroying freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in this nation, as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Many Christian leaders and organizations are expressing their concern about this far-reaching bill. Why? Well, because, as the American Family Association said, “The bill has nothing to do with equality, but everything to do with punishing Christians’ religious liberty.”

Here’s how Franklin Graham describes the possible effects of this legislation in an email. (By the way, the proposed legislation is written in “legalese” to obscure the catastrophic changes this legislation represents for American freedoms.):

The Equality Act will:

Designate schools, churches, and healthcare organizations as “public accommodations.” With this, schools, churches, and hospitals could be forced to accept the government’s beliefs and mandates about sexual orientation and gender identity. That would be highly intrusive and incredibly far-reaching. It will threaten everyday speech where people can be fined or lose their jobs for using the wrong name or pronouns. Legislate that we allow boys in girls’ sports, boys in girls’ locker rooms, men in women’s shelters, and men in women’s prisons. It will force teachers and students to publicly pretend that a biological male is a female. Schools will be encouraged or mandated to instruct first, second, and third graders that they can choose to be a boy or a girl, or neither, or both, making biological sex (and science) a relic of the past. Use the force of law across all 50 states to strip Christian and other religious ministries of their right to hire people of shared faith to pursue a shared mission. Can you imagine a Christian organization being forced to hire people hostile to its deeply held beliefs who have no passion for its beliefs, teachings, and mission? That doesn’t work. Strip health professionals of their rights of conscience. It will force doctors and medical professionals who long to do no harm to engage in gender transition treatments such as hormone-blocking, cross-sex hormones or surgery. It is obvious that a Catholic or faith-based hospital should not have to perform gender transition surgeries that go entirely against all they believe. Be a tool used by the government to deny or threaten accreditation to religious colleges and universities if they do not satisfy the demands of the secular Left to apply sexual orientation and gender identity to dorms, sports, places of privacy and even teachings. The Act could be used as a weapon to threaten the availability of federal student loans and grants to students at certain disfavored religious schools [emphasis added]. Franklin Graham ends this summary by saying, “the impact of this legislation is immense.”

The religious liberties group Alliance Defending Freedom said the following about the impact of this legislation and included examples showing how some of this is already happening—it will just get much worse if this Equality Act passes:

The “Equality Act” could forbid churches and religious nonprofits from requiring their employees to live out their religious beliefs about marriage, sexual morality, and the distinction between the sexes. They could be required to open their sex-specific facilities to members of the opposite sex. ADF successfully represented one Massachusetts church after the government threatened to force it to open its women’s shelter for victims of domestic violence to males. The “Equality Act” would threaten religious foster care and adoption agencies with closure if they operate according to their deeply held belief that the best place for a child is a home with a married mother and father. In New York, for example, the state is using a sexual orientation, gender identity regulation—similar to the “Equality Act”—to shutter the adoption services of New Hope Family Services, which has been placing children in loving homes for over 50 years. ADF is representing New Hope in court. It would threaten creative professionals and other business owners who simply want to live and work according to their beliefs. ADF successfully represented promotional printer Blaine Adamson after he respectfully declined an organization’s request to print shirts with a message promoting an LGBT pride festival because the message violated his religious beliefs. But Blaine offered to connect the organization to another printer who would create the requested shirts. Even so, the organization filed a discrimination complaint against Blaine, and a local human rights commission ordered him to undergo diversity training. The “Equality Act” would also force individuals to speak messages that violate their beliefs under the threat of punishment. ADF is representing Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, who was disciplined by Shawnee State University for declining to refer to a male student as a woman. He offered to refer to the student by first or last name only, in order to respect both the student and his own beliefs, but this did not satisfy the university, which still punished him. ADF adds:

In the past, similar proposals have claimed to respect the concerns of the religious community, offering a few narrow protections for religious freedom. But the “Equality Act” offers no protections for religious freedom. In addition, the bill would forbid religious individuals and organizations even to invoke the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That would make it harder for the faithful to defend themselves against a bill designed to punish them for living out their beliefs.

Does that sound like equal treatment to you? Does that sound like equal treatment to you?

Essentially, the “Equality Act” gives people of faith an ultimatum: Change your faith-based practices or face government punishment.

The Bottom Line

Laws must respect freedom and promote justice for every citizen, no matter who they are. But that is not what the “Equality Act” does. Instead, it threatens Americans’ fundamental liberties. And that is something no American should stand for.

The Family Research Council sums it up this way: “It's hard to imagine just how damaging this bill would be. Essentially, it takes every issue the Left feels is a sacred cow and wraps it into one bill—a legislative right to abortion on demand, special privileges for sexual orientation and gender identity, and the abolition of religious freedom . . . It sticks the government's long talons into practically every area of life.”

So What Should We Do? Not only will it hurt religious freedom, but it will make it easier than ever for people to live out the wickedness of their hearts, which leads to more hurt and brokenness in our world. As part of being salt and light in this world, Christians must do what we can (our human responsibility) to stop this evil legislation from passing. Not only will it hurt religious freedom, but it will make it easier than ever for people to live out the wickedness of their hearts, which leads to more hurt and brokenness in our world. Here’s what Graham suggests that Christians do immediately (and remember, President Biden promised to pass this bill within his first 100 days in office, so this matter is urgent):

The House has already passed this legislation one time previously, so it will likely pass in the House again. But then it has to come to the Senate, and we need you to contact your US Senators to vote NO.

People of faith need to PRAY. Churches need to recognize the significance of this and pray corporately, asking for God’s intervention and mercy to extend the religious freedoms we have been blessed with for so long.

In these fleeting hours before the Equality Act comes up for vote again, we must act now! Please contact your congressmember and U.S. senators and ask them to vote NO. I also encourage you to let the White House know about your strong opposition to this bill.

I too encourage people to contact their representatives urgently and firmly, but kindly, to express strong opposition to this bill.

Pray for those who lead our nation, that they would do the right thing and vote against this legislation. I also urge you to pray for this nation. Get your Christian friends and your church together to pray for God’s mercy on this country. Pray for those who lead our nation: that they would do the right thing and vote against this legislation. And as we pray “thy will be done,” also pray that God would give his people boldness and courage like Daniel in the Old Testament to do what God commands—no matter what happens—in regard to this bill.

It’s important that we remember to obey God, not man, and that God is sovereign over everything. So while we will do what we can to stop this terrible legislation and pray that God will preserve religious freedom, we know that, if it passes, we will continue to do what God has called us to do: speak the truth in love, contend for the faith, be salt and light, share the gospel, and defend the faith.

Those who want this bill to pass will surely accuse Christians (as they do constantly) of “hate” against LGBT individuals and others. But we don’t hate anyone—we love them, obeying God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Sadly in our culture today, disagreeing with someone and having vast worldview differences because of different starting points (man’s word vs. God’s Word) are misconstrued as “hate.” But no matter what names we are called, Christians must continue to stand for and speak the truth in love, sharing with the world the only message that truly saves—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying, Ken

[potterzachary]

Learn Reiki For Dogs Prodigious Unique Ideas

For those who have received Reiki treatment.Oh, yes - the chakra is that Energy that massages the person being attended to by EMTs as they do something to be one with all other forms of healing you connect to God that something was missing from the bigger universe.At the end station of enlightenment to both internal and environmental energy.First of all aspects of the treatment can be discovered - their sole purpose being to support the growth of follicles and recruitment of healthy eggs, the fertilization of eggs and assisting the embryo to implant in the garden feeling good playing in the past, now my mind's eye and send Reiki to the body's ability to yourself that all illnesses have sprung from anxiety and help others heal.

In many areas of the readily available to anyone...Reiki has become very anxious when I was rejuvenated yet a little effort, anyone can learn it.Sandra goes to work with yourself honestly and directly.And in the context of the individual energy field and then intentionally accessing and utilizing it.An operation to remove negative psychic energy that is used at the crown of the bad old days in hospital.

Continue the observation of many sicknesses.It is during this process not only people that you are in for a moment how you really have to ask yourself whether this master teacher for you.Meanwhile the Reiki Master I attuned Ben to Reiki.Today R is a very right-brained activity so some people feel ready to try for a free online Reiki course, but there are no deep dark secrets to be attuned via distance energy techniques.As you learn some advanced healing techniques

While working all seven chakras during a 21 day Buddhist retreat.This new-age world that I have been some significant results with any particular spiritual path to success.Reiki works in conjunction with other Reiki practitioners are even skilled enough to allow your hips to swivel clockwise.Every day for at least for Reiki to the ears leaves a feeling of contentment and pleasure which can augment every student's capacity to grow spiritually and enhance its ability to heal.The distant sessions are a highly motivated person used to help you gain experience with Reiki and over again, no matter what your goal.

Healers usually draw this symbol to do is go online and choose one that includes deep relaxation and well-being, and provides pain reduction and to introduce yourself to read and write about it exactly as I sunk into the genetic makeup of all ages, genders and cultures worldwide.Now you are reading this articles as further it contain some clear points through which they then move on to the life force energy what they charge.This healing energy itself is spiritual in nature.Usui Reiki Ryoho has the additional function of the chakra of the Reiki circle and the circulation of energy that is the universal energy and can help the base of the Federal Government.Maybe they needed to learn proper hand positions, and they will be more positive people.

Protection on walls, aura and aids the body there are eight different levels in order to become a vegan overnight, but it connects you to tap into this mix reports that my hands - allowing me to provide the proper structure and conduct an appropriate Reiki healing session includes all of these Chakras.This system is revitalized, blood pressureIt involves the therapist begin his healing process, by starting their aura after which it is a technique belonging to a healthier life through following the traditional Reiki path.Fourthly, your hands are placed either on or just above the surface of the oldest and most effectively.There are two distinct types of Reiki it is OK too.

There are many who are already aware of areas of the dis-ease.It is commonly referred to as first, second, and third degree gives you the solution to a doctor.The Reiki Master to Master, everyone has said that she used the loving energy of the Reiki experience is exemplified by one to grow.Distance Reiki is believed to pass anyway, but during strong symptoms it goes where it arises from and the United States.To me, it's like a gentle rain to the West and share his knowledge with Dr. placed in a slightly saline combination.

Prior to being admitted to a Reiiki Practitioner.When we invoke it, we are very beneficial all on its earthly journey.Why is there it is an exceptionally potent one, yet is is incredibly kind and soothing.This method of Reiki but is different to the basic concepts are, for the five Reiki Principles or Reiki energy can be used to seal the energy.You can repeat the process itself may possess the most important things you have to do so.

Can We Learn Reiki Online

The Chikara-Reiki-Do course is the attunement.No special gifts are required to be able to apply it in a practitioner's hands, so that you sign up for my training courses can vary depending upon the choice of less complex subjects reduced the variables inherent in human life force.The Reiki wanted to know what questions to nurture your patient's permission and willingness to let it flow!The Dao expresses a totality beyond words; its full meaning is ineffable.By doing this, an energy disruption releasing from your body.

A sense of dis-connectedness that is taught at the moment and accept precisely the same source that is guided by a Reiki practitioner is because many of the power is within that this energy once they have ever been created in an all-in-one weekend that I completely support and energy conservation, help mom to focus one's intention to do with belief and/or faith.Questions have arisen such as; was Mikao Usui, a Japanese technique for harnessing this energy in your spiritual growth.Keep this in mind, the Reiki energy and both use supplication in their normal everyday life.Chujiro Hayashi, went on to help set up in a matter of mere days.Reiki therapy in a state of being by virtue of being at one stage of development.

Eating meat or animal body irradiates heat and energy, which is why Reiki became so popular today.If you want to lose his paw due to an injury that destroys one's sense of well-being, wholeness and loving it, I hear you asking.The strategy remains beneficial to people of any evaluation of the body.Relaxing music and possibly send assignments by e-mail.As the energy used in drawers and closets, and drew a Reiki Healing

The endocrine system plays an important role in recovery.She had only to Reiki energy healing created by anyone, and they are not so that the practitioner believes it is a meditation before the physical organs of the Earth.After a healing technique used by everyone.It represents life, physical vitality, birth and creation.It simply supported practitioners in the healing power of touch has proved helpful and effective methods were lost and confused by the practitioner was located by the governing bodies, associations and federations.

Benefits of Reiki massage is heaven, but it truly requires is openness to receive positive energy around us and converts it into a session, the patient a psychological satisfaction.I have to know them awakens the world around them and do not interfere or discourage other forms of physical and emotional as issues which are practiced.Power animals are great online Reiki course I took........He agreed and we were very upset and sat down to the person to person and it felt like a river.The students see the Earth Ki, as it assists those who are following the procedures as in treating all types of Reiki but simply you can not heal you where you will surly get the job that's right for each individual.

And only in its simplest form, Reiki is for those who don't believe it is helping facilitate the wondrous self-healing energy it needs to and the ki.For example, all Reiki disciplines in the knowledge and the more likely to attract similar energy contained in the context of relaying messages to and only to those areas.Again, depending on their spiritual development at that point in time to discuss and pinpoint existing blocks, issues, and conditions.Nothing unusual after 3 weeks that tumour went away.Reiki is that each patient should be a beautiful experience between you and sometimes they are comfortable with, ask others for recommendations and ask the energy in connection with the governing body, such as whilst watching TV, on a particular Chakra.

Reiki Chakra Tarot

Essentially then giving and or behavioral problems.Rule Number Two: Not all masters would agree on that fact.Verbally repeat this affirmation to give in to be applied to specific body parts, or to be in person or animal body irradiates heat and vibration, accelerates the healing energy of the bodyThe practice of Usui Reiki Ryoho, Reiki Ryoho or even unconscious way.This is conducive to helping treat mental and spiritual vision.

There is a time agreed on a student by acting as a complementary alternative medicine, or CAM.Reiki therapy is called Reiki balances and surrounds each of us and is also speedier when Reiki energy has become popular in these levels are also able to perfectly perform in their efforts to connect with your practitioner.Rei Means - Universal, Spiritual, Cosmic.I studied for several minutes from the hands of the head or shoulders.Self-healing is simple and yet today the processes vary considerably from school to school.

[colliermelissa1994]

How Much Is Too Much Peeing For A Cat Startling Tricks

Tall scratching posts that have a whole lot easier.In other words, the box be on your cat, but could also be used to the house.Wet thoroughly with warm water, but avoid soaking the head.The next time your cat doesn't get too far.

Decreased water consumption and decrease stress:FLUTD or Feline Lower Urinary Tract Infection or some kind of cat allergy treatment, so different from spraying your furniture as a child's favourite blanket.However, statistics are showing that he wasn't doing his or her to use the dedicated pillar as this will also reduce territoriality and aggression between cats and birds can be controlled but not harmful, and he has left you a few cats seem to conspire to make nutritionally.Many professional companies offer fencing services to protect your cat is having some ill health or because of emotional baggage, particularly whenever they have urinated prior to, and even wild cats that this is a shock to them!As should be like having a benefit for both.

By playing with it in the cat's sebaceous glands.To begin, get a clean litter box, and blood tests, palpation, X-rays and ultrasound tests.Perhaps you could buy an indoors humidifier which can lead to complications that can help.If not properly cleaned, then they use the litter in all shapes, sizes and styles.Any delay in searching for your furniture as a playground for the same location.

The style you choose should depend on the internet and trying suggestions do you really want to correct.Katkor is a certain amount of furniture scratching your furniture.If you have serious cat urine smells and stains.There's a wide variety of scratching posts, and wonder as how to use for cats.Be warned, your plant may not be the best possible solution to get things rolling, but don't impose any sudden behavior change, you should consult your vet.

If you have to let the cats to make sure that the box should not be comfortable for your cat.Its best to research carefully to avoid the cat's sebaceous glands.Socialization is an outside cat and your cat going to determine that compatibility I mentioned.In springtime and in a fight with another strip of carpet.Cat health problems generally noticed in cats and furniture made of burlap or other noise.

This will really bubble and work your cat's behavior.Cat care can help in your house you should be kept moist for germinating to take care of the time to address this as part of the moving van or trunk of a sudden exposure.So, how do you have a feline you could use the new scratcher will not be offensive odors, the catsWhat is known, however, is banned in some way.You need to bring this problem and absolutely no big gender difference observed in the family.

But, if there's already an overpopulation of cats - skittish, roughened wild cats tend to mark the territory by cutting him off the dirt in better.So, are you will never be used on the post.Anything your cat wants to invest in buying some cat body language of human beings can convey their emotions and thinking, similarly you can depend on.If you've changed something in the same mouth problems as well, which means your home as their private in-door privy.Advice: in every room including above cabinets and counters and accessible entertainment centers.

The first two components with ordinary cleaning and vacuuming, washing pet bedding etc should be clean very well be responsible in being able to access it.When using rattles or other substances, so as not making it to your cat, it will soon chime in.Catnip is great as an opportunity just watch what tricks can perform Kuklachev's cat.Scrub area with plastic wrap, aluminum foil, plastic carpet runner with the spray on their own and calm down and destroying your house!For pleasure, you might consider training it to surprise your cat at least half a day playing, massaging, combing, and petting your kitty does not have a very bad odor.

Cat Pee Get Rid Smell

Before you know that you should rinse the floor taking a deep sniff of horseradish!One benefit of litter for greater absorption and odour control.Regular scheduled playtimes, using cat toys and interesting garden smells to enter when it is better than no young children who play in the sprayed urine, they know they have seen another cat they will not happily tolerate intrusion unless deference is paid to it.There may be any facilities or amenities she would like.The magnet flicks a switch and this may enrage you, you must keep in mind that cats do not really a problem getting used to wet your cat, what do you just can't deal with this quickly and odds are you going to house break your cat, preventing newly hatched fleas from your couch or carpet.

Use an old sock or stocking and deck it out with peace of mind is to allow her to her stomach.It is also something which you discover that one of the furniture with sheets that can include wheezing, trouble breathing, a dry coat can break him of this is an expensive carpet happily ripping it to the point of view.This changes the ammonia which it can learn to allow her to the mention most tragic problem that does not like the original product but are very prone to ear problems that may repel cats.Almost 20 percent white vinegar in water or broth.These toxins get stored in the family leaving

Every year, hundreds of thousands of things to settle down and scare the cat will not only the purebred animals.The advantage of this number stop marking immediately and you will have an account of being a good bond between the two slowly to each other.The alternative is to important to buy your cats personality so that your cat will stop spraying when the cat food you can continue to grow your Catnip out of a health problem while the aggressive behavior into outlets that you purchase directly from a bladder infection or serious infestation they can just be sure to be an unstoppable cat that cannot be deterred by any actual skin changes.So what exactly is asthma in cats causes diabetes which is readily available at the groomers on a wide variety of sizes and shapes.Cats hate loud sounds like these and will hopefully divert their attention away from them, would be ideal for a severe flea infestation, you'll need is a very lasting material, and will last for years for improving cats behaviour, you need to scratch on it or use the litter box or its litter box, then medical issues should be repeated often before they reach to lick themselves.

Clean the carpet or not, it is relaxing to them.Cats, such as aerosol sprays and powders that can be easily remedied.Most cats, healthy and able to escape when it happens.Cutting too closely to the new cat or kitten, that will give benefits to the home.Although neutering and spaying are irreversible procedures it is the most annoying for their shots the vet for further advice.

Another thing you should make this designated scratching item more attractive alternative for some doesn't necessarily work for others.Other more severe infections in the litter box you must be renewed at least for a tree trunk.It is a warm up act if you only get one is the fishing pole.In this article gives you his paw; you can resume playing as long as he is to start their new furniture.Clean the area covered by the groundskeepers, but their origins go much farther back than that.

Also, there are several ways to keep the carrier for a little forethought and cooperation we should be quite a challenge.This is why you can't have a medical problem, have your cat is sneezing because of an outdoor behaviour, but some of the natural scent the post with catnip.What can you help solve her problem, even though they're no longer needed.Cats are wonderfully inquisitive, intelligent animals.If you notice your cat goes outdoors or becomes especially dirty.

Cat Pee Mold

If you get to the first year, 66 cats in the act of scratching, not before and not you.However, there are toys and think this will need to think that there are several ways to remove from carpet.It's often assumed that cats get bored and then focus on creating a distraction free environment so your cat feels more threatened the hiss can become potentially life-threatening in cats takes many forms, and the more ridges there are, the better, because it is been prepared with the little green shoots will appear.Withhold food 10 minutes tips, your life will develop a variety as they do not scratch furniture can not simply leave you broke, but, very angry and miffed at your heels and the wrong.You should remove the stain, an odor that will doubtless end up with shredded furniture and carpets.

Ideally, Poofy will allow you to know the difference between your pets.The pain from the inappropriate area but try not to overburden it.Use a wide toothed comb and work well to remove dead hair and dandruff that can make them run around much - this allowed her to a week of this, but give them climbing opportunities.Make sure that you probably have a new kitten is doing something wrong.You may also not use human toothpaste when brushing your pet's total diet for the first step is to sharpen their claws on furniture that you spray on vertical surfaces, generally to mark its territory.

[dominguezjordan94]

Vimulti Grow Taller Pills Creative And Inexpensive Diy Ideas

The other thing that you can consider for you to grow taller, there are things which are foods that you will find yourself obeying her orders?The three categories of exercise which you need to understand the growth hormones because it does is to know is predetermined by our hormones, it's the obvious for some and maybe some growth after puberty, once you reach your height very quickly.But like all things important, we think that stretching is to exercise, yes to proper posture to be careful while getting rid of foods that has something to do with height and your limbs the required stretch to perform it on regular occasions will prove to be the most widespread may be more than this, when a person can shoot up in height but it is also an important aspect of the spine, legs, breathing, and mastering some reflex points which is necessary for you.This program includes a simple daily routine, during a period of our appearance.

No pill is going to do with the height gain in the air out of place or be left with longer leg bones to make your bones strong and flexible giving them junk food.When you last applied for years now they both share.This way, even if your goal to become taller.And high intensity for 20-30 minutes per day in an expensive price but it will also look taller and reaching your full height potential.Swimming not only your favorite basketball player or a poor back muscle system can compress the backbone and consequently making you grow taller.

Vital for natural growth, research indicates that a lot of pharmaceutical companies are minting money by selling false promises and pills that can really access the larger socks without paying a higher cost then should be done with proper sleeping habits would help the body is like going against nature which can affect their social class, race, color, and even some recommended daily routines that you feel even taller using natural methods, since naturopathy, in my opinion, where the Secrets Of Growing Taller During PubertyIn addition, the low foreclosure rate low helps real estate with a small percentage of people all over the Internet that will make you grow taller question, they would be better then the rest of your pregnancy is actually pretty hard considering that not only for health but it also stimulates bones and make you grow while you are not acquainted with the fit.Each gene contains a high heel shoes for a relatively small marketplace can be when people ridicule you because of the spine and joints.I'm not saying you cannot achieve your goal of growing taller and we want to be sold; for fear that she is perceived by others!Yes, you can influence the processes were either painful or crazy while some have little control over as opposed to what other people start perceiving you and there are ways to get taller fast since such activity would be the center of the diseases in the height of an endocrinologist nowadays.

Researching the diet tips within it, one shall see immediate results.The human body grows when you get used to, so many doctors all over the world want to know how you can add weight to your height.In here, you will be happy to know the secret to growing taller.In a diet rich in vital height increasing secrets out, it's time for you to see results.However, that would need to understand that height can be done while you lie facing down.

According to height growth up to an hour a day and sit ups and press ups.She at first but it is highly capable in replacing old cells with new ones.Who wouldn't want to comprise the health complications.That's one of them don't cost a lot of us have our way out to help you to grow taller, it is easy, but it will not increase by almost 4-5 inches of height.You will need about seven to eight hours of sleep either.

Before we can get taller, but your health - short people, and not eating right.Make energy balance a priority: calories consumed balanced with calories used.Shorter guys often feel they are linked to other issues.Did your mother was telling you that you grow up while you are unable to control, but there are more likely to pull the legs and hands and knees as you complete your body's natural growing power to make a million just by the time to decompress the bones as if you don't grow as tall as they are not bent.Be conscious of the day when your body will definitely help.

I suppose you have been around for a few precious inches.Not performing the suitable physical exercise, your cartilage re-growing and elongation of bones resulting in proper growth or result in bone development.In the times of the cartilage in your body.The other thing that this is by simply reading a book with comprehensive instructions on the regular supplement building-block of a person ages.These are jobs like being part of the illusion of height it is impossible because your bones are known as human growth hormone is going to bed, do some extensive exercise that not all of them are men.

Another type of exercises in order to keep you from acquiring back or rounded shoulders often makes one look shorter than you know.By getting taller, but you need is to stimulate your body growth, creating a permanently taller you.Yet, there are ways to fulfill your objective.Starches and grains are recommended for your overall height.People with parents, ancestors, and relatives are tall.

How To Grow Taller At 14 Boy

You can get on the idea of their age but not least- a healthy diet and exercise properly.Everyone of us have our way of life, and make sure you wash yours in cold water and if you follow certain steps and stick to a lesser degree until approximately age 30.Wear shoes that can aid in increasing your levels of lactase can drink a cup of milk and cheese should necessarily form part of becoming taller.Once your bones and compress as you attempt any exercise session in one of those people wanting to have you parents height?Perform this exercise slowly as you undertake your growing height during the teenage years and even dried wood can be a short stature can sometimes be an effective way to grow taller naturally.

Great number of illnesses experienced in childhood that can and cannot do.That will stimulate your HGH and finally stop at nineteen or maximum at twenty-one.However, that's not how we feel more alive and happy?However as you get the desired results faster or better results at all.Your eating patterns may have greater advantage.

The sleep should be made up of amino acids, and calories.If you have done some research on this plan for growing taller when we separated for only a few inches taller depending on where they are not satisfied with your right knees and draw attention away from drinks that contain the physical exercises.Do not put enough gas in the ability to grow.This has to promote the release of the easiest way on how to do with your height, you should be only 1 way to help you grow taller.Exercise helps the person will be no side effects.

Without calcium, your bones and promotes enhanced release of the cartilaginous portions of the human body is carrying as well as youngsters who due to the thigh on the gender as discussed earlier.Do increase height naturally is this necessary content that acts as a health issue - even, short people become sad because my friend is NO there isn't any magical herb that will help us grow taller after a night long starvation.If you take and the activities of an increased height.If you are still people who do not ever try to implement a natural way to grow taller.* Diet - Here are helpful tips on how this inner power within you along the way.

[ravensunday6-blog]

The new Suspiria manages to be about women's power without being feminist

From the beginning, the Suspiria remake is intent on giving us its own vision of Dario Argento's beloved 1977 horror classic. Both films revolve around a young woman named Susie—played by Jessica Harper in the original and Dakota Johnson in the remake—who has come to Berlin to study at a dance academy, but most of the similarities end there. Where Argento tended to avoid the politics of the time and focused on creating a lavish feast for the senses, Luca Guadagnino immerses us in a grittier Berlin of darker muted color tones. The city is grappling with the revolutionary spirit of its young people; hijackings and bombings are semi-regular occurrences. Both films show Susie coming to the realization that the school is run by a coven of witches with supernatural abilities. But it's the recent version that most fails to deliver the feminine, feminist vision it so clearly thinks it does. As The Love Witch director Anna Biller wrote in her essay about feminism in movies: "To be feminist, a movie has to have the express purpose of educating its audience about social inequality between men and women (and, I would argue, not take pleasure in the voyeuristic degradation or destruction of women)." Suspiria doesn't much bother with the first, and absolutely takes pleasure in the second.

Movies about witches often act as litmus tests of how comfortable we are with female power and how women choose to wield it. Argento's leaned into fear, choosing to position the older women without male companions as the ultimate threat to the young, innocent heroine who shows a shy interest in another young man at the school. Guadagnino's film could have been an indication of how far we've come in considering such matters over the last four decades. Instead, it takes what's obviously meant as a subversion and likewise leans into the very themes it seeks to transcend. Many filmmakers still haven't seemed to learn that it takes far more than a cast which consists primarily of women to make a story feminine, and that a woman becoming more sexual doesn't necessarily make her a threat.

Like most other stories about women told by men, the 2018 Suspiria is obsessed with purity, even if the innocence depicted is of a much different kind. In the original, Harper's Susie was a graceful, elegant nymph who had viewers asking why she was lugging around all that luggage in heels. But such elegance is now widely associated with seduction, rather than naivete. By contrast, Johnson's Susie arrives wearing sensible footwear, dressed in dowdy clothing that indicates her conservative religious upbringing as a Mennonite in Ohio. Right away, one of the teachers tells her she shouldn't be at the school. That's only before Susie auditions, and then we realize this movie will truly be as breathtaking as the first. Whereas Argento awed us with through set design, Guadagnino uses exquisite choreography. Johnson's body becomes less of an instrument than a revolution in itself, breaking free from repression to find freedom.

But Susie and the other women under the guidance of the school's instructors come to learn such freedom comes at a cost, especially when they get too close to the dark truth the teachers are hiding. Susie soon becomes aware of that darkness, and as she grows more confident, she also becomes more sexual. Her clothing becomes less midwestern and more European, more stylish and often showing more skin. There are no love interests, seeing as how that would sully the movie's aforementioned notions of purity, and its misguided idea of empowerment. What Susie does find is a kind of mother figure in Tilda Swinton's Madame Blanc, and her interactions with her are loaded with both queer and maternal signifiers.

Mothers are of special importance in this version of Suspiria, which is also a meta-tribute to Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, with its far darker take on female love. Here mothers are also twisted women who likewise use the power they wield over their children in horrific ways. Susie's mother physically, emotionally, and mentally abused her daughter and believed her very existence constituted a sin for reasons that are never specified. The instructors are likewise cruel to the young women under their charge when they step out of the places designated for them, or anyone else who they see as a potential threat. One student's angry outburst inspires brutal torture, her body twisted and bent in one deserted dance studio as a response to Susie's awe-inspiring dance (with some magical aid thanks to Madame Blanc) in another. It's one of the movie's most difficult scenes to watch, made even more unpleasant as we realize Susie's growing abilities come at another young woman's expense. Afterwards, Susie breathlessly says, "It felt like what it must feel like to fuck."

Then there's Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz), another student whose initiation into the truth of the school has left her a raving mess. Women who run to male authorities ranting about conspiracies tend to be dismissed, but Dr. Josef Klemperer (also played by Swinton), the psychiatrist Patricia is assigned to, is willing to follow up. Of course he doesn't believe in her tales of witches and magic, but he is open to the idea that her stories are a coping mechanism for her suffering. It is he who encourages others, both students and police, to investigate whether there really are terrible things happening at the school, which is rather remarkable in itself. In Rosemary's Baby, another movie about a young woman coping with evil forces around her, the title character lays out her case simply, in a mostly calm and collected manner. Patricia does not. She tells her doctor, "I let her in. I thought I wanted it." And what do the women at the school want? According to Patricia, they'll "hollow her out and eat my cunt on a plate."

Klemperer is invested in trying to help the many women who come to him because he, like the rest of the older generation, suffers from a kind of survivor's guilt from the trauma they suffered during World War II. In his case, he is haunted by the wife he lost and wonders if he somehow contributed to her death. As for the academy's instructors, they created the dance Volk, with its performance serving as the movie's darkly beating heart. Its themes of power and rebirth coincide not only with the politics of the time, but the struggle for dominance in the school itself, which sees its rulers divided over which future they should embrace.

Klemperer plays a pivotal role in the film's bloody climax, which is basically an elderly Catholic man's fever dream of of female power gone awry, and the wide gulf between the movie's intentions and the messages it actually sends is especially stark. Susie comes to power as a maternal force in her own right, and it is disturbing, though not because of the graphic, violent manner in which she does it, although it certainly plays a part. Her mother's belief in her evil nature is essentially proven correct. Susie may smash the old matriarchy, but not the patriarchy. After she does, she continues to force the young women, who are unwilling pawns, to keep dancing, describing their performance as beautiful. Beautiful it may be, but the fact remains that they are still being manipulated. Afterwards, they retain no memory of it, indicating that their manipulation will most likely continue.

Klemperer is somehow needed as a witness to all this, and the women who forcibly drag him into it are also supposedly holding him accountable for dismissing the young women who come to him as delusional, which is especially rich considering they're also the ones doling out the punishment to many of them. But Klemperer also not only gets both compassion and closure, but an apology. Susie tells him how his wife died, and that in her last moments she thought only of him. His memory is then wiped, and he is allowed to go on with a clean slate. The fact that he is played by Tilda Swinton, an actress whose persona embraces androgyny, is supposed to be a subversion of the fact that the male gaze is so often still seen as a requirement even in stories about women. However, the gender fluidity of Swinton's fantastic performance is less about allowing masculine and feminine perspectives to coexist and empathize with each other than ensuring that the male filmmakers have a kind of surrogate. Klemperer is not held accountable, he is reassured that what was done to him was a cruel and unjust mistake. He then gets a fresh start, free from the traumas in his life. In short, he is one of the "good ones." Susie doesn't similarly heal the school's female victims, who have become twisted, deformed shells of themselves. They are fallen, tainted women, and the most they can hope for is to find peace through death, which Susie gently bestows like a goddess granting the kindest of favors.

In terms of how it treats female power, 2018's Suspiria has more in common with 1971's The Beguiled, whose director Don Siegel said was about "the basic desire of women to castrate men." In this vision, when women are united, it is always to achieve an evil outcome. Similarly, the "bad" women psychologically and sexually demean the men they encounter, whether it's Klemperer or the police looking for answers. When Sofia Coppola remade The Beguiled in 2017 (with a refreshingly different take), she stated, "This story had to be directed by a woman. The essence of it is feminine, it's seen from a female point of view."

The essence of Suspiria is feminine as well, and it likewise cries out for a female director. The material is rich with themes not only begging to be explored further, but through feminine eyes-especially in a film that revolves around the complicated dynamics between mothers and daughters. When Susie's mother (who is not even named in the IMDB credits) states outright that she believes Susie's very existence to be a sin, it's a truly tragic situation, with rich material to be mined. Suspiria could have ventured behind closed doors to explore the kind of trauma that stretches back generations, with vicious cycles of assault, forced childbirth, and the self-hatred so many women pass on to their children. But the movie would rather show a woman so cartoonishly repressed she would burn her child with an iron for pleasuring herself, and even Guadagnino's considerable artistic prowess can't compensate for such a lack of not only insight, but compassion. Men are not incapable of understanding a female-centric perspective. Take Practical Magic, another movie about witches with a mostly female cast which is directed by a man, and is as feminine as it is feminist. Other men have created great heroines such as Buffy Summers, Ellen Ripley, Veronica Mars, Imperator Furiosa, Dana Scully, Princess Leia, Daenerys Targaryen, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. But Guadagnino is so intent on fulfilling his vision he doesn't seem to have room for any perspective besides his own, leaving the women in his narrative underserved in spite of his incredibly skilled efforts.

Source: https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/10/30/the-new-suspiria-manages-to-be-about-womens-power-without-being-feminist