#flowers that generally symbolise anticipation

[everyones-least-favorite-bard]

"'It is mine to avenge, I will repay,' says the Lord."

[loudgaybug]

because I'm autistic I decided to catalogue all the flower language meanings in pommes gift to pepito and em

regrettably I'm not including sunny because there were no flowers in her gift. this is mainly for me to have an archive of it. pomme did say she looked into flower meanings for em ! if anyone has anything to add/correct please do, I tried my best to find the names of some of the modded flowers but I'm not familiar with the mods so I didn't know for sure, just guessed based off appearance

Pepito

blue amaranth (amaranthus in general) - longevity, immortality (amaranthus is derived from Greek meaning unfading)

red amaranth (also known as love-lies-bleeding) - hopeless love or intense and genuine love, deep emotion, warmth, energy

purple amaranth - unchanging affection, independence, individuality, abundance, prosperity

pink amaranth - vitality, empathy, compassion, understanding, given to show support, comfort, affection

additional info : red, pink and purple amaranth are colours that amaranth cockscomb comes in, amaranth cockscomb is most associated with red, amaranth cockscomb means affectation (pretentious manner) and foppery (excessive attention paid to clothes/appearance)

Em

cornflowers (pomme's favourite flower) - beauty, purity, grace, love, fertility, nature and its independence, bravery, loyalty, hope, anticipation, patience, elegance, delicacy, refinement, single blessedness

the cornflower has ties to France; there is a story that when Napoleon invaded Prussia Queen Louise hid her children in a field of cornflowers, making flower crowns for their heads so they would blend in. It was also worn by the french military. Cornfowers in France are a symbol of remembrance, known as the Bleuet de France.

black rose - death, mourning, tragedy, farewell to a loved one, danger, sorrow, revenge, endings, new beginnings, rebirth, eternal love. historically it was a symbol of dark magic, but also a symbol of resistance for anarchist and anti-authoritarian groups

poppies - consolation, remembrance, death, peace, loss, deep sleep, eternal rest, imagination, resurrection

peony - good luck, compassion, love, honour, happiness, wealth, elegance, beauty, bashfulness, shame

The association between peonies and bashfulness is from folklore where pesky nymphs hid in the petals of peonies. In China they symbolise rank/wealth. It is said that Empress Wu Zetian walked through the imperial gardens and became upset the flowers weren't blooming, issuing a decree for them to bloom. The next day they all bloomed apart from the peonies, which enraged her, and she ordered them burnt. The next day, however, they grew back from the ashes as red flowers, then she banished them to Luoyang Palace.

That one red and white/cream flower in the pack is my greatest enemy. it could be a red and white carnation, in which case it would mean purity, luck, love and affection, or more likely the incan lily meaning devotion, pure friendship, support, love, faithfulness, "you are beloved" condolences at a time of sorrow, or it could also be a red and white rose symbolising unity

I think the flowers at the bottom are red marigolds? I'm working under the assumption they are. Red marigolds - love, passion, marigolds - grief, despair, genuine hurt from mourning, compassion, remembrance, the beauty and warmth of the rising sun, resurrection. In Shakespeare's A Winters Tale Perdita hands flowers out saying "The marigold, that goes to bed wi'th' sun, And with him rises,weeping.”

[googleitlol]

Hi! I’m SO sorry for blowing up your inbox lol- but I’m thinking about those song covers I wanna do and wanna lean into flowers meanings since I think they’re supposed to be a big part of PoM? Or maybe it was just that arc, idk.

But yeah I’m currently thinking about what flowers I should add for which song lmao. For I won’t say I’m in love I’m thinking of Dove with a black rose? Which means forbidden love, since I think that’s the main reason why she’s in denial about her feelings. (That’s what I got from all of your answers anyway)

And then there’s songs like Evermore. I love its showcasing of Doves and Wukong’s dynamic and wanted to show Dove leaving the frame with Wukong sitting with flowers that symbolize dove. (“Now I know she’ll never leave me, even as she runs away”) and I was wondering was flower you think would symbolize dove? I just don’t want to get anything wrong! It’s completely okay if you don’t know though! I don’t want you to feel forced to go down a rabbit hole of flower langue just because of my silly questions.

But if you do by chance know a bit of flower language (I’m just guessing that you do with how much flowers show up, but again, if you don’t, feel free to chuck this ask into the void lmao) do you also know what flower would symbolize Wukong from the perspective of dove? Wanna incorporate that in the Never Knew I Needed one.

Also, (again, SO sorry for ranting, I think I just like talking lmao) for Just The Way You Are I want to show flowers that mean Wukongs love for her. So I’m thinking of a flower (I forgot the name lol) that means protection? Just because that seems like how Wukong shows his love, even when he doesn’t realize his feelings for her. But if you think his love language would be something different, please feel free to tell me!

Okay, I’m sorry for ranting (and all of those typos this probably has) I don’t think I get to talk about all of my self shipping nonsense with a lot of people and I’m just excited lol, feel free to just ignore this!!! <3

Hi! Don't ever apologise abt being in my inbox. I love getting to talk, I'm a certified yapper lol

I love the idea of using flower symbolism! I really wanted to lean into it for the Dovesbane arc (Wolfsbane is another name for monkshood *corny eyebrow wiggling*) because of the connection to Dove's old friend and everything his dad would tell him. But tbh I just love flower language in general, especially how different plants can have different meanings in various cultures. So I'll definitely lean into it more, just not as much as I did in that arc.

A flower I think that would represent Dove well are Althea's (hibiscus syriacus, there's a few flowers that are called similar names), they're also called Rose of Sharon. They're a resilient flower that not only represent love in many places around the world, but also healing.

Also, this. It's quite literally used in a way Dove uses her own powers.

As for symbolising Wukong from Dove's pov? I'd go with marigolds. Not just because they've been nicknamed the herb of the sun (teeheehee) but also because they have a vast range of symbolism to them. They're often associated with life and death (ironic because of Wukong's immortality) but can also represent two things Dove really admires about Wukong: creativity and passion. After all, he is known for both his cunning and impulsiveness.

Flowers to symbolise Wukong's love for Dove? There's a few that come to mind. Anemones can mean a whole lot of things based on their colour, like protection, anticipation, and love. I also think about carnations when it comes to their love as well, but more specifically pale red carnations. Not pink, and even though red itself represents affection and a deep love, pale red carnations are given to others as a way to say, "My heart aches for you" which is just 🥺

As a little bonus, I'll also throw in the acacia blossom. They often represent concealed love, which I think sums up Dove and Wukong for a chunk of their story. Even when Dove does realise her feelings, she has this huge crisis and struggles with her emotions. Some days she may feel like giving into them, other days she wishes those feelings didn't exist at all and tries to hide them as best she can. Girl really just needs to accept the fact that she loves him already 🙄

[ronaldanthony4]

As an artist, I found myself once again immersed in the creation of a digital artwork. This time, my focus was on bringing to life my original character, Liliana Oleander, the beloved sweetheart of Arlon Florian. Inspired by the recent trend of AI-generated photo strands, I decided to depict Liliana in a yearbook-style photo. While I cannot determine if this would truly be her yearbook photo, I wanted to capture the essence of that nostalgic tradition. 

In this artwork, Liliana stands gracefully, dressed in a stunning white strapless outfit that accentuates her elegance. Her radiant smile and sparkling eyes reflect the joy and innocence of youth. To complement her beauty, she holds a bouquet of delicate white roses, symbolising purity and grace. Adorning her ears are dangling earrings that catch the light, adding a touch of glamour to her appearance. A single flower, carefully placed in her hair, completes the enchanting ensemble.

The backdrop of Liliana's yearbook photo is reminiscent of the classic school setting, with rows of lockers and vibrant murals adorning the walls. The atmosphere exudes a sense of camaraderie and shared memories, as if frozen in time. It serves as a reminder of the cherished moments and friendships formed during those formative years. Liliana's smile radiates warmth and joy, capturing the essence of her experience. The photo encapsulates the excitement and anticipation of embarking on new adventures beyond the familiar places. 

As I meticulously crafted each brushstroke and detail, I couldn't help but reflect on Liliana's journey. From the pages of my imagination, she had evolved into a character with depth and complexity. Her story intertwined with Arlon Florian's, their love blossoming amidst trials and tribulations. Through this artwork, I aimed to capture the essence of their connection, the tenderness and devotion that defined their relationship. As I stepped back to admire the finished piece, I felt a sense of fulfilment, knowing that I had successfully portrayed their journey in a way that would resonate with others. 

In conclusion, this digital artwork featuring Liliana Oleander is a testament to the power of imagination and creativity. It is a celebration of youth, love, and the beauty found in the simplest of moments. As viewers gaze upon this artwork, I hope they are transported into Liliana's world, where love and beauty intertwine, and where dreams have the power to become reality. Through this piece, I aimed to capture the essence of Liliana's character and the depth of her connection with Arlon Florian. May this artwork inspire others to embrace their own dreams and create their own stories, just as Liliana has done in mine.

[vietnamflorist]

Top Anniversary That You Must Gift Based On The Year Of Anniversary

The best way to celebrate memorable milestones, like wedding anniversaries, is with fresh flower bouquets. Use anniversary flowers as a symbolic way to honour your years of marriage. Are you proposing again in front of all of your loved ones, or are you surprise your partner with a lovely hand arrangement of flowers? By requesting your favourite florist to send anniversary flowers to vietnam, you can make it even more memorable. Here are top flowers you can present based on your anniversary year.

1st Anniversary flowers

The sweet and delicate carnations are the ideal symbol of the joy and beauty of a young marriage. Consequently, make a stunning arrangement with pink or red carnations to honour your sweet honeymoon stage. In many flower delivery shop in ho chi minh city, you can find delicate carnations.

5th Anniversary Flowers

The daisy represents pleasure, simplicity, and fidelity. You've undoubtedly learned that the small things generally matter after being married for five years. A bouquet of vibrant daisies can convey your sincere satisfaction despite your mundane days and your anticipation of an exciting future.

10th Anniversary Flowers

Ten years of wedding is definitely something to be grateful of. Mark it, among other things, with a lavish arrangement of lovely daffodils. The official flowers for the 10th anniversary represent fresh starts. Each daffodil stem represents the amazing moments and experiences you've shared, as well as how lovely they've made your lives as a pair.

15th Anniversary Flowers

Let's face it, roses are so closely associated with love that you may send them as anniversary bouquets every year without anybody objecting. Giving a rose bouquet, a sign of passion as well as romance, conveys your wish to maintain the flame of your relationship no matter how long you have been together.

25th Anniversary Flowers

The iris flower at symbolises adoration, courage, hope, and faith. Celebrating your love for one another for almost 25 years is no small accomplishment. Your silver anniversary just passed. The iris beautifully captures the pride befitting a king or queen with its brilliance and strength. Therefore, sending anniversary flowers, you're essentially telling her that she's still the ruler of your heart.

Conclusion

These are few flowers that are perfect for anniversary. You can contact Flora Vietnam for the most amazing flower arrangements.

[mxddyhero]

oh yippee !! I think mine would be cornflower !!! they're a pretty common flower in England, so common that they were once considered weeds 😌🤝😔 <- me and tsuzu with our flowers

but yeah !! apparently, it represents hope, remembrance, devotion, delicacy, anticipation, unity, and love, but it can also symbolize wealth, prosperity, and future. which I feel is what I'm tryna manifest here.

and my s/i wouldn't have one bcs. they aren't an actor BUT. I think they'd suit crocus !! they thrive in spring, autumn, and winter and come in purple, yellow, and white :3 yes, they're his colours shut up. they symbolise cheerfulness in general, but the individual colours have their own meanings too !!

Mankai March question 15!

Nothing happened yesterday don’t worry about it<3. This is kind of an interesting one I wanted to put out there: If you had a motif flower like the characters in A3!, what would it be? Is it because of personal significance? Flower language? Or maybe it’s just pretty and feels youcore! It’s up to you!

[animepopheart]

Wonder Egg Priority, Episode 11: “The Temptation of Death”?

Wonder Egg Priority is a beautiful, uncomfortable, moving and confusing series that starts out engaging all the things we don’t talk about—self-harm, abuse, rape, bullying, gender dysmorphia, and homosexuality, to name a few. Our silence and blindness to these issues have a weight and pressure to them, and WEP shows how this reinforces the isolation and hopelessness of the young women of the “eggs” who turn to suicide for relief. The first ten episodes have been exhilarating and exhausting alike.

And then there is Episode 11. This past week, the series took a bit of a turn, leaning hard into the sci-fi-philosophical, with appearances from Greek gods, a murderous artificial intelligence, and really, really disturbing insect girls, one of whom, despite being a brutal killer, is apparently a vegetarian. Has the show gone off the rails? Has it lost its way in departing from the familiar procedural approach of engaging a differing social or mental health issue with each episode?

Such a critique is perfectly legit, but before you write off the penultimate episode of WEP, just hear me out on why the abstract, meta turn in episode 11 may just be the most valuable thing this series has to offer so far.

Before we begin though, a little recap of what we learned this week. In episode 10, we hear the eggheads, Acca and Ura-Acca, discuss the need for warriors of Eros to battle Thanatos. This is our first hint that things are about to get lore-full and maybe a bit weird. Eros and Thanatos are of course gods in the ancient Greek pantheon, Eros being the god of love, and Thanatos, of non-violent death. Within the first minute or so of episode 11, it’s clear that the eggheads’ hope is now focused on Ai becoming the long-awaited warrior. At this point though, rather than continuing with Ai’s story, the episode shifts into flashback mode and we are finally introduced to the villain, an artificial intelligence created by the eggheads back when they were still human. Their lives gradually come to revolve around her: She is the fulfillment of their obsession to create life, and she is good.

Frill is associated with hydrangeas, which symbolise heartlessness and pride in Japanese flower language. But is it her heartlessness and pride, or that of her makers?

(Atelier Emily has done an outstanding series of posts on the flowers in WEP. Check it out!)

Only, it turns out she doesn’t play so nice when others join the happy family. After killing Acca’s wife, and putting the life of the unborn baby at risk, the AI—who named herself Frill—is unrepentant, all traces of her seeming humanity now revealed to be illusory, a mere affectation. Acca locks her away in a hole in the cellar. Years pass. The baby, Himari, grows up and is a ray of sunshine. But after effectively confessing to her ‘uncle’ (why does anime always do this?), she commits suicide. Ura-Acca discovers that Frill is still very much alive and active from her hole in the cellar, having powered up all the discarded monitors and laid down reams of electrical cables—to what end, we do not yet know. Though Ura-Acca surmises that she has somehow influenced Himari to take her own life. How else would the girl have known about Ura-Acca’s admiration for her mother? Where else would she have learned to make what will forever be to me now that uncannily sinister popping sound?

Here’s where it gets weirder. Unlike the suicides of subsequent egg girls, there is no indication that Himari, Frill’s apparent first victim, struggled with any mental health or other issues that would motivate her to take her own life. Indeed, her ‘uncle’ did not even reject her confession. (Again anime, why you do this thing?) Instead, the eggheads explain Himari’s suicide as being on account of the “temptation of death.” What now?

This is implying that death is somehow attractive, not just to someone facing overwhelming brokenness, trauma or pain, like the egg girls we’ve met so far, but to someone on the verge of stepping from a (relatively) happy childhood into young adulthood, with the promise of potential love to look forward to; someone who has not known suffering, but rather only smiles and cake. (To be fair, it is always possible that she experienced trauma in the womb, or was more deeply affected by her father’s sadness than Ura-Acca’s memories belie.)

That’s my question too, Ai.

The notion of death as somehow attractive or even beautiful is rather alien to Western culture. Certainly, there will always be some who romanticize death, à la star-crossed lovers (Shakespeare, I’m looking at you). But in general, Western culture views death as something ugly and frightening, something to avoid until it is staring you directly in the face, and even then, closing your eyes in denial is a perfectly reasonable response. Death is one of those things we don’t talk about. In my experience, Anglo-American culture is not very good at even mourning death. We lack the grieving rituals and observances of other cultures, and instead seek to confine death to the sealed, sanitized spaces of hospitals, care homes, and funeral parlors. We keep it shrouded tightly in silence. How could there ever be anything like the “temptation of death”? How could we ever consider death to be something desirable? Are the eggheads or CloverWorks simply aestheticising suicide and death here to make it sound deep and philosophical?

No, I don’t think that’s it. Instead, Acca and Ura-Acca are doing what all good researchers do—and indeed what all Christians, as believers in an unseen spiritual reality, are also called to do: They are looking more deeply into phenomena that seem, on the surface, to already be explained. The two idol fans were consumed with their obsession, so when their idol killed herself, they followed suit. The young woman whose identity was wrapped up in her own appearance ended her life to preserve her beauty. The abused gymnast saw no way out, no hope in ever living free from torment. Some explanations may be more sympathetic than others, but they all possess their own internal logic. Contemporary society is full of a vast array of pressures and stresses and each one, taken to breaking point, can result in death. Case closed. This might very well be our conclusion from the first ten episodes.

Only the case isn’t closed. Because there is a question that has pervaded every episode until now, but has remained unspoken: How is it that death could even become an option for the egg girls? Why does reaching a breaking point trigger suicide? What made death seem like a savior to these girls? This is the question that episode 11 tackles, in its own admittedly obscure way. The eggheads are focused on the underlying, deeper reality that unites all the eggs’ stories, as disparate as they are—the common thread, which is the idea that death is a release, a rescue, a beautiful ending, and as a result, it is tempting.

“But we wondered if there could be another push that drove them to suicide,” explains Ura-Acca.

This is a really important question for us to be asking. Because it’s not just these traumatized, vulnerable girls who fall for the seduction of death. We do, too.

Just ponder for a moment: Have you ever anticipated how wonderful it will be when, in heaven, you no longer struggle with that particular temptation? When your temper is no longer so short, when you’re not afraid of being hurt anymore? Or maybe you think about how one day, on those gold-paved streets, you won’t have to worry anymore. All your hard work coping and just keeping it together will finally pay off and you’ll cross that finish line and heave a sigh of relief, knowing that you made it in the end. Have you ever contemplated these kinds of things? I know I have.

But here’s the thing: When I expect my liberation to come only after I die and not right here, right now, then it is not Jesus who is my savior, but death. I am waiting for death to free me from temptation and sin and fear and brokenness, and usher me into eternal life. I make Thanatos my god.

The temptation of death is not limited to the drastic act of suicide, but also permeates all the accusations and fears that inspire us to put off living the fullness of life in Christ here and now. It’s the temptation to believe that it is death that will ultimately solve the more difficult and painful problems in life.

Acca and Ura-Acca seek to create a love that suits their ideals, just to relieve their stress.

The source of this “temptation of death” in Wonder Egg Priority is Frill, the AI. That is, a man-made, artificial version of love—with ai meaning “love” in Japanese. According to Ura-Acca, they made her “just for fun,” as a way of dealing with the stress of their enclosed lives. They designed her to suit their preferences, to make it easier to love her and forget that she was artificial. In this sense, Frill is the fruit of their self-centeredness, her every characteristic designed to satisfy their own ideals of how a daughter and woman should be. And this artificial love born of selfishness brings death into their midst and beyond, spreading it through the horrendous deformities of girlhood that she in turn creates, in imitation of her fathers. (Only perhaps her creations are less deceptive than theirs, wearing their monstrosity plainly on the outside…)

Frill’s creations. We’ve met Dash (right) and Dot (center), but who is that on the left? And is her name Morse??

To counter her destructive influence, Acca and Ura-Acca need true love, a genuine love. They need Ai, a messy, at times very weak human being, but one who nevertheless is willing to fight to live up to her name and maybe, just maybe, become a warrior of Eros.

There is also a deep, underlying force at work in our world, one that connects all despair and the actions born of it. A wide range of social issues, traumas and mental health challenges can and do trigger suicide, but they do not explain it fully. The deeper reality is the existence of an enemy who seeks to manipulate us into believing our true savior can only be death, whether it is right away by our own hand, or more subtly, decades from now by natural causes. But this is a lie, and it is one that we can combat. Just as I’m sure we’ll see in the final episode that Ai is equipped to wage the coming battle in WEP, so too are we armed, here and now, with the power to overwhelm the enemy’s “temptation of death”—we possess already the words of life, given to us by our true savior.

Jesus began his ministry with a public announcement that he had come to heal heart wounds, comfort those in pain, fill broken lives with beauty, and wrap those in despair with reasons to praise like a warm protective blanket, so that they might celebrate with joy once again. He came to bring freedom to prisoners and captives alike, giving a fresh new life to those locked up because of deeds done wrong, and those punished and injured at the hands of others. He came to take the outcasts, the weak, the traumatized and broken and transform them into mighty oaks, clean and strong; into people with the vision and skill and compassion and fortitude to rebuild a broken world (Isaiah 61:1-4, Luke 4:18),

He came to rewrite and restore our experience of life here on earth, and through us, to redeem our communities, cities, nations, and the world. God does not withhold the fullness of life from us until we finally make it to him in heaven. No, instead he moved heaven and earth to get right up close so that he could pour his own life out into us, even going so far as to breathe his very spirit into our hearts and bodies and minds. We don’t need to wait for death’s rescue—our hero has already come. But we do need to remind each other and ourselves of this truth pretty often, and let it work down deep into all the cracks and bruises in our souls until it strengthens all our weak spots.

In Deuteronomy 30:19, God tells the Israelites that he has given them the authority to choose between life and death. But he also tips the balances in their favor, urging them to choose life. In Jesus, he comes to tip the balances even further, making it possible for us to step into eternal life here and now, immediately and forever. So let’s do it. Each day, through each struggle we face. Let’s choose life and not death.

Warrior of love? And is Ai’s himawari (sunflower) related to Himari somehow?

Join me (in spirit) for the final episode on Tuesday to see Ai’s love triumph! (At least, I really really hope that’s what happens!)

[katherinewilliams221b]

Girl you know I'm jumping at the occasion :D

Pre-relationship: 1 and 2

General: 1 and 7 bc I can't ever get enough of the dynamics between those two 🖤

Love: 7 and 13

Domestic life: I'd ask for 1 and 2 but I know you plan that hand-fasting fic in the future (still, won't say no to some spoilers... :D)

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

1. How did they first meet?

Charlie already knew who Kate was from the stories Bill told about her. It was Charlie himself who approached her in the first Care of Magical Creatures class they had together. He had no romantic interest in her at the time, but Bill had spoken so highly of her that Charlie felt they could be good friends. 

His first words were something along the lines of "I know who you are..." He didn't mean to cause her the disappointment he saw on her face.

Kate forced a smile without looking up, wanting to be polite, but nipping in the bud the conversation she was about to have with yet another stranger pretending to know her. 

This all went by very quickly, and as soon as Charlie mentioned that "Bill has spoken very highly of you..." Kate finally met his eyes.

"You're Charlie!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly "Bill has told me about you, too."

They worked very well together that day, like a well-oiled machine foreshadowing the kind of relationship they would have later on. When class was over, Kate ran off to meet Rowan, but not before shouting to Charlie that it had been a pleasure to meet him.

He shouldered his satchel, watching the messy-haired girl hurry off, and thought that not only was she not as the horrible rumours circulating about her described her, but that this had been the beginning of a great friendship.

2. What was their first impression of each other?

He had never been swayed by rumours. But so many people spoke ill of her and her brother that he was tempted to believe them.

The first time he formed an opinion about her was in his first year; he entered the Great Dining Hall with a determined stride and fury written all over his face. Charlie did not know that she had just escaped from a devil's snare, nor that the feud with Merula had begun. Trying not to be too swayed by what he had heard, he merely watched as she sat down at the Hufflepuff table and began speaking at full speed to a girl he would later come to know as Rowan. He had no interest in finding out about her. He just let her be.

Bill remarked that he had a brother at Hogwarts in the same year as her. In the courtyard, Bill pointed to Charlie, who was reading by the fountain. Kate thought he wasn't like Bill at all, that adventures weren't his thing and that he seemed like a quiet boy. A rule-follower. Oh, boy, was she wrong. They didn't meet that day, or for another three years.

GENERAL

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

The fifth year was very critical for Charlie, and Kate was his rock in that regard. It was when they started spending more and more time together and to the rest of Hogwarts, they were dating without a doubt. At this point Kate already had feelings for him, but she kept them to herself in the face of his disinterest in dating. In his sixth year, and in better mental health, Charlie began to...feel...things. Dazed by these new sensations, he sought refuge in the forbidden forest until André confronted him. At the same time Rowan, commented that they spent all. the. day. together. Both friends took it upon themselves to set them up on a date.

It was so orthopaedic, so strange and awkward that they both questioned their feelings for each other.At the end of the year, having pretended that the day had never happened, Kate decided to admit that she still liked him. He did the same, with great difficulty.

They both came to an agreement and decided that their friends should not interfere, that whatever they did would have to flow naturally. That agreement day was the start of their official relationship.

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

Contrary to what it might seem, Charlie. Although he is known as the dragon boy, who is always alone, reading or in the forest, he is held in high esteem by everyone. He makes friends wherever he goes.

Kate is a bit more reserved. She has no difficulty talking to people, but tends to be more cautious around strangers. Paradoxically, she is a magnet for anyone who gets to know her, and although Charlie takes the lead in social situations, there will always be people gravitating around Kate. She says she makes a lot of friends by chance, but it's because she prefers listening than talking about herself.

That said, although they both enjoy being around their friends, they always need to get away somewhere quiet for a while.

LOVE

7. What are their favorite things to do together?

In the Hogwarts years they used to spend the whole day together studying, reading or going to the Forbidden Forest. It was then when Charlie taught Kate how to track both animals and people.

Their activities didn't change much when Kate moved to Romania, as soon after, the war started and there was no more time for leisure.

After the war, they set about making up for lost time, and began to explore Romania and other nearby countries, making short trips wherever they could. One trip a year is mandatory.

They like to go on picnics in the mountains every weekend; they take a blanket, food, maybe books, and spend the day talking and laughing, sometimes even...

They were both surprised at how much they liked watching movies; when they got their first TV, they started having marathons every night over dinner.

Cooking? Or rather, chatting while Charlie cooked. It's a time just for them, especially during the war, where they can clear their heads. Many times they both prepare food in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Dancing! Some time ago I mentioned that they attended several dance classes as a couple, something they didn't like very much, they prefer to dance without an audience.Later, when they have their daughter, they discovered how much they like to play board games together.

Although they deny it, they like to attend events as a couple; birthdays, or parties at their respective jobs, where they can show each other off.

13. Who remembers the little things?

They both do, I think. Kate remembers how he likes tea, that he takes a bubble bath when he is stressed and she often anticipates it, the brand of pencils he likes, many of the names of the dragons on the reserve, his favourite balaclava and so on.

Charlie knows what her favourite mug is; when she runs out of seeds, how she braids her hair; that she likes to wear jewellery and also knows what style; that there are some yellow flowers that give her allergies, and he has an antihistamine potion in his backpack just in case....

It's not the only thing, but I think they're both good at paying attention to detail. It's one of their love-languages.

DOMESTIC LIFE

1. If they get married, who proposes? 2. What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

Ok, I'll try to answer with as few spoilers as possible. It's no secret that they do a handfasting ceremony. I once said it was Kate who officiated at it, but no. I'm going to change that because I think I have a better idea.I'm still studying how marriage works in the magical world, but what I do know is that neither Muggles nor the Ministry see a handfasting as a legal union (although it used to be, I'm still studying). This will be important.

If I can get it right, the two of them will be proposing to each other in very subtle and unknowing ways. I haven't decided who will be the one to take a more definitive step, I like both options: on the one hand Kate, because I like the idea of seeing the woman propose, and on the other hand Charlie, because it's something he would never have seen himself doing.

There are 4 people in attendance (6 counting them), one of them is her grandpa, Bernard, and the other three are people they meet in Ireland. One of those three people officiates the wedding.

As I said, the wedding is a handfasting, a Celtic ceremony used to symbolise the intention to marry and the commitement to someone. I don't want to say anything! I think this is my favourite part and I want it to be very emotional. I have looked up what the officiant says to do the ceremony and it is really beautiful. I have personalised it a bit with the fragments that I liked the most.

This is what struck me most (from a website about the ceremony) and what I intend to reflect:

"The absolute honesty inherent in the answers to the questions in this ritual usually takes guests by surprise. This leads the guests to concentrate on what is happening and gets them more emotionally invested in this part of the ceremony".

From this ask

[vaguekiwi]

Behind Every Great Alpha: Flowers and Botanical Symbolism

In case anyone wonders, I babble about plants and the fic below:

Magnolia

The town they're in is fictitious: Magnolia Hill, Ohio. Relatively close to Toledo (and thereby close to Lake Erie, Michigan, and Canada.) Magnolia Hill has a small scenic lake nearby where Peter's family has planted numerous non-native species over the past few generations. Quentin says, "Peter knows every plant there, bit of an amateur botanist"

There is a hill the town is named for with a single magnolia tree on it. Magnolias are a very old plant (among the first plants to reproduce using flowers pollinated by insects) so we see some of that old tradition and "stuck in their ways" thinking rooted in the town itself. The flowers often symbolise longevity, femininity, and a love of nature, which establishes the botanical themes in the fic.

Crocus

Crocus flowers are one of the first to bloom in spring, and so symbolise new beginnings and rebirth.

In ancient Greece, the crocus is linked to stories of passionate love and youth. Young women are often shown picking crocuses in art — which may suggest youthful joy, hope, fertility, etc.

There is also a Greek legend of a man named crocus. When he was forbidden to marry the one he loved, he died out of sadness.

Make of that what you will...

Forsythia

Forsythia also bloom early in spring, indicating new beginnings but also anticipation for what comes next.

Peach Blossoms

Peter remarks that maybe he will choose peach blossoms as their wedding flower. Peach blossoms symbolise bridal hope, womanhood, and purity. These are all things frequently associated with weddings and, in particular, fit into Peter's role in the world he lives in and the future he is anticipating.

Tea Rose

Peter reflects that Tony's lips are pale pink like a tea rose. Hybrid tea roses are relatively tall, and light pink roses can symbolise youth, passion, desire, young love, or love at first sight.

Hybrid tea roses would also be a relatively new hybrid at the time the story takes place (just about 50 years old.) Innovation and forward-thinking continues as a major theme in the fic, especially in relation to Peter's interactions with Tony.

Deutzia Gracilis

This plant may have been a major anachronism on my part. There's a botanical garden near my parent's home that has other deutzia plants and they're some of my favourites.

I suppose it's possible Peter's family had them, but I couldn't figure out when they were cultivated. They're a Japanese flower and I also wasn't entirely sure when they made their way to America.

Regardless, they're mostly used in the fic because I like them. It also allowed a small reflection on the common term chardonnay pearls; Peter notes "they were words associated with wealth and they came off [Tony's] lips easy and smooth, with as much beauty and admiration as the flowers and wines and gems deserved."

Lily of the Valley

Lily of the valley, like many lilies, have some association with purity and innocence. In the fic, Tony crouches next to them and "weighs" them in his hand.

Lily of the valley are a small, slightly fragile flower. Notable to the fic, they can also symbolise humility and the return of happiness. Lily of the valley shows up just as Peter and Tony repair a break in their friendship, returning to happiness. They both have issues with pride — especially around one another — for the duration of the fic.

Daffodils

When Peter is in the hospital, Quentin brings him daffodils. Daffodils are a wonderful flower, but yellow is associated with friendship instead of love and daffodils in particular can mean unrequited love or uncertainty or doubt.

Yellow Tulips

Ned brings Peter yellow tulips after he is in the hospital, indicating friendship and also hope.

Dahlias and Chrysanthemums

Ned suggests that Peter select dahlias or chrysanthemums for his wedding flowers. These flowers are associated with elegance, wealth, dignity, and fidelity. These are all things Ned associates Peter and Quentin's engagement with; they are also words I personally tend to see as somewhat cold terms. They're good virtues to be sure, but not indicative of passion or fire or true love.

Sweetpea

May's nickname for Peter is sweetpea. Sweetpea flowers are small clumps of purple. They can be indicative of well wishes and farewells, as Peter is marrying out of his family and into another.

Snapdragon

On the one hand, I adore snapdragons.

On the other hand, there are two major symbols associated with them:

-Strength (which Peter may exhibit in going through his engagement with Quentin for the sake of his life and his family)

-Deceit (which... well...)

Gardenia

The gardenia symbolises secret love.

Also, in 1767, botanist Peter Collinson once wrote of the gardenia "[it] exercises the skill of all our Naturalists and yett [sic] I don't know any one has hit its Culture, for a year or Two it seems prosperous and then flags and Declines" This may indicate that Peter will flag and decline shortly into his marriage, or just that he — as an omega in 1910 — is difficult to fully culture or prosper.

[fukagawageisha]

Life inside the Flower and Willow World

In my geisha house I will be taking a new hangyoku (maiko) trainee in this month. What kind of girls become geisha trainees in this day and age? Usually they are girls who are attracted by the Japanese arts: girls who like kimono and who would like to learn Japanese dance. But recently I get applicants who have lived or travelled overseas and found themselves unable to answer questions about Japan, and who then start to realise that they have little understanding of their own country’s traditional culture.

I would like my trainees to know some English or at least be interested in learning, and who want to perform overseas. There is increasing interest in geisha by foreign tourists and I am very keen to introduce geisha culture abroad. All of my five trainees to date have been able to travel overseas to perform at least once. We have been invited by a customer to perform in Russia next May, so I am hoping my new trainees will be performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

I also get applications from girls all over the world from the US to Africa: girls who have been brought up on anime and who are obsessed with the idea of becoming a geisha. I would not discriminate on the basis of the color of a girl’s skin, but the simple fact is that being a geisha is a “talking” job. Geisha must be charming, amusing, very good at listening and able to anticipate their customers every want: they must be absolutely fluent in Japanese or it would not work. After me, there have been several foreigners who tried being a geisha in the countryside where just being able to meet a foreigner is already a novelty for the local customers. All of them were married, and thus none of them could have worked as geisha in Tokyo where the rules are very much stricter. And, except for in Yugawara, they have now all quit. In the eight official geisha districts of Tokyo (those with geisha offices), where the customers are much more sophisticated, no foreigner has debuted. So it is not so easy to become a geisha in Tokyo.

My two new geisha prospects this month are both excellent candidates. One is a girl in her late twenties who has had an international career in the arts between Tokyo and New York and who wants to experience a more Japanese lifestyle. And the second is a 20 year old girl who went to school to learn to sew kimono, and who now wants to experience Japanese dance.

New trainees must concentrate on Japanese dance first and foremost. My trainees will learn directly from one of the most senior geisha in Tokyo, and also from an official dance school master. They must be able to perform several dances perfectly before they can attend banquets. They will also learn drum, some tea ceremony, and shamisen. And they will be in kimono all day every day for their lessons as they must learn to move gracefully in kimono; an art in itself. It will be a very busy 3 months in the autumn learning their first dances, and then they will be experiencing banquets for another few months as trainees. As my geisha house is independent I work together with geisha from every district in Tokyo, and my trainees have a great opportunity to work alongside a range of different geisha.

Young geisha in Tokyo wear furisode long-sleeved kimonos, but they have deep tucks sewn into the shoulders and sleeves to symbolise childhood. Kimonos need to be re-sewn for my new trainee hangyoku (maiko). And we will be busy collecting all the personal items that they must acquire to be able to start work: name cards with her geisha name (my girls all have names including the character “sa” from Sayuki), hand towels with her new geisha name to distribute to customers and her older sisters, bags and sandals, accessories and hair ornaments.

I remember my own debut, in Asakusa, in December, 2007. I had to walk, as the first white geisha to ever debut in Japan, fully made-up and dressed in a million-yen antique kimono of my geisha mother, with the hakoya-san “bag carrier” of the geisha office, through all the crowded streets of Asakusa to deliver my hand towels to all the people I would be obliged to in the future: customers, older geisha sisters, owners of the shops that carry geisha goods. It was terrifying. But in the end it is the customers who came forth to encourage and support me that made it all worthwhile.

Customers these days are changing. There are less and less of those that are very familiar with the geisha world, and increasing numbers of first-timers and foreigners. I do hope that my new girls experience the same encouragement and support from this new generation of customers.

[the-rwby-headcanons]

Could I possibly get a HC for team RWBY, JNPR, and maybe Oscar about what flower(s) they probably like or I guess best describes them. Ruby is probably gonna be rose and Ren will probably be a lotus but I'd like to be someone else's take on it.

This is a really cool question! Hm lets see...

Ruby: Well for Ruby it's obvious she might have a bias for red roses, but she does have quiet a few she likes besides those! She happens to really like daisies, they stand for innocence, purity, and loyal love. They remind her of her mother's cloak. The beautiful silky white. They also grew around her home and she'd pick them with Yang to make into flower crowns. She also thinks moonflowers are pretty, but doesn't know the meaning behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weiss: Weiss is actually a flower nerd. She loves to find the meanings to each one, and she roped Ruby into her little obsession. She has three favorites! Snowdrops, (which symbolise hope and new beginings) Camellas, (Desire, refinement, and passion) and Protea (Change, Transformation and Courage)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blake: She also has a bias for a particular plant since her last name is Belladonna. Its also referred to as Deadly Nightshade! It fits her quiet well. She likes cherry blossoms, they stand for gentleness and kindness; she wishes she could have more of that in her life. She also has a strange love hate relationship with foxgloves. She loves how they look. But hates the meaning, it stands for insecurity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yang: Yang suprisingly does like flowers alot! She likes to find the meanings but sometimes just settles for the look cause they look nice. She likes Gladiolus (they stand for honor, strength in character, and conviction) Tiger Lilies (they symbolize confidence, pride, and wealth) and Gazania, they're these beautiful flowers that look like fire and they stand for wealth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaune: Jaune is a fan of flowers! He doesn't know any meanings though. But based on looks he really likes Bellflowers, Daffodils, and Delphiniums. Its quiet ironic since he doesn't know what they stand for. Look them up and you won't be disappointed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phyrra: Phyrra likes flowers too, but doesn't know too many meanings. Her favorite are Dahlia (often associated with various meanings that may range from messages of enduring grace to signals of warning. They symbolize elegance, inner strength, creativity, change, and dignity. They are also known to represent one who stands strong in his/her sacred values) she also likes amaranth (immortality). She also quiet favors red roses too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nora: Nora loves really colorful flowers! She doesn't know any real meanings. She vaguely knows a few since Ren talks about them sometimes. She likes chrysanthemums (joy, happiness, truth, loyal love) and Hyacinths (playfulness, sporty attitude, and rashness) and peonys (bashfulness, compassion)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren: Ren likes flowers a fair bit! He does love Water lilies (purity, spontaneous generation and divine birth.), Aster symbolizes patience. It is also indicative of a love of variety. It also symbolizes elegance and daitiness and Lavander/Heather (symbolizes admiration, solitude and beauty while white heather symbolizes protection and indicates that wishes will come true.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oscar: He grew up on a farm, and helped in the gardens so he has a fair amount of knowledge on flower meanings he likes Gladiolus's (symbolizes strength of character, faithfulness and honor. The Gladiolus flower signifies remembrance.) He's not too much of a fan of remembering meanings however. He does like apple blosssoms and dandelions!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And some bonus ones!

Qrow: He actually does have a secret love of flowers. Summer actually was a huge fan on the meanings and it just rubbed off on him. He has a pretty deep admiration for them. His favorites are Asphodelus (My regrets follow you to the grave), Anemones (Also known as windflowers, anemones symbolize anticipation and are thought to bring luck and protect against evil.) He likes these cause Summer used to give them to him. He has them pressed into a book. And the last one in a locket around his neck. And Ranunculus (conveys the message that you are radiant with charm, and/or very attractive) He purely likes them cause of the meaning. Tai gave him one as a joke once. Theres a funny story that goes along with them and if you want to know it let me know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ozpin: He liked flower lore quiet a bit. He had a few flowers around his office. His favorites are forget me nots, (True love, don't forget me) Aster (wisdom, devotion), and daffodils (rebirth)

[yukahoo]

Jimin’s journey in the Bangtan Universe #6: The forbidden fruit

#0: Intro #1: The one who laughed the loudest #2: In this place of eternal mayhem the party never stops #3: Youth is not coming back #4: An impression of being stuck #5: “I’m trapped inside myself and I am dead”

The most important reoccurring symbolic theme in Wings, alongside the apple is the repeated covering and uncovering of Jimin’s eyes. In fact often the two seem to be put forward together as a pair and presented as a choice.

The duality is incorporated into the choreography as well, as we see in the very beginning JM pushing J-Hope’s hand from covering his eyes with one hand and lifting up the invisible apple with the other.

Other than during the choreo, the covering is prominently done by Suga and the uncovering by JM himself. In the Wings tour trailer the uncovering seems happen by supernatural forces but JM is shown holding to the apple - the counterpoint to the blindfold - when it happens.

Covering:

Uncovering:

SG’s role in all this is very ambiguous. He is there, always there but he doesn’t really seem to be emotionally connected to his actions. It’s almost like he’s reduced into an inanimate prop for JM’s storyline. Still, there must be a reason why it’s him and not another member. One easy answer might just be that he is the fire to JM’s water, his natural opposite and that’s enough of a reason for the coupling. There might of course be a “real-life” equivalent to this interaction that we’re just not privy to, yet.

Despite them seemingly being set up as adversaries, there is no apparent animus between the two. If anything, SG gives off a feeling of a guardian figure to JM. The impression I get is that there is something SG is trying to shield JM from, something represented by the apple. But after giving into his protection once during the BS&T MV, JM keeps pushing the hand down or pulling the blindfold off. 

In the Japanese MV for BS&T we see him take his rebellion a step further and finally running away. SG lets him go without putting up a fight. The mood is resigned.

After leaving SG behind JM goes on a journey that eventually leads him to a door. Inside, another JM holding an apple is sitting in anticipation.

After a moment’s hesitation JM opens the door and for a second the two JMs’ eyes meet before SG is there to quickly block the view. JM in the room lets go of the apple he’d been holding while the other JM is thrown back through an ocean of psychedelic colors and shapes. Something in the fabric of time and space seems to rupture and the effects are felt throughout all the members’ storylines.

The apple is one of the most easily recognisable biblical symbols. It is the “forbidden fruit” Adam tasted, the original sin that got the human race banished from Paradise. In common usage it has come to symbolise temptation, corruption and sin on a more general level. The term “forbidden fruit” often has a sexual component too, the thought being that we lust for things and people we can not or at least should not have. The BS&T MV certainly has a “mature” feel to it but in JM’s Wings narrative, the role of the apple is way too prominent for it to be read only through a lens that narrow.

The apple in BS&T is never portrayed as something particularly tempting. And the hospital where JM first bites it is certainly no Paradise. In the Bible the fruit was forbidden not because it symbolised lust or sex, but because it came from the the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the knowing that was forbidden and humans paid the ultimate price for their curiosity.

JM’s journey in the Japanese BS&T is ambiguous, as so many things about the Wings narrative are. After many attempts he finally seems to take the path of uncovering his eyes for real and knowing the truth of what has been kept from him for so long. But ultimately it looks like the whole cycle is just ready to begin again with another JM and another SG.

Still, their eyes did meet. In that moment the trippy parallel world of the Japanese BS&T seems to have broken into pieces and turned into the falling flower petals we recognise from the HYYH era MVs. In the “real-life” RM and Seokjin meet up for the first time in a while.

Next up >> #7: Darkness crept in

[redpooch]

let me be a nerd and suggest generation anemone. anemone's meaning in flower language is fading hope, feeling of having been forsaken, but on the bright side, it symbolises anticipation too!

kinda fitting with I think the overall feelings of the past few years, and also still starts with an A for those that want to shorten it with gen A for whatever reason. (and "gen anemone" has one less letter than baby boomers so it still fits the bill in my eyes)

what do you think the generation after gen z will be called

[floraexplorer]

Inside Setia Darma House of Mask and Puppets in Sukawati, Bali

In front of me stood four huge masked figures.

They towered upward, larger than life, their impassive faces staring down at me with vacantly fixed smiles.

The tiles creaked beneath my feet as I gazed at folds of bright crepe and silk material; the way trinkets hung motionless on belt buckles; flower petal headdresses lined with a thin layer of dust.

Nobody else was around me – and yet I could still feel dozens of pairs of empty eyes boring into my back from every side.

In my peripheral vision, I could see sequins and shining fabric, bright paint and gold thread. There were sharp teeth, curved beaks and open jaws all around as I stared up into these four faces, completely entranced.

Under this low wooden Indonesian roof, I’d somehow entered a completely different world.

I hadn’t even known we were coming here. My first hint was a mysterious smile from my boyfriend as I opened the car door; then he handed me his phone, pre-programmed with Google Map directions, and started driving.

It was our first foray into the chaos of Bali’s roads while driving our own hire car. My eyes were wide open, watching scooters whizzing past; huge extravagant sculptures at every roundabout; a highway lined with stone carvers busy in their workshops.

In fact, I was so distracted by the fact we were driving ourselves around an Indonesian island that I barely noticed when we pulled off-road onto a tiny path and up a steep ramp — and that’s when I realised where we were.

Setia Darma House of Mask and Puppets: a hidden corner of Indonesian culture

In 2004, an Indonesian man named Agustinus Prayitno reassembled five antique wooden joglo houses he’d brought over to Bali from Central and East Java. Concerned that the traditional Indonesian masks made by his ancestors were disappearing, Prayitno decided to establish a site where visitors could study and learn about the history of Indonesian culture. He filled these joglo houses with his private collection: a grand total of 1,300 puppets and 5,000 masks from all over the Indonesian archipelago and farther afield.

When I’d found a brief mention of Setia Darma House hidden away in our copy of the Bali Lonely Planet, I immediately knew I wanted to visit (because puppets and masks from around the world are, in my opinion, awesome) ��� but I’d been expecting it to be full of people.

Instead, we drove the car into an empty courtyard, dogs snapping at our tyres, and wandered down the steps past manicured hedges. The whole place appeared to be deserted, so we simply walked into the first wooden house we saw.

My lifelong fascination with masks and puppets

Coming from a theatrical family meant growing up with theatre paraphernalia all over the house. Alongside framed prints of famous English actors, costume designs and the posters from plays my parents appeared in, there was a pair of Indonesian wayang golek puppets hanging in our living room, bought by my mum during one of her acting tours in Jakarta, and a wall of masks from Greece, Japan and China in my dad’s study.

I used to be terrified of those masks as a child. If the study door was left open and I had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I would glance fearfully through the doorway and feel that delicious thread of anticipation trickle down my back.

What if they were watching me? What if they had moved?! More often than not, I would lie awake in bed willing my bladder to calm down so I didn’t need to get up.

But that fear has changed as I’ve grown older. It’s become a fascination as I’ve realised that all these faces are representative of something larger: that there are countless potential stories hiding behind each mask.

Their purpose is to tell stories: even though they can’t speak, they hold generations of myth, legend and history in their frozen expressions. Perhaps, due to my parents’ theatrical background, I always had an awareness of the potency behind these eerie faces.

Walking through the wooden joglo houses

From the moment we entered that first room in the first joglo house, I was hopelessly involved in the cultural objects laid out for us.

There were the faces of Hindu gods on black velvet; faces I recognised as Hanuman and Shiva. Bali is the only Hindu island in Indonesia, with around 83% of Balinese people adhering to Balinese Hinduism. For over a thousand years, the Balinese have used these masks in temple dances to perform epic stories from their Hindu religion like the Topeng dance and the Ramayana dance (the latter can be seen as part of the Kecak dance at Uluwatu, Bali).

The process is intensely spiritual. Balinese believe that the gods and goddesses are present in all things, which is true for a sacred mask too: it holds the life force of the character it represents. A Balinese dancer willingly embodies that spirit when he puts on the mask – they’re not just pretending to be someone else, like we would in the West, but they’re actually becoming that character.

(This video gives a great taster of what Balinese dancing is about!)

We walked into a room filled with Indonesian shadow puppets: their delicate silhouettes tracing the wall behind them like lace. 

These flat articulated puppets, called wayang kulit, are made from thin sheets of perforated and carefully painted leather. Depending on the story being told, a set of wayang gulit puppets can comprise any number of characters: kings and princes, lovers and teachers, gods, demons and giants.

A single dalang puppet master moves the puppets and speaks for them to tell their stories, rear-projecting them onto a translucent screen which is pulled taut and lit with coconut oil lamps. Shadow puppet theatre performances take place at night – and they usually last until dawn, often accompanied by up to fifteen gamelan musicians.

We walked outside on our way to the next joglo house and ducked underneath a pavilion roof, only to see a man sitting quietly on the ground carving masks.

As he hammered and chipped carefully at the soft wood held between his feet, I realised there was another element to consider here: not just the mask wearers, and not just the characters they embody, but the people who make these masks in the first place, too.

Who are the Indonesian mask wearers? 

By the time we’d reached the third house we’d attracted the attention of a guide; a lovely Balinese lady who stood at our elbows and flicked any light switches which didn’t turn on automatically.

I began to ask her questions about Setia Darma: how long had the house been open? What was the founder like? Had he collected all these masks himself, and how had he been able to convince so many people to hand over physical representations of their cultural history to him?

Walking through these buildings felt like witnessing the most intimate stories of the world’s communities, and I was fascinated by the idea that so many people had been involved in the process of getting these masks here. Moreover, they were all people who I’d never be able to see embodying these characters – which allowed my imagination to run wild.

I knew these masks would’ve been used in countless theatrical performances and to convey stories to captive audiences – but the more we saw, the more I became convinced that many of these masks would also be used for spiritual ceremonies; for shamanistic practices; for rituals in the dead of night beneath the full moon, up high on mountain tops or deep in dark forests – and probably for the most human of reasons.

Who knew how many of the masks I stood in front of had once been used for sending the spirits of the dead on their way; for inviting new life into pregnant women’s bodies; for exorcising bad spirits; for celebrating new rulers and condemning those who had wronged others?

How many unknown people have watched these colourful costumes whirling through the dark?

Things started to take a dark, eerie turn as we moved onward to the fourth house: twisted faces, jagged protrusions, eyeball-shaped lumps of wood worn smooth with the dirt of generations along their surface.

Some masks were held in cabinets with closed glass doors. Were they older and more valuable than the rest? Or was there another reason to stop us reaching out and touch them?

I imagined the hands of countless men and women picking up these masks, turning them over and over to inspect the craftsmanship, to touch-up the paint on open nostrils and wide eyes and full lips.

Some people say that because a mask is shaped like a living thing it’s able to maintain a connection to those who’ve worn it – or to continue carrying the energy of the spirit it represents.

Did these masks hold shadowy traces of their wearers? I could almost feel them behind me, standing just out of sight.

Why do we choose to mask ourselves?

At their base level, masks are about disguise. They can symbolise characters from history and myth, or they can intimidate enemies and show strength.

Masks can be physical and they can be symbolic. We all wear masks of different kinds; a collection of faces we present to the world when we want to be seen or received in different ways. But it doesn’t necessarily mean we become a different person.

After walking through five houses filled with cultural masks from around the world, I came away with the realisation that all cultures feel the intrinsic need to tell stories and perform rituals by assuming characters other than their own.

Agustinus Prayitno set up the Setia Darma House because he was concerned that masks and puppets are being lost to history, and younger generations of Indonesians are no longer interested in their past.

Prayinto, like other Balinese who dance with masks and operate puppets, is attempting to keep his culture alive by bringing it into the modern world – so much so that he’s even displayed a Barack Obama puppet standing with the puppet version of Prayitno himself.

The desire to mask ourselves is something we all share as humans. It connects us all.

At Setia Darma, Prayitno is attempting to preserve the heritage of Indonesian masks and puppets, and I, for one, sincerely hope he succeeds. A mask collection as big as this only solidifies our human need to change our identity, and to be seen differently from time to time.

Have you ever been to the house of masks and puppets? Do you have a hidden museum you’ve found on your travels & loved? 

How to find The Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets

Address: Jalan Tegal Bingin,

Phone: +62 361 8987493

Opening hours: 8am to 4pm

Entry cost: free, but donations are welcome!

Tip: Setia Darma is approximately 15 minutes drive from Ubud in a southeastern direction. The Lonely Planet directions didn’t help – having your own transport and a route mapped out on Google Maps is a good idea!

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[amieravenson]

Magickal Month- August

Magickal Month- August August was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the sixth month of the Roman year. Now it’s the eighth month, but October (Octo= 8) was already taken. Because… Because… *sigh* Here in Georgia, we’re all pretty grateful to have gotten through July. August tends to be a little drier and less humid than July, which feels like heaven even though it’s still crazy hot. Or maybe we’ve just gotten used to the misery. Everything takes on a bit of a brown or beige cast. The grain is golden and ready to be harvested, and even the leaves of the trees are a darker, duller green than they were in May or June. The flowers seem to have given up, but I’m seeing more and more critters, including a grey, cross-eyed kitty that needs to be taken in and neutered. I’ve also seen a lot of house wrens, squirrels, and turtles. I had a cicada gift me with a casing on my front porch, and it was very symbolic of a particular transformation I’m going through right now. We also have a new opossum friend who’s been hanging out on our back porch, and we’ve been sprinkling a small handful of cat food for him once in a while. His name is Louie. To me, August marks the month of getting ready for DragonCon, which means that Autumn is on its way. The year is at the precipice of the downslide towards Winter, and any slightly cool night feels full of promise. Lunations: New Moon in Leo, August 11th at 5:57am (partial SOLAR ECLIPSE) Full Moon in Pisces, August 26th at 7:56am Astronomy: August 7th- Uranus goes retrograde at 9:20am in Taurus Perseids meteor shower peaks August 11th-12th. August 19- Mercury goes direct at 12:18am in Leo August 27- Mars goes direct at 10:19am in Capricorn Celtic Tree Month: Holly (July 8- August 4): Protection, enjoying and celebrating success (nearing first harvest), renewal/restoring your direction, rebalancing your energy, moving towards your purpose, energizing. Truth, unconditional love, sacrifice, reincarnation, protection, luck, dream magick, male counterpart to feminine ivy. Hazel (August 5- September 1): Wisdom, intuition, studying ancient knowledge, fertility and good luck, divination (including hazel rods used for divining for water), poetry and science, playfulness and enchantment, healing arts. Holidays (non-Pagan): August 15: Assumption of Mary August 19: National Aviation Day August 21: Senior Citizens Day August 22: Eid al-Adha August 25: Raksha Bandhan August 26: Women’s Equality Day Holidays (Pagan): August 4- August 10: Panathenaea- Greek festival of Athena as daughter of wisdom August 7: Gaia Consciousness Day- A day to meditate on the earth August 11- August 12: Metageitnion Noumenia- Old Greek festival honoring all the Gods and Goddesses August 14- August 15: Feast dedicated to Aphrodite and Eros, honoring love and passion August 16- August 17: Feast of Artemis as punisher of wrongdoers August 19: Roman Vinalia, honoring the first grape harvest August 22- August 23: Festival honoring Athena and Zeus as protectors of city and state August 23: Feast of the furies, who punish criminals August 24: Roman festival honoring Ops, goddess of grain and harvest Themes for the month: The grain harvest, sacrifice of the grain god, the sun still in it’s strength- but sliding towards Autumn, back to school. General activities for the month: Going outside at night when the heat finally breaks a little, gathering supplies for Autumn crafts, baking bread to enjoy the grain harvest, making corn dollies, eating the summer veggies that are still plentiful right now (corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, avocados), relaxing, listening to the cicadas during the day and crickets at night, anticipating autumn. Herbs I’m using: Dill (goes great in a dill/cheddar/beer bread I like to make), Cilantro (so many salsas and guacamoles to make at this time of year!), Mugwort (I’ve been using the tincture in my water bottle when I’m doing some spiritual work. Stones I’m using: Sardonyx (I found some lovely, lilac-colored pieces that I’m obsessed with, very emotionally soothing), Citrine (mirrors the golden color of everything and also it’s energizing when all I want to do is wallow in the heat), Moss agate (I’m trying to grow some things that I’ve been steadily farming). Goddess of the Month: Demeter. She’s Persephone’s mom (I’ve been working with Persephone quite a bit), but also the goddess of grain and the harvest. So she’s extremely timely at this time of year. Everything golden and abundant and sunny falls under her domain. 3 card reading:

August 3 Card Reading Death reversed: So here, it looks like we’re finally on the other side of a difficult transition. Something has died to us already, and it’s time for something new to be reborn. This is good news, and we have a new life to start from the ashes of the old. We can see this as a fresh start and a way to really examine what we want our new lives to look like! 10 of cups reversed: This also symbolises the death of dreams that we had. We had a concept of a happy house, a perfect marriage, loving family, etc., but it turned out that that wasn’t the case. As in the death card, if we can let go of what we thought was our ideal, we can actually examine what truly makes us happy. Is it possible that the perfect life that we had dreamed up actually turned out to be a trap? Temperance: What we really need right now is to find balance. We need to balance our ideals with the reality that we have in front of us. There’s a happy medium there, somewhere, and if our lives take a completely different turn than we originally thought we wanted, we need to balance that new reality with our expectations as well. This may also point back to the 10 of Cups reversed, as we can really examine our relationships here. Are we balancing work time with time we spend with our loved ones? Are we showing them fairness and good judgment if they disappoint us? Special Guidance is Lakshmi. Lakshmi tells us “Stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine.” After the death of our previous selves and the death of our expectations of life, we can experience a lot of stress for the future. But it looks like we have good things coming up. We’ve learned the skills from our past to make our lives into what we really need and love! ******************************** The Harvest Bow By Seamus Heaney As you plaited the harvest bow You implicated the mellowed silence in you In wheat that does not rust But brightens as it tightens twist by twist Into a knowable corona, A throwaway love-knot of straw. Hands that aged round ashplants and cane sticks And lapped the spurs on a lifetime of game cocks Harked to their gift and worked with fine intent Until your fingers moved somnambulant: I tell and finger it like braille, Gleaning the unsaid off the palpable, And if I spy into its golden loops I see us walk between the railway slopes Into an evening of long grass and midges, Blue smoke straight up, old beds and ploughs in hedges, An auction notice on an outhouse wall— You with a harvest bow in your lapel, Me with the fishing rod, already homesick For the big lift of these evenings, as your stick Whacking the tips off weeds and bushes Beats out of time, and beats, but flushes Nothing: that original townland Still tongue-tied in the straw tied by your hand. The end of art is peace Could be the motto of this frail device That I have pinned up on our deal dresser— Like a drawn snare Slipped lately by the spirit of the corn Yet burnished by its passage, and still warm. My personal tides: We’re going to be moving in the next several months, and so I’ve been thinking a lot about what ‘home’ means to me. I’m also thinking about how I can take this transformation and slingshot myself into a new start. What do I really want to make of my life? What’s REALLY important? Is it the stuff that I’m surrounded by, or the new life that I can make if I leave a lot of old baggage behind? The card reading above SUPER resonates for me right now. My personal goals: Here in the last few days of July, I’m frantically trying to finish Camp NaNoWriMo (and yes this post counts towards my word count- not the poetry just MY words). So in August, I’ll be able to do some things that I put off because of Camp, like running a Werewolf game and getting ready for DragonCon. I also want to record some of the guided meditations that I’ve written this month, and put them ‘out there’. I also want to continue spending at least one hour/day on a personal project. It sounds easy enough, but with chronic illnesses it’s not always that attainable. Read the full article

[jadamacintyre75-blog]

Plant A Fantastic Garden In Unconventional Planters

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