#rosemary thebe

[friendlessghoul]

As stars and other notables of yesterday mingled with today's great to help Irving Cummings celebrate his 30th year in the motion picture industry at a dinner in honor of the director at 20th Century-Fox where he is now under contract.

From the upper left: Francis Powers, Cummings, Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Buster Keaton, Rosemary Thebe, Stuart Holms and Chester Conklin. In the right foreground are Director Mal St. Clair and Ben Turpin.

[wheelercore]

I don't trust things not being on the inspo board when Rosemary's Baby and Oedipus The King are straight up just not there despite the clear references

[stalkerofthegods]

Lord Hermes Deep dive

Lord Hermes is amazing, he is the darling of the gods and of our hearts, he is strong in gymnastics and in spirit, he is the last thing we see, and the lord of our words, and as a worshiper and as a researcher I believe he is amazing and wonderful, I absolutely adore him, so I should probably stop writing, or it'll become a love letter, but I've worshiped this god for around 2 years, maybe more, but I know well he is amazing and deserves respect.

Herbs • Krokos (Crocus) koumara Tree, olives/olive oil, crocus, hydrangea, chrysanthemum, Palm tree, Almond tree, The Silver Birch tree, Crocuses, Saffron, Wheat, Rosemary, Pine Tree, Mint, Cinnamon, Cassia, Golden Benzoin, moly, strawberry

Animals• sheep, dogs, boars, lions, Tortoise, Ram, The dove killing species of Hawk, Hares, constellation Lepus, pig, beef, mutton, pork, Cattle/oxen, roster, birds of omen, snakes, and guard dogs, fish, horses

Colors• Red, purple, silver, gold, copper, and black, Orange, Grey, Green, Red, white and brown (associated with traveling)

Crystal• Amethyst, Quartz, Orange topaz, Agate, Marble, smoky quartz, copper, silver, and gold, Eisenkiesel Quartz, Silver, Yellow Topaz, Amber, Citrine, Emerald, and Peridot, red marble, Hematite, jade, malachite, fluorite, pyrite, lapis lazuli, alexandrite

Symbol• Caduceus, Kerykeion (Herald’s staff and magic wand, lulls mortals to sleep and can wake mortals at will), Winged Cap (also called petasos, and a brimmed cap, this cap was called “Cap of Aidoneus, the unseen” because it rendered its wearer invisible), Golden Sickle, Winged Boots- called “pteroeis pedila”, A Sack (the kibisis) Talaria (winged sandals), and Petasos (winged helmet), golden or adamantine blade, shepherd pipes, Purse, Pouch, Hermai.

Mortal or immortal • immortal 

Zodiac• Gemini and Virgo, and cancer 

Equivalent (this means alike, not the same) - Mercury (Roman), Hyperion (Greek), , Horus (Egyptian), Ra (Egyptian), Amun (Egyptian), Freyr (Norse), Bragi (Norse), Odin (Norse), Baldr (Norse), Heimdallr (Norse), Lugh (Celtic), Áine (Celtic), Mercurius (Roman god), Thoth (Egyptian god), Anubis (Egyptian god), Woden-Odin (Germanic god)

Attendees • Oreiades (oreads), Pan & the panes, Satyroi, oneiroi, he is often seen with Hestia.

Ephiphets• Agetor -Guide of Souls, Agonius or Enagonius -pertaining (Hermes’ role as presider over solemn festivals such as Agonius) Agoraea and Agoraeus- to Gods who were considered being the protectors of the assemblies of the people in the agora (also has a reference to the agora as the marketplace), Argeiphontes- “radiant one’, Euskopos Argeiphontes, literally “the sharp-eyed Slayer of Argos”, Chthonius or Chthonios, “of the earth or underworld, Hermes Trismegistus- “Thrice Great Hermes”, Kriophoros- the “ram-bearer” is a figure that commemorates the solemn sacrifice of a ram, Leucus- “white”- an epithet of Hermes in Boetia, a Greek city containing Thebes, “Of the Golden Blade”- he carried a sickle made of adamant, Cyllenius, or Kullhnios- from His birth or temple site on mount Cyllene in Arcadia, Diaktoros Argeiphontes – “the courier” Argeiphontes, Kratus Argeiphontes- “strong” Argeiphontes, Hermes Promakhos- “the Champion” Logios- writer, knower of intelligent design, Tetragonos- four square, Aglaos -Splendid, Agoraios - Of the Market Place, Aipytos -Of Aipytos, Akakesios -Of Akakesion, Angelos -Messenger, Agreiphontes -Argus-Slaying, Bouphonos -Slayer of Oxen, Dioktoros -Messenger, Dolios -Crafty One, Enagonios- Of the Games, Enodios - of the Road, Epimelios - Keeper of the flocks, Eriounios - Luck-Bringer, Euangelos - Bringer of Glad Tidings, Euskopos - Watchful, Gumnasiarkhos - Leader of the Gymnasium, Hermeneutes - Interpreter, Kerdoos - the Gainful, Kerukes -Herald, Kharmophron—Heart-Delighting, Khthonios - of the Earth, Khrysorrhapis -Of the Golden Wand, Klepsiphron - Deceiver, Kourotrophos - Protector of Youth, Kranaios- unknown, Krateros - Mighty, Kriophoros - Ram-Bearer, Kullenios - Of Mount Kyllene, Logios -of Speech, Maiados Huios - Son of Maia, Mekhaniotes - Trickster, Nomios - Protector of Flocks, Oiopolos - Shepherd, Pantokrator- Ruler of the World, Pheletes -Thief, Poikilometes - Full of Various Wiles, Poneomenos - Busy One, Promakhos- Champion, Propulaios - Before the Gates, Psukhopompos - Conveyer of Souls, Takhus - Swift, Tetragonos - Square, Trikephalos - Of the Three Ways/Heads, Trismegestos - Thrice-Greatest, Tukhon- Bringer of Luck, Aglaos- Radiant, Bright, Beautiful, Pleasin, enevolent. Angelos Athanatôn - messenger of the gods, Angelos Makarôn- messenger of the Blessed, Akhos Phêlêteôn- leader of robbers and thieves, Chrysorrhapis- of the Golden wand, Dais herairos - comrade of the forest, Diaktoros- guide & messenger, Dolios- Craft of Wiles, Dôtor Eaôn - giver of good things, Dôtor eaôn- Giver of good things, Enagônions- giver of good things, Enagônios-of the game, Epimêlios-Keeper of the flocks, Erikydês- famous, glorious & splendid, Eriounês - Luck bringing & ready helper, Euskopos-Keen-sighted, Hermêneutês- interpreter/translator, Kharidôtês- giver of joy/graces, Kharmonphrôn- Glad-Hearted, Krateros- Strong & mighty, Kriophoros- ram bearer, Kydimos-glorious, mastêrios- of searchers, mêkhaniôtês-trickster, Oiopolos- sheep tending& shepherd, Phêlêtês- their, robber, rustler, poikilomêtês- full of various wiles, Polytropos - Much traveled& much wandering, pompaios- the guide (he’s a psychopomp) 

Element • air 

Number•Four, eight, Squares

Past courtships• Merope, Aphrodite, Dryope, Peitho, and Hecate,

Personality• People say he is chaotic, some say he’s wise and can be calm, he does give serious advice and is a serious guy, but he also has a sense of humor and won’t always steal from you. (he won’t if you ask him not to..I think.) He is also sassy and side eyes (from other people) I find him difficult to track down, He's very kind and upbeat sometimes, depends on how u contact him and what mood he's in, he gives great advice and someone good to depend on.

Patron of• of cunning thieves and liars, Patron of herdsmen, Patron of orators, Patron of inventors, Cattle-herders, Shepherds, Goatherds, Horse & mule breeders, Grazing pastures, Cave shelters, Guard-dogs, Animal predators, Bucolic poetry, music, Animal fables (ex- the tales of Aesop), Laws of hospitality, he is the Protector of guests, Cattle-rustlers, Bandits, Crafty thoughts, Mail carriers and sorters, Retail workers, Canvassers , Editors, journalists, and writers, Newspaper routes, Bank tellers, Carnies , Casino workers, Gas station attendants, Mechanics, presentations, public speaking, playlists (I've heard this years ago)

Diety of• Divine Trickster, boundaries and thresholds, Creator of civilization as Trickster, Messenger of the Gods, transgressor of boundaries and taboos, Inventor of fire, Inventor of sacrifice, of mysteries, Bringer of sleep, dreams, and visions, free will, Psychopompos or Guide of the Dead, Escort of the Gods, thieves, graves, and heralds, Luck, Unexpected Fortune, Giver of Good, of sacrificial priests, successful communication with enemies, translation and language, gymnasia and athletic youth, logos world order, trade and commodities, astronomy, knowledge, speech, Inventor of boxing, running and foot races, of exchange, alchemy, science, internet, Magic, Presider at solemn sacrifices, Divine Movement, Ruler of the Orphic House of Cancer, Ruler of the Planet Mercury, Western astrological signs of Gemini and Virgo, Scribe of the Gods, Protector of all messengers especially in war, Protector of wise women and elderly women, Fertility and Procreation, God of Masturbation, Soul Transformation and Guide through Consciousness changes, Heraldry and animal husbandry, speed, Codes, and Secrets, Caretaker of graves, Protector of travelers, Mechanics, Wine-pourer of the Gods, Inventor of weights and balances, Controller of Birds of Omen, hospitality, diplomacy, physical and moral boundaries, Orators, presentation, public speaking

Home• Mount Olympus 

Fact• He invented the alphabet and dice and the lyre, he also has a stone called the “hermai” on the side of the road or a stone with a penis (he was a fertility god) to show a border or a crossing, sometimes to explain direction and distance, or in important landmarks is up ahead, the herms were worshiped, with offerings and anointed with olive oil and adorned with flowers and wreaths, telling us about the sacredness and importance of the hermai. (The ones near tombs are also connected to funeral rites). Some say he created fire, because in his myth of his birth he started a fire to sacrifice cows to the gods.

Roots• Greek mythology, Mount Cyllene

Blessings • protection on the road, money randomly found, easy speaking, good parking, and less traffic. Herds multiply (fertility); Herds protected (from predators), Success in trade, Goods protected from thieves, having Persuasive speech, Poetic inspiration, Safe traveling, Protection of guests, Homes protected from thieves & criminals, having Wiliness and stealth, 

Curses: Herds die off by disease and infertility, Herds lost to predators, Unsuccessful trade, loss in money, loss in memory, loss In conversation, unwelcome ghosts in the house.

Food recipe • Panspermia, a mixture of beans, peas, seeds, olive oil, milk, and honey, should only be offered to Hermes in his Underworld aspect. This offering is considered food for the dead and should not be tasted by the living (considered bad luck if Aten by living) 

Offerings • Keys, Dice, Playing cards, Coins, Rocks/pebbles,Lucky charms (Cereal), Rabbit's foot, Horse shoe, Magic 8 ball, Coffee, Energy drinks, Herms, Road trip snacks (perhaps Hostess donuts), Airplanes/trains/cars imagery, Foreign/new foods, Trail mix, Peanut m&ms, rumane the marble popping soda drink, Turtles, Lyres/string instruments, Sandals/shoes/running shoes, Journals, Camping gear, Survival gear, like multitools, fire starters, first aid kits etc, Pens/pencils, Small (stolen) trinkets, Language dictionaries, Work out gear, Panpipes, Postcards, Letters, Mail, Stamps, Envelopes, Zodiac signs, Sheep/goats, Car parts, Backpacks/drawstring bags/bags, Crocos, Sticks, Saffron, Sticks, Books, Cups, Scales, Dream journals, Graveyard dirt, Cookie fortunes, Bikes/skateboards/skate, Old licenses/IDs, Sport trophies/jerseys/jackets/gear, Wings, Letters/numbers, Video games, Magic kits, Oranges/Lemons, Beer, White wine, Red wine for (His chthonic aspect), Milk, Mutton, Pork, Beef, Chamomile tea, Honey, Olive oil, Strawberries, Foreign foods, Eggs, Virgo or Gemini moon water,Golden objects, Silver objects, Musical instruments, Wands, Money/coins, Foreign money/coins, Dice, Pebbles, Feathers, Turtle shaped objects or art, Strawberry art or toys, Crocus flowers, Written stories or letters, Travel food, Souvenirs from your trips wheat, honey, twigs of olive, honey-comb and honey from local bees, cassia, cinnamon, saffron, include eggs, onions, garlic, pomegranate seeds, and fish or pork, barley grains, mead, beer (Especially German), lead, papyrus, pebbles, herms (or boundary stones), chocolate, whipped cream, coffee drinks, brightly-colored easter eggs, blueberries, granola, almonds, walnuts, pecans, Absinthe, beer, gin, vodka, red-bull, dry white wine, blessed moon water (especially in Virgo, Cancer, or Gemini), metal, jars, gin, pomegranates, onions, fish, garlic, Statues, Turtle Imagery, Hawk Imagery, Ram Imagery, Rooster Imagery, Marbles, Postcards, Chocolate, Lemons, Almonds, Mutton, Foreign Food, Brightly Colored Eggs, Onions, Sunflower Seeds, Fig Newton Cookies, Granola, Candies, Strawberry Milk, spring water, cookies or cakes, Wine, Golden cakes, Golden raisins, Apples, Music or poetry, Dancing, Drawings, pineapple, anything with computers, (especially boxing games, online games, and hackers), orange peels, gas station coffee!!, apples, bananas, grapes,Anything containing mercury, Crocuses, Panpipes, Saffron, Strawberries, Chocolate, Wheat, Honey, Lemons, Almonds, Cassia, Cinnamon, Pork or mutton, Spring water, Comforting a dying loved one, letters

Devotional• Board games, Dominos, pick up sticks, playing jacks, bouncy balls, peanut m&ms, write letters, go on walks, go run, do marathons in his honor, road trips, learn about alchemy, astrology, astral travel, prophet dreams, anything astrology related, learn basic car mechanics, give whatever to panhandlers, go talk to panhandlers (keep them company) , pranks, public speaking, tip well, stargazing, geocaching, learn a new language, Learn ASL, work out, Deive safely and predictably, use your blinkers fucking properly , bike/skate, clean your car, make a travel alter (for Hermes), get a passport, Travel , practice keyboarding, have a penpal, Train your voice, magic tricks, check your mail/email , low risk gambling (ex• lotto tickets) , make sigils, race, Play tag, be nice to wait staff, play sports, make maps of trails near you, make maps in general, play string instruments , Make herms, Carpool, Uphold confidentiality, Coin tricks, Be a reliable worker, Thrifting/yard saying, Dumpster diving, Making trades and barter, Help look for missing people/pets, Travel to new places, Learn a new sport, Practice speaking in public or online, Practice writing, Learn astrology, Learn astronomy, Learn about agriculture and animal husbandry, Learn magic tricks, Collect coins, Have a feast in His name, Dice games (ex- DnD), Card games, Donate to homeless shelters in His name, Give money to the hhomeless, Keep a dream journal, Write Him stories and poems or jokes, Honor the dead, Invoke Him on your travels or when looking for a job, always thank Him when you arrive safely or have some luck in your life, studying, learning, playing harmless pranks, attending magic shows, going on adventures, trying out new things, donating to fundraisers, working out, Taking a scenic route on your way home,Picking up loose change, Going to thrift stores, Being patient with delivery drivers, Going for walks, Making a mood board, Making a playlist, Making a dedicated journal, Giving to those in need, Going to/Watching sporting events, Practicing safe driving, Donations to hospitals and health institutions Donations to local artists, learn on how to save on gas, learn how to surf, draw sigils on shoes, leave coins when you leave places (extra points for pennys), give people in need a bus fare, clean off snow on other peoples car, clean your car, stopping for others (nicely, don’t run them over!), let him pick music, get a passport in his honor, decorate your passport, learn how animals communicate, call a love one, establish and force, dedicate a electronic to him, collect stamps and post cards, keep ur secrets, communicate with people when your upset,Keep a journal, Learn a new language/Revisit, Learn ASL, Learn about the evolution of language and how it is always changing, Be mindful of the language you use in daily life, Change your self-talk to positive, Voice training (Particularly for trans worshippers), Thinking before you speak, Learn about older forms of communication (ex- Morse Code), Learn braille,Go to the library and practice reading books in a foreign language ,Practice writing (great to do, Learn about the elements of writing, like allegory and metaphors, Play pranks (remember that good pranks cause confusion, not harm), Buy scratch offs/play the lottery, Understand how gambling addictions affect people, Dice and card games, Learn about good luck charms/Make your own, Learn about superstitions, Games like billiards or darts, Arcade/video games/carnival games, Make small/friendly bets, Poker nights in his honor, Do aGame of horseshoe, Learn parlor games, Smoke a bowl with Him, Learn a good joke, Write/perform stand up comedy,  Checking your mail, Checking email/voicemail, Buying stamps, Flipping a coin, Dice divination, Charm casting, present a presentation in his honor, public speaking in his honor

Siblings• Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Ersa, Hebe, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Heracles, Minos, Pandia, Persephone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, the Graces, the Horae, the Litae, the Muses, and the Moirai.

Appearance in astral or gen• Winged cap and boots, Traveller’s cloak, Youthful usually beardless figure or with a beard, with a Caduceus, sometimes seen with a mustache

Parentage• Zeus and the nymph Maia or Uranus and Hemera

Sacred days, festivals- Wednesday, the 4th day of the month, Hermaea, Agonius, in Cydonia social order was inverted for the festival and masters waited on their slaves, and slaves got to taste freedom. 

Season• March, April, May, June (based on zodiacs) 

Status• Messenger of the gods, and an underworld worker, he is called the darling of the gods

Music • anything from flutes or the lyre.

Sacred places• Mt Kyllene in Arkadia (his birthplace), Arcadia, mount Cyllene, Tricrena mountains, his Temples, his Cavern-shrines, Altars in market-places, gymnasiums, athletic arenas, house entrances. 

Planet• mercury

Tarot• eight wands, magician, judgment, and maybe seven swords 

Scents/Inscene • Frankensince, Myrrh incense, Lavender incense, strawberry, camphor, and malabathrumcock, storax, mastic, mace, moly, nettles, asafoetida, ginger, and marjolane, dragon’s blood incense, list cloves, tobacco, nag champa, poppy, and vanilla, ink on parchment, Musk, White Sandalwood, Nettles

His kids -Hermaphroditus, Tyche, Abderus, Autolycus, Eudorus, Angelia, and Myrtilus, Arabos, Abderos, Aithalides, Bounos, Daphinis, Ekhion, Eleusis (according to others, she was a minor goddess of Eleusinian Mysteries), Euandros, Kaikos, kephalos, keryx, kydon, libys, Mytilos, Norax, Orion, Paris, Paris, phaunos, polybos,saon

What I associate with him• rock music, bricks, dinosaurs, and wine (I promised to share my first cup of wine with him once I turn 21)

Some summarized myths •

Birth- Hermes was born from his mother Maia, the goddess of the fields, and his Father Zeus, he hid in a cave with his mother in Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia, the same day he was born (or when he was a toddler), he ran away while his mother was out, he stole cattle and turned their feet backwards, to 'trick' Apollo, he went back to the cave and made a fire and sacrificed 2 cows to catch the gods attention and ate 1 and hid the rest, outside after he ate he saw a  tortoise feeding and cleaned it out and made strings together from a cow he ate, and made a lyre and a plectrum, and Apollo found him, furious he took him to his father and he denied everything and zeus found it hilarious, and he had to head back to the place where he hid the cattle, on the way he played the lyre, Apollo was enamored by it and asked for it and in return he would be his best friend and forgive him, and while helping Apollo tend to the cattle he made pan pipes, which Apollo made him a deal for his iconic golden snake staff and the skill of phropecy by using pebbles.

Killing Argos- Zeus had a lover Io, Who he was laying with in a field, Hera saw and strolled over, he struck in panic turned her into a cow, and Hera came over and demanded it as a gift, and zeus obliged, zeus in a panic asked Hermes to slay it, Hermes went to the cane where the all-seeing giant was, he lured him to sleep with a song, and when he was asleep, he slashed all his eyes and killed him, and took the cow, and in grief Hera turned the giant into a peacock to save the memory and to honor the giant. that's the myth where he gained the title 'Argos slayer'

Prayers•

Safe travels

Swift-footed Hermes, friend of the traveler, friend of those who find themselves far from their homes, by will or by chance, I pray to you. Hermes, who moves between the realms with authority and ease, who leads men and women on their last, longest journey, who stands at the crossroad, who watches the byways, in you I place my trust, for by your might I know that when I stumble I will rise again, that when I choose my way I will choose aright. Hermes, as I make my way through the world, whether I wander or whether I walk my path with care, be with me.

In general

Hermes of the ready wit and the lightning smile, wing-footed one who carries the words of the gods, compassionate one who guides the newly-dead to the hall of Hades and fair Persephone, quick-thinking one who takes interest in the world and works of mankind, whose hand we see in a run of luck and a clever scheme, I call to you. Hermes, bearer of the herald’s staff, your gifts are great. You guard our homes with constancy and care, you grant to us a portion of your own craft and wile, you join with us when we revel and are merry, you stand with us when we are far from home, alone. You are ever with us, O Hermes; O god who holds in hand the good of men, I honor you.

hestia & hermes for good money

I call to Hermes, god of the marketplace, god of the the deal, from whose hands fall shining coins. I call to Hestia, goddess of the home, goddess of good management, who knows the ways of thrift. Grant me a keen eye to spot a bargain, I pray; grant that I know false economy from true. Grant me the craft to repair what is broken, grant me the sufficiency to save for what may come. Grant me the wisdom to live with care, O gods, the discipline and skill to live within my means; grant me the wit to know my needs and my desires, grant me the judgment to know the difference.

This info is some UPG and some traditional, I do not find UPG disrespectful at all and some of it is my own experience, and I am not debating about it. My info is still valid, and I'm sure my sources is, just wanted to clarify this! Much love! I did get some info from other Tumblr users, I made this way back, I still update it, I dont own any of this information.

sources - https://twelfthremedy.tumblr.com/post/621849449656942592/hermes-offerings/amp

Wikipedia. “Agetor.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 May 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agetor.

Burkert, Walter. “The Gods.” Greek Religion. Basil Blackwell and Harvard UP, 1985. 156-59. Print.

The original book was published in Germany as Griechische Religion der archaischen und klassischen Epoche. by Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, copyright year 1977

1b) Atsma, Aaron J. “ESTATE, ATTRIBUTES & ATTENDANTS OF HERMES : Greek Mythology.” THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. 2000. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/HermesTreasures.html, Wikipedia. “Agonius.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 May 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agonius, Wikipedia. “Agoraea.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 26 June 2010. Web. 12 May 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoraeus, Wikipedia. “Chthonius.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 20 June 2011. Web. 26 June 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chthonius,Wikipedia. “Hermes Trismegistus.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 9 June 2011. Web. 26 June 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus., “Kriophoros.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 11 June 2011. Web. 26 June 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriophoros, Wikipedia. “Leucus.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 13 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 June 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucus, Atsma, Aaron J. “ESTATE, ATTRIBUTES & ATTENDANTS OF HERMES : Greek Mythology.” THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. 2000. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/HermesTreasures.html, “CYLLENIUS, Greek Mythology Index.” MYTH INDEX, Greek Mythology. Myth Index, 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.mythindex.com/greek-mythology/C/Cyllenius.html, Sannion. “Wildivine.org – Offeringsto Hermes.” Wildivine.org – Dionysos, Hermes, Nymphs and Pacific Northwest Polytheism. Wildvine.org. Web. 26 June 2011. http://www.wildivine.org/hermes_offerings.htm.1, Sannion. “Wildivine.org – Offerings to Hermes.” Wildivine.org – Dionysos, Hermes, Nymphs and Pacific Northwest Polytheism. Wildvine.org. Web. 12 May, http://www.wildivine.org/hermes_offerings.htm, Sannion. “Wildivine.org – Hermes’epithets.” Wildivine.org – Dionysos, Hermes, Nymphs and Pacific Northwest Polytheism. Wildvine.org. Web. 12 May 2011. http://www.wildivine.org/hermes_epithets.htm.

https://greekpagan.com/category/prayers-2/hermes/

https://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/diksi/article/download/49223/18693#:~:text=The%20red%20or%20green%20color,one%20of%20the%20Olympic%20gods.

 travelingthief.tumblr.comhttps://www.tumblr.com/themodernwitchsguide

I use resources, I do not own the info, and most deep dives have UPG (that I use in my work.) And I only take some information from sources. I am 14, this is my hobby, I am learning but I spent many hours and days on this, and I am always open to criticism. I have been doing worship for 5 years. Please know you can use the info, I do not sue, but I will take action if this work is used without permission and not put as a resource if used in any work. without permisson and not put as a resource if used in any work, for the public.

[carrionkid]

Here's the albums I listened to in November!

Sonic Jihad - Snake River Conspiracy

Clear Hearts Grey Flowers - Jack Off Jill

Walking With Strangers - The Birthday Massacre

Cex Cells - Blaqk Audio

Every Where is Some Where - K. Flay

Is A Real Boy - Say Anything

Collide With the Sky - Pierce the Veil

Talking to the Dead - Rosemary's Babies

Brain Eaters - Brain Eaters

Hot Man Pussy - Tragic Mulatto

The Greatest Show Unearthed - Creature Feature

Volume 1 - Amigo the Devil

Knife Man - AJJ

Trickstereprocess - Kidneythieves

Sin City - Genitorturers

SKOLD vs. KMFDM - SKOLD, KMFDM

Burn Out at the Hydrogen Bar - Chemlab

Jenny From Thebes - The Mountain Goats

Ladies, Women, and Girls - Bratmobile

Anarchy, My Dear - Say Anything

Stomachaches - Frnkiero and the Celebration (going back to my angsty high school days)

Misadventures - Pierce the Veil

Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair - La Dispute

Terror Twilight - Pavement

Wide Awake! - Parquet Courts

All Hail West Texas - The Mountain Goats

Inflammable Material - Stiff Little Fingers

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (2 times)

Hello - Poe (I actually got into them before finding out this is Mark Z Danielewski's sister)

Fantasies - Metric

Infinity on High - Fall Out Boy

Incesticide - Nirvana

Honky Tonkin' - Mekons

Second Coming - The Dickies

3 - Violent Femmes

The Question is No - Fastbacks

Ballots - Chumbawumba

Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash - The Replacements

New Wave - Against Me!

POST- - Jeff Rosenstock

A Prayer Under Pressure of Violent Anguish - My Ruin

Feast Scent Beast - Dirt

Beautiful Rat Sunset - The Mountain Goats (on a mission to listen to their whole discography)

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement

Sweden - The Mountain Goats

Nine Black Poppies - The Mountain Goats

Steady Diet of Nothing - Fugazi

It's 11pm so I'm calling it a night for my music of November!!

[hearts-hunger]

thank you to my lovies @indigofallingsky @aintthatapity @lipstickitty @sinners-go-to-drink-the-wine and @maud-gone for tagging me!

were you named after anyone?

my middle name, jae, is a feminine version of my dad's name!

when was the last time you cried?

ohhh let's see... last week i think? i was having a crisis about where my life's going and had one of those praying/crying things about it.

do you have kids?

nope! i might like to some day, if i marry the right person.

do you use a lot of sarcasm?

YES and i think it's off-putting to lots of people, lmao

what’s the first thing you notice about people?

probably the way they dress. it's very telling.

what’s your eye color?

blue! sometimes kind of grey

scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings, not least because i'm a scardey cat and will have nightmares for days if i watch a scary movie

any special talents?

i can do accents very well. i can also quote the entirety of the 1946 christmas movie it's a wonderful life nearly word for word. it's weird.

where were you born?

jersey babey

what are your hobbies?

writing novels (i'm on my second right now), writing fanfiction, collecting vinyls, thrifting for weird things that need a home

have any pets?

i have mint, basil, and rosemary plants (named phoebe, thebe, and weeby) whom i love - does that count?

what sports do you play/have you played?

i played soccer when i was in elementary school, and through middle and high school i played volleyball. i'm the assistant coach for my school's middle school team now :)

how tall are you?

5'2''

favorite subject in school?

history, and physics but only because of the teacher

dream job?

i want to be a researcher/author with a university or museum where i have a cosy office with my phd hanging on the wall, floor-to-ceiling bookcases stuffed with interesting reads (including my published novels), and a beautiful oak desk at which to sit and write novels and history books and research articles.

i'm not going to tag anybody since i've seen this going around and i know lots of people have been tagged, but if you see this and want to do it, please say i tagged you!

[everydayducksoup]

300 words a day

Chanel manifesto

Black ballet flat shoes with the logo on the nerve-point of the toe and twenty five minutes or more of cold silence. I am sick of men. Systems are irrelevant, I am sick of men. I want to see my mother and feel warm warm warm warm summer sun on every pore, go back to the gym, cry, laugh, struggle, get even more pustules of Staph infection, sweat hard and feel the gut-hole of erotic disappointment re-unraveling. I don't want to play tourist anymore. I don't want to look for recipes, cut onions, slice mushroom, baste meat, smell dill and rosemary and thyme. I want to be alone with the cutting-edge of fence wiring and I want to party to the sound of Rio, Talking Heads: 77, Jenny From Thebes (which I haven't even had the time to sit and give a proper listen to).

I am sick of men!

I'm sick of catching someone's eye across the thick air and having him stare through me, sick of that way they have of slicing through the personal you've deeply built in sticky nerves around yourself and scooping out every gut and pus and molecules of hard-earned self you have. Systems aside, appeals, anything with more sense than a roast beef demi-glace can fall to an absolute wayside. I don't like vacations— and this one hasn't even started. Plan your way out of a shit hole with a full-the-hour-by-second type of plan, suck the money out of him, and then feel bad, feel terrible. It's all you can think to do, what-in-so-ever. Friday therapist and all you think is what room to burrow into, where to banish him. Sick incest of the spirit that it is, you don't want any thought of am imperfect mind caught in the middle.

I ! Am ! Sick ! Of ! Men !

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Sponde (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nickname- Lady Libation by the people of Olympius

Age- 34 (immortal)

Location- New Olympus, Olympius (The Royal Palace)

Personality- Completely uninhibited & fearless, she captures the attention of any room she enters. She's magnetic, alluring, empathetic, and totally comfortable in her own skin. She's pansexual & is in a committed throuple.

Sponde is in the small list of spirits deities- the most well known being Dionysus (god of wine, fertility, madness, ecstasy, the arts, & theater).

She has the standard abilities of a goddess except shapeshifting. As the goddess of libations her other powers/abilities include limited alcokinesis, limited pyrokinesis (her flame burns a dark gold color), limited ambrosia manipulation, & hydroportation (through alcohol).

Sponde lives in an apartment suite at the royal palace with her partners- a maenad named Lyra and a satyr named Costas. The color scheme are in rich deep hues of bronze, red, orange, & gold. There's lots of silk and satin furniture along with a built in bar as well as a room that houses her collection of spirits- wine, champagne, beer, & rum. One such addition to her collection was an induction gift from Zeus- the oldest mead dating back to the Titanomachy! It's over several thousand years old and it is kept in an ornate Imperial Gold bottle.

She's fond of wearing various body jewelry.

Sponde has an animal companion- a dragon named Valtaro. He has cobalt and bronze scales with gold claws, horns, crests, & wings. He's her usual mode of transportation and is also quite protective of her partners.

She's a member of The Horae. Her main responsibilities include guiding the tour group to the best eateries in the city. She almost always cover the early evening shifts at the palace's gift shop.

There's too many alcoholic drinks that she enjoys with a recent favorite being the chocolate martini. She also likes bourban ball cocktails, rum punch, New Olympus Iced Teas, pinot noir, & the p*rn star cocktail- a drink made with vanilla flavored vodka, passionfruit puree, a bit of sparkling wine, lime juice, and vanilla syrup. Her usuals from The Roasted Bean is an olympian sized iced dark chocolate mocha & a large orange passionfuit splash.

Sponde loves eating Lyra's egg sandwiches (added with sundried tomatoes, rosemary, & feta cheese) and Costas' warm and gooey sticky buns (also drizzled with dark chocolate sauce) for breakfast.

She values all her individual friendships with the other members of The Horae.

Sponde has been with her partners for a few years. They first came across each other during the Dionysia holiday, where the parade was being held in the Mania neighborhood. They got along so well that they continued hanging out at a restuarant, talking till it was closing time! After exchanging contact info on Fatestagram, Lyra invited them out to a retreat where her cousin lived in Thebes for a long weekend. During the retreat, the three of them became intimate. The memory still brings tears to Sponde's eyes, looking back on how gentle, passionate, & meaningful it was. They've been inspereable ever since. Sponde was ever grateful to Zeus when he allowed for her partners to move in the palace. Before her partners, she dated Helios (Titan god of the sun).

She knows about the looks & whispers her relationship gets, but Sponde doesn't give a damn. They're all comfortable in the bond they share as well as what they each contribute to the relationship. Sponde doesn't mind answering questions, but finds the unwanted commentary disrespectful- especially from the likes of Aeschyne (goddess of modesty & honor), The Litae, and Eusebeia (goddess of peity, loyalty, duty, & filial respect).

A guilty pleasure for her are the olympian burgers from Olympic Chef. She always buys two with extra red onions, feta cheese, & tzatziki sauce!

In the pantheon Sponde's also friends with Agathodaemon (Daemon) (god of vineyards, grainfields, & luck), Palioxis (goddess of backrush & retreat), Oeno (goddess of berries & wine), Kéfi (goddess of mirth), Damia (goddess of naturalness), Sardo (one of The Nesoi), Elpis (goddess of hope), Philotes (goddess of sex, friendship, & affection), Argía (goddess of holidays), Felis (Titaness of cats), Kósmima (goddess of adornment), Matikós (god of performance), Epimetheus (Titan god of afterthought), and Pan (god of the wild, satyrs, shepherds, & rustic music).

She finds it sweet that Dionysus looks up to her as a maternal figure.

One of her favorite make-up products to use is the Hot Intoxication liquid glitter eyeliner in the shade "Champagne Candy." She also likes the Olmorfia gel powder highlighter in "Perfectly Pyrite."

For other work/means of income Sponde models for/endorses Swimsilk- the swimwear brand of Aphrodite (goddess of love & beauty), Hot Intoxication‐ the cosmetics brand of Methe (goddess of drunkenness), Heavenly Spark, Euryphaessa, and Megaleio- the handbag brand of Clymene (Titaness of fame & renown).

Sponde has her own business endeavor- a spirits brand called Lavish Libations. Popular products from the brand are the various flavored rum like passionfruit & mixed berry as well as the pear brandy. With an official website, the first store (located in the Mania neighborhood) is to soon follow!

Her all time favorite dessert is the flambéed candied chestnut rum cake. It's one of the many desserts offered at The Crown, an upscale restaurant.

At her most recent birthday, Sponde was gifted the Diamond Ave. champagne VIP bottle jeweled clutch bag from Kéfi. The greatest gift however was from Lyra & Costas, a sailboat trip to Mycenae.

Sponde is the undefeated champ of the Mystês Amusement Park for riding the gigantic mechanical bull the longest without being thrown off!

She's also a licensed bartender!

Her favorite frozen treat is the Cocktails on Ice's chocolate cherry red wine ice cream.

In her free time Sponde enjoys sailing, tanning, surfing, football (soccer), swimming, rock climbing, going to the spa, jet skiing, cooking, and dancing.

Her all time favorite meal is penne a la vodka along with garlic bread and seared scallops in champagne sauce.

"From the fool and the drunkard you may learn the truth."

[spriteofmushrooms]

A write-up of my thoughts on my Oakcha shipment, mostly for Nova's benefit. I haven't smelled any of the originals besides love... don't be shy, so these are my opinions based only on what's in the bottle.

Ruby 34, inspired by Chanel No. 5 Grand Extrait Baccarat.

Top Notes: Aldehydes, Ylang-Ylang, Neroli, Bergamot and Lemon

Heart Notes: Iris, Orris, Jasmine, Rose and Lily-of-the-Valley

Base Notes: Civet, Sandalwood, Moss, Vetiver, Patchouli, Amber, Musk and Vanilla

One of Mom's favorites.

My thoughts: fresh, clean, lightly floral, fruity. it's weird that I like this since I don't care for no. 5 in general. 4/5

Emerald 13, inspired by The Spirit of Dubai Shumukhj.

Fragrance Notes: Amber, Sandalwood, Musk, Indian agarwood, Turkish rose, Patchouli, Ylang ylang and Frankincense

My thoughts: complex, woody, dry. feels expensive. subtle. 3/5

Diamond 15, inspired by Morreale Paris Le Monde Sur Mesure.

Top Notes: Basil, Lavender, Lime, Mint, Rosemary, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lemon, Neroli and Sweet Orange

Heart Notes: Fir, Juniper, Black pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Madagascar cloves, Jasmine, Lemon, Indonesian nutmeg, May rose, Rosewood and Ylang-ylang

Base Notes: Cypress, Pine, Ginger, Cedar, Patchouli, Australian sandalwood, Vanilla and Vetiver

My thoughts: clean, herbal, complex, almost soapy? like carrying a bundle of plants. 3.5/5

Sapphire 7, inspired by Baccarat Les Larmes Sacrees de Thebes.

Top Notes: Egyptian cassie, Pepper flower, Pink pepper

Heart Notes: Jasmine, Geranium, Rose

Base Notes: Balsam, Myrrh, Amber

My thoughts: laundry detergent. 0/5

Pearl 22, inspired by Clive Christian No. 1 Imperial Majesty.

Top Notes: Bergamot, Sicilian mandarin, Ylang-ylang, Neroli

Heart Notes: Musk, Clove, Vanilla, Vetiver

Base Note: Sandalwood

One of Mom's favorites.

My thoughts: spicy, fruity, woodsy. not too dry, not too sweet. 5/5

Grey Santal, original.

Top Notes: Amber, Vanilla

Heart Notes: Leather, Jasmine, Sandalwood

Base Notes: Cedarwood, Guiacawood, Smoky Musk

My thoughts: smoky woodsy leather. 2/5

Dream Fuel, original.

Top Notes: Ambergris, Rose

Heart Notes: Pink Pepper, Berry

Base Notes: Oud, Patchouli

Mom's favorite of all of them. Can you tell she likes patchouli?

My thoughts: green, complex. 3.5/5

Sorcery, original.

Top Notes: Salt and Ozonic notes

Heart Notes: Turkish Rose and Praline

Base Notes: Vanilla, Patchouli and Amber Extreme

My thoughts: intoxicating. 5/5

Cosmic Fusion, original.

Top Notes: Rosemary, Bergamot and Pineapple

Heart Notes: Lavender and Cinnamon

Base Notes: Ambroxan, Sandalwood, Benzoin and Vanilla

My thoughts: smells like clean linen... 2/5

Ukiyo, original.

Top Notes: Bergamot, Pineapple, Melon

Heart Notes: Patchouli, Dry Woods

Base Notes: Oakmoss, Ambergris, Vanilla, Leather

One of Mom's favorites.

My thoughts: also intoxicating. too dry for me to wear, but I love sniffin' it. 4.5/5

Amber Aura, original.

Top Notes: Cardamom, Cinnamon and Bergamot

Heart Notes: Rose and Jasmine

Base Notes: Amber Extreme, Vanilla and Labdanum

My thoughts: delectably spicy. like I told you, I layered this with Heavens Speak, and it's divine. 5/5

Secret Duchess, inspired by Kilian princess.

Top Note: Lemon

Heart Notes: Green Tea, Ginger, Peach, Hedione, Jasmine and Apple

Base Notes: Marshmallow, Vanilla and Benzoin

My thoughts: very secret. I like it best after it dries down. 4/5

Heavens Speak, inspired by Kilian angels' share.

Top Notes: Cognac

Heart Notes: Cinnamon, Tonka Bean and Oak

Base Notes: Praline, Vanilla and Sandalwood

My thoughts: perfect. 6/5

Miss Girl, inspired by MFK's Baccarat Rouge 540 & Tom Ford's Lost Cherry.

Top Notes: Bitter Almond, Sour Black Cherry, Saffron

Heart Notes: Warm Tobacco, Jasmine Sambac, Turkish Rose, Tonka Bean

Base Notes: Moss, Sandalwood, Rich Amber, Vanilla, Caramel

My thoughts: cherry syrup and almond extract. 2/5

Almost Nude, inspired by Kilian good girl gone bad.

Top Notes: Osmanthus, Jasmine and May Rose

Heart Notes: Indian Tuberose and Narcissus

Base Notes: Amber and Cedar

My thoughts: refreshing, light. 3/5

Madame Rose, inspired by Parfums de Marly Delina.

Top Notes: Litchi, Rhubarb, Bergamot and Nutmeg

Heart Notes: Turkish Rose, Peony, Musk, Petalia and Vanilla

Base Notes: Cashmere, Cedar, Haitian Vetiver and Incense

My thoughts: fruity, floral, spicy, interesting. 4.5/5

Sweet Addict, inspired by Kilian love... don't be shy.

Top Notes: Bergamot, Neroli, Pink Pepper, Rose

Heart Notes: Bulgarian Rose, Egyptian Jasmine, Honeysuckle, Marshmallow, Orange Blossom, Orris

Base Notes: Civet, Labdanum Cistus, Vanilla, White Musk

My thoughts: meh!! nothing like my beloved :( 0/5 I'm so disappointed. the internet says to give it a few weeks and try again. blagh!!!

[endlessly-cursed]

FBAWTFT- Atticus Demiurgos-Kennedy

"𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚'𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩-𝙞𝙛𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙'𝙫𝙚-𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣'𝙨. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩. 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠."

Name: Atticus Ferdia Demiurgos-Kennedy 

Nicknames: tbd 

Birthdate: 31st of August, 1907

Zodiac Sign: Leo 

Personality Type (MBTI): tbd 

Blood Status: Pureblood 

Nationality: Greco-British 

Physical Appearance

Hair: Black 

Eyes: Dark brown 

Height: 1.89m 

Weight: 83kg 

Body Type: Lean, well-built 

Skin Tone: White, tans easily 

Distinguishing Marks (scars, birthmarks, etc.): a small paper cut on his thumb 

Background

Hometown

Atticus’ home was mainly between his father’s townhouse in Thebes and Kennedy Manor, his mother’s townhouse. He grew up spoiled and with most things within reach. 

Family

Mother: Minerva Aileen Demiurgos-Kennedy ( @unfortunate-arrow​ ) 

Atticus admired his mother and was the closest to her, and he always loved to hear about her novels and later on brainstorm with her. He was the one always goading her to publish a novel with her name, not just her surname. Her many tales of his grandfather Ferdia inspired him to become a maker of history and thus developed a serious persona from a young age. 

Father: Adonis Androcles Demiurgos 

Atticus’ jokester father always gave him mixed feelings. He was relieved that he wasn’t overbearing, but had a hard time bonding with him and relating to him. Though he had a serious side, it was rarely shown off, not to mention he favoured his twin sister Daphne. He did inherit from him his love for languages and liberal ideas and soon spoke Greek and many other languages as he did in his youth. 

Twin Sister: Daphne Alice Demiurgos-Kennedy 

Atticus always felt protective of his twin sister. He idiolized her as a teenager and was never trailing too far from her, fearing that her natural beauty would cause any trouble, though his mother chastized him later about how little blame she had from men not being mature enough to be respectful towards women. The twins got on well and always supported each other the best they could. 

Hogwarts

House: Slytherin 

Best Class: History of Magic, DADA 

Worst Class: Herbology 

Boggart: Being the shame of the family 

Riddikulus: The family become acrobats doing clumsy pirouettes 

Patronus: Lion 

Patronus Memory: Practising the waltz with his mother and sister 

Mirror of Erised: Himself as the most famous man in the Wizarding World, his family watching proud 

Amortentia (what he smells like): ink, paper, coconut, earl grey tea, rosemary and new books 

Amortentia (what he smells): petrichor, jasmine, lilac, herbal tea, parchment, candlewax 

Career

11-18: Hogwarts student

20-35: Desk job at the Ministry

36-48: Chief Warlock

50-64: Minister of Magic

65+: Retiree

Personality & Attitude

Priorities: His career-wise goals, his family 

Strengths: Ambitious, clever, cunning, erudite and doesn’t give up easily 

Weaknesses: Proud, stubborn and smokes 

Stressed: When not working, away from his family 

Calm/Comforted: In his office, drinking whiskey 

Favorites

Colors: green, black, white, purple and mauve 

Weather: Rainy 

Hobbies: Studying, reading, playing chess and travelling around 

Fashion: Atticus dresses always neat and cleaned up, showing off his status. His colour palette is black, white and dark green 

Relationships

Significant Other/Love Interest: Iolanthe Arcano ( @kathrynalicemc​ ) 

Though both of them went at the same house, they were a few years behind, so they never truly noticed one another until Atticus was 21 and Lanny was 23 and the Norwegian Minister of Magic. Atticus was the equivalent of a diplomat and was renowned for his charisma, charm, intelligence, wit and persuasion skills, which drew them to the other eventually. They dated for a while before they settled down, and were known as the Magical Power Couple. Atticus loved his wife dearly and both of them had a loving marriage. 

Friends: tbd 

Rivals: tbd, though he’d have many! 

Trivia

He’s a polyglot: he can speak, apart from Greek and English, Nordic languages, Hungarian, Italian, Arabic, many Native languages of America (as a continent, the US is NOT America) 

He’s a curious mind and is always learning new things, and his work allows him to do so 

He’s an athlete and has a very strong form 

He loves to travel around and joins Iolanthe in her quest with the Empyrean crew 

He’s a poet, inspired in his mother, and a great dueller inspired in his father 

He’s also a composer 

He can play the flute, piano, violin and Scottish bagpipes 

He’s very loyal, despite his teasing flirtatious nature 

He’s also a romantic at heart 

[simmer-rhi]

It Girls Legacy - Gen 1

In a tragic turn of events, local matriarche Arnessa Thebe passed suddenly in the middle of a Spooky Day party thrown by Tartosa residents Rosemary Song and Matteo Marino.

Arnessa was a descendant of the legendary Princess Cornelia Thebe. She was well travelled, and on meeting her husband they returned to Tartosa to raise their family. She took on ownership of the family's wedding business, and without her ingenuity and determination, Tartosa would not be the world renowned wedding destination it is today.

Arnessa's family would like to thank you for your condolenses at this sad time, and invite you to celebrate Arnessa's life at their home on Saturday at 3pm.

(Grim lurking in the background like it's a Where's Grim picture)

[loneberry]

Flowers for Eternity

What is the alphabet of funeral flowers that appears everywhere in my work? 

Below the cut is “Flowers for Eternity”—my favorite chapter from Stephen Buchmann’s book The Reason for Flowers—on the relationship between flowers and death, and the use of flowers for funerary and religious rituals. 

*

Flowers as the enshrinement of wayward souls

Flowers as an olfactory mask for decomposing corpses

Flowers as memorialization

Flowers as emotional salve in the face of loss

Who knows why, when a life is snuffed out, a bouquet sprouts in the void. 

In the end, we all will become flowers

Ruderals in the cemetery of lost dreams

Flowers for Eternity They are love’s last gift—bring ye flowers, pale flowers! —Felicia Hermans It’s a cold February morning in Orange County, California. My family, and our relatives and friends, gather on a green lawn, in the Garden of Contentment, an older area within the sprawling Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California, the largest cemetery in the United States. A friend has given the eulogy for my father, Stanley, who has died at age fifty-seven. Our family walks to the open grave hand in hand. My father’s sister carries a bouquet of flowers. One by one, we come forward, adding colorful bouquets atop the metal coffin. Floral wreaths rest next to the gravesite on tall stands. Earlier that morning, several hundred friends, family, and relatives paid their final respects during a funeral service in the flower-filled First Congregational Church of Buena Park. Now, our family and a few others remain graveside among the floral tributes before the casket is lowered. Such earthen burials in cemeteries are repeated about six thousand times each day in the United States and many more times around the world. Much of the florist industry is based on these services and other floral tributes. With their beauty, flowers comfort us; they make us smile and ease our grief. They help us to heal and recover from losses and emotional wounds. This has always been true. Our ancestors used cut flowers as grave offerings since the time spiritual beliefs first stirred in humans. Archaeological excavations of ancient burial sites in Iraq and Israel, along with tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, such as Tutankhamen, provide us with glimpses into the burial customs of these ancient mourners, and flowers for eternity. Buried with Flowers Deep within the Zagros Mountains of northern Iraq is the famed Shanidar Cave. Early humans, Neanderthals, lived here seventy thousand years ago and buried their dead. Excavations in the 1950s by a Columbia University archaeological team unearthed ten Neanderthal skeletons buried along with an assortment of stone tools. At least one individual may have been laid upon a bed of stems of joint pine (Ephedra, shrubs that make no flowers) and also adorned with bouquets of flowers. Pollen from twenty-eight flowering species was identified from the gravesite soils. Pollen-grain concentrations were higher within the grave than in the surrounding areas of Shanidar Cave. This sensational discovery was widely reported in the media and sparked debate. Did the family group of Neanderthals have ritualized burials? Was this the first evidence of floral grave offerings? Or, as has recently been suggested, was it merely interred pollen brought into the cave by generations of gerbil-like rodents hoarding grasses and wildflowers? For now, the story is unclear. Not as old, but far more scientifically convincing, is a twelve-millennia-old gravesite inside Raqefet Cave on Israel’s Mt. Carmel studied by archaeologists at the University of Haifa. Here, four graves from the Natufian culture (radiocarbon-dated to be 13,700 to 11,700 years old) were lined with flowers at the time of burial. In one grave, an adult male and an adolescent were buried together atop a thick bier of floral offerings. Judaean sage (Salvia judaica), along with other unidentified mints (Lamiaceae) and members of the snapdragon family (Plantaginaceae), were used. Interestingly, Judaean sage has been a ritual plant since ancient times. It has commonly followed Mediterranean peoples from cradle to grave, like rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and true myrtle (Myrtus communis). Myrtle remains entwined and is used with one Jewish holiday, Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, still celebrated each autumn. Archaeologist Dr. Dani Nadel spoke with me about the Raqefet Cave ancient graveyard, explaining that the inner grave surfaces were plastered with mud, capturing imprints of the delicate stems and finest floral impressions at the time of inhumation. Based upon the types of local wildflowers used, these may have been spring burials. Perhaps flowers were offered as grave goods not only for their beauty but also for their intense scents, which would have masked the odors of decomposition. Sages, along with mint stems and leaves, are especially fragrant, used to this day in cooking and burned as incense. A visitor to the Mt. Carmel hillside today walks among Judaean sage, a plant as common there now as it likely was millennia ago. The Natufians were possibly the first people to transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to permanent settlements with agriculture, animal husbandry, and true graveyards. Honoring the Dead or Appeasing the Gods? From the earliest times, humans have displayed two interrelated behaviors using flowers. We have buried them with our dead, but we have also adorned statues of deities with garlands or left blooms on sacred altars to propitiate the deities. Why is it that something as ephemeral and delicate as a flower took on this new role in the theologies of so many divergent cultures? How could a flower provide comfort for grieving mourners if we evolved from fruit-eating ancestors? Why not use something else? Shouldn’t we be decorating sarcophagi and coffins with fruit, luscious red ripe grapes, apples, or figs? Perhaps it happened because the blooming of flowers around the world proceeds in a predictable, seasonal pattern. Flowers of the dry season are replaced by flowers of the rainy season in the tropics. In cooler-milder zones, three or four seasons offer a diverse but revolving carousel of buds that open and wilt at appointed times. Catastrophic destruction by unexpected droughts, wildfires, or floods interrupts annual climate cycles but not forever. Given time, the flowers return. Early humans certainly noticed that when their kin were buried in shallow graves, these sites were later colonized by blooming, opportunistic, short-lived wildflowers ecologists call ruderals. This mode of natural renewal had been noted by most generations of poets, regardless of era. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Laertes offers the then-widespread belief that good flowers spring from the grave of a good person. He hopes that violets will spring from his sister Ophelia’s grave, although her death was a suicide. Thus, Mt. Carmel hides more than one ruined necropolis in plain sight. On warm days in January a trained botanist can show cyclamens, red anemones, winter narcissi, and mandrakes poking out between the tips of the half-buried ossuaries. Bouquets, Mummy Garlands, and Floral Collars On a far grander scale, death rites and religious worship were intertwined in the Egypt of the pharaohs. Flower arrangements were used in festivals and for special occasions. Most popular were the spike-topped papyrus reeds, and flowers of sacred blue and white water lilies. Bouquets were presented to deceased relatives at the time of burial and on various festive occasions and anniversaries at the necropolis and mortuary temples. Beautifully designed fresh-flower arrangements were also worn as broad neck collars (wide necklaces) by participants at Egyptian funerary rites and their associated feasts. Bouquets were brought to burials, and papyrus stems played an integral part since these abundant, aquatic reeds symbolized the resurrection of the deceased. Bouquets and persea (Mimusops laurifolia) branches were found inside King Tutankhamun’s multiroomed royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings (ancient Thebes) when it was first opened by Howard Carter in 1922. Ancient flower collars and dried-but-once-fresh flowers are found on mummies and draped on statues placed within tombs. When nineteen-year-old pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried in 1323 BC, many floral garlands were placed as offerings on his three nested, gilded coffins. A small wreath of olive leaves, blue water-lily petals, and blue cornflowers (Centaurea) surrounded the symbol of office, the vulture-and-serpent motif above the king’s brow. The floral decorations on Tut’s innermost coffins were especially elaborate. Here, layers of wrapped linen were crisscrossed by four bands of long floral garlands. The plants used in the garlands have been identified as olive leaves, cornflower, willow, lotus (Nelumbo), and celery leaves. A one-foot-wide floral collar encircled the king’s sculpted, solid gold funerary mask. When fresh, before the sarcophagus was sealed, this brilliant floral collar resting on the golden innermost coffin lid must have been a lovely sight. Unlike the previous garlands, this collar contained blue glass beads, lotus petals, more cornflowers, the scarlet berries of deadly nightshade, along with yellow mandrake fruits and the yellow-flowering heads of yellow hawkweeds (Picris). The royal mummy of Rameses II (1290 - 1224 BC) had thirteen rows of floral garlands, along with single blue flowers of water lilies under the bands sealing the mummy wrappings. This king, along with others, was found in a “mummy cache,” likely placed there a century later (c. 1087 BC) by Egyptians to avoid the rampant tomb robbing of that time. The garlands of persea leaves and blue and white lotus on the mummy wrappings of Rameses II might have been placed there reverentially during his hasty reburial. Northwest from Egypt, on islands of the Aegean, the Minoan peoples traded with the Egyptians, who coveted Minoan saffron (Crocus sativus) as a spice and a dye. These people also enjoyed an elaborate vision of death, flowers, and deities, but it seems more cheerful. Amateur botanist and historian Hellmut Baumann has addressed the relicts of this civilization, and its Greek invaders. The Cretans, for example, decorated their sarcophagi with motifs depicting the flowering stems of native dragon arums (Dracunculus vulgaris) and related members of the philodendron family (Araceae). They also painted the glorious white and wonderfully scented sea daffodils (Pancratium maritimum) on these baked clays as it was a favorite of their goddesses. These deities were believed to favor wild lilies, including the white-flowered species we today call the Madonna (Lilium candidum), and the Cretans protected the mauve flowers of the saffron crocus. One sculpted goddess wore a crown made of the fat round fruits of opium poppies. The Minoan Empire came to a violent end around 1570 BC when volcanic eruptions and tsunamis devastated their islands and left the survivors vulnerable to waves of invasion from the Greek mainland. The invaders brought in a new, male-dominated pantheon. The mighty Minoan goddess became Crete’s nymph under the name of Britomartis or Dictynna. She was a dutiful daughter of Zeus and a virgin. Classical Greek religion believed in gods who loved flowers. As they were immortals, their worshippers decorated their temples with “immortal” arrangements of everlasting daisies (Helichrysum), as they hold their shiny yellow color and sun shapes when dried. Sacrificial oxen were adorned with flowers of wild carnations (Dianthus) and rose campions (Lychnis). Greek priests and poets insisted that their gods had sacred plants, and some of these bore beautiful flowers. The first Olympian gods invented floral wreaths at the wedding of Zeus and Hera, weaving together wildflowers such as primroses, candytuft (Iberis), leopard’s-bane (Doronicum), and mouse-ears (Cerastium). Pindar (522 - 443 BC) wrote odes associating Apollo and Aphrodite with sweetly scented violets of the field. Flowers followed a Greek woman through the most important rituals of her life. Virgins wore garlands of wild, white-flowered species at their weddings, typically incorporating crocuses, white snowflakes (Leucojum), white storax (Styrax), and snowdrops (Galanthus), according to season. The modern fashion of the pure white bride’s bouquet derives from these sweetly scented garlands and wreaths. But the wedding bouquet of classical Greece was more likely to contain garlic and other pungent herbs to drive off jealous wandering spirits! The citizens of ancient Rome picked up many Greek wedding customs but seemed to prefer colorful, scented flowers including violets, wallflowers (Cheiranthus), and stocks (Matthiola). The Greeks also favored roses (sacred to Aphrodite), but the Romans so expanded the wedding fashions that they may have used the flowers of four or five different Rosa species. Wealthier Romans also tried to turn their wedding nuptial chambers into a fertile garden of flowers and greenery. As a matron, the mature Greek woman celebrated the summer rites (Thesmophoria) sacred to the grain goddess, Demeter. This included sleeping on makeshift beds sprinkled with the blue-purple flowers of the chaste tree (Vitex), to keep them faithful to their husbands and to increase their fertility. These flowers were sacred to Demeter, Hera (goddess of marriage), Aphrodite (goddess of love and fertility), and even Asclepius (god of medicine). At a woman’s death, a purple iris might be planted on her grave, and funerals in ancient Greece were elaborate rituals lasting several days. At the moment of death, the soul (Psyche, portrayed as a winged deity or butterfly) was believed to leave the body through the mouth as a puff of wind. By law, the decedent’s body was prepared at home (the prothesis), usually by elderly female relatives. The corpse was washed, anointed with fragrant oils, and dressed. Then it was placed on a bed of wooden planks and adorned with a crown of tree branches and flowers. Romans adored their floral crowns but also decorated the funerary couch with many fresh flowers. Once burial was complete, both Greeks and Romans scattered flowers on the grave (violets were popular tributes), and both cultures believed that planting herbs and sweet flowers around the burial site purified the earth. Urns containing the remains of the deceased could also be cleansed using offerings of cut flowers. A Passion for Lotuses

Even as the peoples of Crete, Greece, and Italy abandoned their old pantheons less than two thousand years ago, flowers continue to play a living role in the cultures and countries embracing the various branches of Hinduism. Indians still celebrate rites wearing garlands of flowers, and they give them away as gifts. Their use of flowers is associated with sexuality, one of the aphorisms of love, for example, in the Kama Sutra by Vatsyayana. The ancient Indian text is not just about erotic love and sexual positions; it also contains information on the sixty-four arts, including flowers, especially fashioning flower carriages and artificial flowers, the adorning of idols with rice and flowers, decorating couches or beds with flowers, stringing necklaces, making garlands or wreaths, and the simple pleasures of gardening. In their worship and portrayals of deities, Hindus are infatuated with flowers. The name of the Hindu worship ritual puja is translated as the “flower act.” Among Hindus, the Indian lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera) is their foremost symbol of beauty, fertility, and prosperity. According to Hinduism, within everyone resides the spirit of the sacred lotus flower. The lotus symbolizes purity, divinity, and eternity, widely used in ceremonies, where it denotes life, especially feminine beauty and renewed youth. In the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu text, humans are admonished to be like the lotus, holding high above the water, like the flower itself. In hatha yoga, the familiar lotus sitting position is used by practitioners as a way of striving for a higher level of consciousness. In Hinduism, the lotus also represents beauty and nonattachment. The aquatic plant produces a large, beautiful, pinkish blossom, but it is rooted fast in the mud of a shallow pond or lake. Its stiff leaves rise above the water’s surface, neither wetted nor muddy. Hindus view this as an admonition for how we should live our lives, without attachment to our surroundings. Several Hindu deities are likened to the lotus blossom. Krishna is described as the Lotus-Eyed One in reference to his supposed divine beauty. Deities including Brahma, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and Saraswati are also associated with the lotus blossom. The “wooing” of Hindu gods is normally done with adorning clothing, jewels, dances and music, perfumes, betel nuts, coconuts, and other foods, but especially with vermilion dusts and many flowers. During Holi, the festival of colors during the spring, worshippers paint their faces with brilliant vermilion powders. Flowers are everywhere on display for Holi and Diwali (the festival of lights, celebrated in India and Nepal). Colorful floral displays called rangoli are created for indoor or outdoor use by the celebrants. The Diwali holiday marks the victory of good over evil (Lord Rama’s victory over the demon-king Ravana). Villagers commonly paint the faces of sacred cattle with vermilion and drape their necks with long floral garlands, using marigolds, and red-purple makhmali (flowering heads of long-lasting amaranths) in Nepal. In an interesting form of what may be considered cultural diffusion with flowers, Hindus prefer the fat, hybrid heads of marigolds (Tagetes), apparently unaware of their earlier association with bloody human sacrifices performed by Aztec high priests. In India, yatra are the pilgrimage festivals celebrated at Hindu temples. Idols are carried aloft in a special procession on a palki (sedan chair). These ceremonial platforms are highly decorated, festooned in colorful live flowers including marigolds and makhmali. Cremation is mandatory for most Hindus. In India, after the elaborate cremation ceremonies performed by male family members, the deceased’s ashes are gathered and usually scattered on the waters of the sacred Ganges River (especially at Allahabad), or at sea. Mourners often place floating bowls containing the ash remains and flowers in the river. They also scatter flower petals and whole flowers on the waters as part of this ritual. Buddhism originated in northern India. Although often considered a spiritual path or way of life, rather than a formal religion, its many followers use and admire flowers in their rituals and daily lives. The lotus is often stated to represent the most exalted state of man and is the symbol of knowledge and the Buddha. Legend has it that wherever the Buddha paced to and fro in meditation, lotus flowers sprang up in his footsteps. In most Buddhist art, the lotus flower symbolizes the Buddha and transcendence to a higher state. The lotus is also thought to represent in Buddhism four human virtues: scent, purity, softness, and beauty. In contrast, some Hindus and Hindu offshoots, such as Jainism, eschew flowers. Orthodox Brahmans and Jains oppose using flowers because, although no blood is spilled, a “sacrifice” is made by cutting the stem of the plant, which kills the flower. Allowances are often made and flowers are used by these groups in worship. However, the very best flowers, as offerings, are those that fall naturally to the ground so their lives were not taken by picking. India’s Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948), made famous by inspiring nonviolent acts of civil disobedience among his followers, avoided the use of floral garlands. Gandhi preferred garlands made of cotton or necklaces of plain sandalwood beads. Flowers of Bali The Hindu use of flowers is most vibrant and lavish on the island of Bali, in the Indonesian archipelago. The ancient Sanskrit word bali means “tribute” or “gift,” especially surrounding temple ceremonies and the use of flowers. Wandering the streets of Ubud, you see minipalettes, three-by-three-inch woven-palm-leaf trays filled with colorful flowers of frangipani (Plumeria; a relative of our milkweeds), ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata; related to custard apples), and Impatiens (the same tropical weeds we grow as summer shade-garden annuals). These offerings are called banten in Balinese. Incense tops the vibrant offerings, adding its wisps of fragrant smoke to appease nature spirits, and the numerous gods and demons of Balinese Hinduism. These miniature offerings in Bali take on many different forms. They always contain flowers, but may include cookies, cigarettes, rice, or money. The offerings are not always contained in the plaited-palm trays. Often, they are merely small piles of colorful flower petals. The items used in the offerings seem to be less important than the act of creating these tributes. Balinese women spend a large part of each day creating and placing these ritualistic offerings along roadways and paths, often perched where you least expect them. The offerings are everywhere, sitting atop walls, planters, and stair steps. Individual flowers and garlands adorn stone statues, such as those of Ganesha. This beloved elephant-headed god of wisdom and art is often depicted holding—you guessed it—a lotus blossom. In Bali, the sweet floral scent of frangipani and ylang-ylang perfumes the air of courtyards, homes, and temples. Early every morning, before most tourists have risen from their guesthouse beds, the Balinese are out on the streets. They sweep away the previous day’s now-wilted floral offerings and wash down the streets and gutters. The offerings are daily devotional gifts, repeated acts of faith, cornerstones of their belief system. The slightly darker side of the practices is that the offerings are meant to appease and disperse demon spirits who might be hanging around one’s home or a nearby street corner. These are far more than simple street decorations for foreign tourists, which I’m sure most foreign visitors believe they are. Many of the country’s religious ceremonies are conducted within Hindu temples. Odalans are temple ceremonies lasting three or more days. During these observances, the temple walls are covered in colorful golden thread fabrics. Offerings of bright fruits, flowers, and rice cakes are carried balanced on women’s heads, then placed around the temples. The Hindu gods are believed to take the essence (sari) from these food offerings, which are later brought home and consumed by the worshipping families. On Bali, flowers play as important a role in death as they do in life. The dead, inside their coffins, are placed inside large, elaborate, gilded sarcophagi made of papier-mache. These often take the form of bulls or the demonic Bhoma guardian with a fearsome, openmouthed head, staring down at the onlookers. They are impressive works of art accompanied by flowers. The black and gold sarcophagi are highly decorated with real and paper flowers. Floral garlands (chrysanthemums) adorn the necks of the impressive mythical beasts. During the funeral ceremonies, everyone wears bright costumes, and village women prepare food offerings to be eaten by the mourners during the festivities. The distinctive ringing tones of gamelan music are an integral part of Balinese culture and their funeral traditions. Finally, the ornate funeral pyres with their garlanded animals are set ablaze with added gasoline for good measure. After the flames have done their work, the family separates the ashes and bones of the deceased from the remaining residue. The cremains are tenderly placed inside folded white and yellow cloths along with flowers and buried twelve days later, after a final purification rite, again augmented with flowers. The “Conversion” of Flowers When trade brought the lotus to Egypt around 500 BC, it displaced the blue and white water lilies used in worship. Favorite flowers find new religions, and it’s a never-ending circle, with Mexican marigolds and frangipani used extensively by Hindus in India and on Bali. Therefore, it should not surprise us that the goddesses of the Mediterranean basin gave their grandest white flower to Christianity, recognizable to most as the white Madonna lily (Lilium candidum). In the United States, this is the omnipresent potted Easter lily. In early Christian liturgy, Mary’s tomb was filled with these white lilies after her assumption into heaven. The Madonna lily also figures in Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation. Its white color represents her presumed virginity and immaculate conception. Today, flowers taking on similar Christian symbolism include the lily of the valley, the snowflake, and the snowdrop, once worn by Greek brides. White, the color of purity and innocence, and red, Christ’s sacrificial blood, represented by roses, have been emblems of the Virgin Mary. They were also sacred to Venus and Aphrodite in earlier times. Ironically, the earliest practices of the Christian church largely avoided ceremonial uses of flowers as they were associated with former but often appropriated pagan rites. These restrictions were modified over time, so now Christian services and funerals seem incomplete without flowers. For Catholic services, floral arrangements are usually placed on shelves, the gradines, behind the main altar. Although white flowers are most often used, even red flowers are allowed, along with ferns and other greenery. Often an attempt is made to match flower colors with those of the clerical vestments. In the Catholic Church flowers are used in moderation during Advent but are often “given up” for Lent. Historically, rosary beads used in Catholic prayers were formed from dried and compressed rose petals instead of the wooden, glass, or plastic ones commonly used. In Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance certain flowers were associated with Christian saints and used during the saint’s day and other celebrations. Saint Valentine was associated with crocuses or violets. The tradition of giving violets on Saint Valentine’s Day was common in the United States, persisting in New York City at least until the early 1960s. Christianity, though, is both messianic and missionary. As the Spaniards introduced it to our American Southwest and Mesoamerica, the use of flowers in the old religions mixed with the new. Anthropologists studying these hybridized beliefs note that the worshippers often speak of a Flower World, a spiritual place where humans might contact spirits or ancestors through rituals or by ingesting hallucinogenic plants. The belief in a spirit Flower World is common throughout Mexico, other Latin American countries, and the pre-Hispanic southwestern United States. These flower beliefs seem to have been widespread among ancient Amerindians speaking a common language (e.g., Uto-Aztecan). In an earlier chapter we were introduced to Aztec rituals utilizing flowers. Flowers for the Aztecs, especially true marigolds, signified a spiritual-afterlife paradise world, but also universal creation and the blood of human sacrifices. Knowledge of the Flower World was traditionally passed to each succeeding generation in song. We also find exquisite depictions of flowers on Mayan textiles, the pottery of the modern Hopi, and in the ancestral groups of the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi (ancient Pueblo) cultures of Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora, Mexico. In their minds, the Huichol people of west-central Mexico “visited” the colorful Flower World in their peyote-cactus pilgrimage ceremonies. In the northern Mexican villages of the Mayo and Yoeme (Yaqui) tribes, leading up to and during Easter week children throw flowers at dancers dressed as evil spirits, the fariseos and chapayekas, who symbolically attack the Catholic Church. Flowers, real and paper ones, and colorful confetti are used as adornments. Altars, churches, village buildings, and homes are decorated profusely with colorful paper flowers. The Yoeme concept of flowers (sewam) has been treasured in legends and songs for many generations. Today, flowers are associated with the Virgin Mary, and flowers are believed to have miraculously sprung from the spilled blood of Christ at his crucifixion. Prior to their religious conversion, flowers were spiritual blessings, important in the native religious beliefs of the Mayo and Yoeme. I have attended the elaborate Yoeme deer dances of the Pascua Yaqui tribe in my home city of Tucson, Arizona. Flowers are important symbols in these rituals. Masked pascola deer dancers, dressed in white, wear wide belts with jangling deer hooves or brass bullet cartridges. Their ankles are festooned with tenevoim, pebble-filled cocoons of giant silk moths (Rothschildia cincta). Their stomping feet sound like alarmed rattlesnakes sounding their warnings. Atop their heads the dancers wear a large real or paper flower, usually red. Yoeme and Mayo funerals are mixtures of Catholicism and traditional cultural beliefs. For the Yoeme, their world concept is a mix of five worlds; the desert world, a mystical world, the dream world, the night world, and the flower world. Flowers are also viewed as the souls of departed family or tribal members. Sometimes older Yoeme men may greet one another with the phrase Haisa sewa? (How is the flower?). These ancient Aztec-speaking groups not only traded goods north and south but also their religious ideas and beliefs. Thus, we have clues that the Flower World concepts traveled north out of Mexico, to Chaco Canyon in the eleventh century, and to the Hopi mesas in Arizona by the 1400s. In the Mimbres Classic period (1000 - 1130), mortuary rituals, using symbolic flowers, eased the passage of individuals into the spirit world. Caches from archaeological excavations reveal the presence of painted wooden and leather flowers, likely worn by performers, just as modern katsina (kachina) dancers wear flowers, later left as grave goods. Flower worlds are depicted in fifteenth-century murals inside sacred kivas. Hopi, and other Southwestern, pottery show symbolic representations of flowers. According to Hopi traditions, butterflies are “flying flowers” and in various forms are associated with the underworld, with spring and renewal, and with the direction south. There is strong evidence that modern pueblo and ancient Mesoamerican iconographies are intertwined, historically related via trade routes and intercultural exchanges. Flowers, either real or depicted in art, formed a large part of the myths, legends, and daily life of these Southwestern indigenous cultures. Christian and native flower cultures merge vibrantly but positively during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations. In the final days of October, before the American holiday of All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween), Mexicans prepare for their own traditional holiday for the dead, but in a different way from the commercialized trick-or-treating holiday Americans know. As the days grow shorter and the nights grow colder, villages and towns all over Mexico come alive with renewed energy and anticipation for the coming festivities. On November 1 and 2, Mexicanos come together to celebrate Día de los Muertos, their traditional Day of the Dead celebration. Across the country, families honor the memories of deceased loved ones around family burial plots gaily decorated with real and paper flowers, lively paper streamers, glowing candles, and offerings of the decedents’ favorite foods. To appreciate the modern Day of the Dead celebrations, we recall Aztec beliefs. Aztecs didn’t fear death, or Mictlantecuhtli, their god of death, as much as they dreaded the uncertainty of their brutally short lives. Mictlantecuhtli would not punish the dead. A dead person’s role in heaven was determined not by how he lived, but by how he died. Exalted warriors were believed to fly around the sun in the form of butterflies and hummingbirds, as were women who died in childbirth. Dead infants fed at the milk-giving tree. Everyone else just faded away to Mictlan, like a quiescent dream on their road toward final death and nonexistence. The ferocious Aztec sun god, Huitzilopochtli, demanded the most precious fluid of all, red human blood, spilled in sacrifice, amid garlands of golden marigolds, to slake his never-ending thirst. The beating hearts and blood of human victims were exchanged for abundant crops. Death paid for life in the Aztec world. An Aztec “war of flowers” ensued, tournaments in which neighboring tribes were forced to compete to the death, adding their bodies to the ever-growing demand for sacrificial victims. Flowers have always played a crucial and significant role in the Mexican Day of the Dead. On All Hallows’ Eve, the spirits of dead children return home, but must leave by midday on November 1. Bells ring out all afternoon on this day from churches, announcing the arrival of adults, the “faithful dead,” returning to their scattered villages. Candles burn on flower-filled home shrines and altars chock-full of marigolds, other flowers, candy skulls, and family photographs. The sweet fragrance of burning copal incense (from ancient Mayan and Aztec traditions) fills the air inside the homes. Often, trails of scattered marigold petals lead to doorways, meant to show wandering spirits of the dead their way back home. You can also witness many of these same customs on the streets and cemeteries of mountain villages in northern Guatemala. Marigolds are the foremost flower among these ceremonies and are native plants of Mexico. However, in Oaxacan and Cuernavacan markets as elsewhere, celebrants also buy the cloudlike floral sprays of baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata), a domesticated plant that grows wild in its native Russian steppes. Mexicans also use the brilliant flamelike heads of cockscomb (Celosia) to decorate their shrines, church altars, and graves. Once a religion includes flowers in its worship or mourning, the original distribution and mythology of an attractive bloom is no barrier to its acceptance among new rites in other distant locations. The Flowering of Roadside Memorials Whenever I drive the roadways of Sonora, Mexico, or those in southern Arizona, spots of color vie for my attention. Are they flowers in the desert, even during the winter when all the grasses are withered and brown, when nothing should be blooming? No, these little gardens of grief are roadside memorials, shrines honoring the dead, called descansos in Mexico. They mark places where someone died in an automobile crash. The memorials usually have a white cross, and often a saint’s figure and a votive candle, but invariably flowers, plastic ones, or fresh flowers refreshed on anniversary dates and holidays. Occasionally, I stop out of curiosity to read their names, or to admire the decorative floral arrangements. I’m reminded of the sidewalk and roadside floral tribute gardens that stretched for miles following the September 6, 1997, funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Whether permanent roadside shrines or a single flower left in an open jar, they are omnipresent reminders of the immensely powerful social customs and values of flowers as memorial tributes. Victorian Funeral Customs In contrast, the use of flowers in contemporary American funerals seems a bit restrained. To understand our relation to flowers and death we need to cross the Atlantic and study our Victorian forebears as they established the funerary customs we still use or prefer to avoid. In particular, before twentieth-century embalming practices took hold in the funeral industry, stately, large wreaths and immense bouquets of flowers composed of strongly fragrant white lilies and hybrids of the so-called Oriental lilies (derived from Lilium speciosum) masked the odors of bodily decomposition. Along with burning candles, flowers served the role of air-fresheners. English Victorian-era funeral processions were grandiose and expensive social events. A prominent English family planned and arranged for a stylish processional costing twenty to fifty British pounds sterling, equivalent to the purchasing power today of about $5,000 (I chose the year 1850). For most of the Victorian era, a pound sterling might buy $100 worth of goods today. The processions were led by foot attendants, pallbearers with batons, a featherman holding tall ostrich plumes, pages, and mutes who dressed in gowns and carried wands. Stylish carriages transported family members, and relatives followed behind. The glass-sided hearse had elaborate black with silver and gold decorations. It was covered with an ornate canopy of black ostrich feathers and pulled by six black Belgian horses, each with its own black-plumed headdress. The ornate, draped coffin inside was clearly visible, and the interior of the hearse was jammed with a wide variety of flowers. Several hundred mourners might attend such a lavish funeral. After the services, most of the flowers were returned home and became part of elaborate home-parlor memorial shrines. Queen Victoria sent primroses to the funeral of her favorite prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli. Large floral arrangements surrounded photographs of the deceased, and the room was often decorated with one or more stuffed white doves, holding a red rose in their beaks. The British, during Queen Victoria’s sixty-three-year reign (1837 - 1901), were the last society to truly celebrate death with great pomp and circumstance, as had the ancient Egyptians. In the Victorian age, people welcomed the dead, continued to bring their dead, in open coffins, into their parlors and homes (the origin of the modern funeral parlor). In death flowers led the way. Victorians had their own flower superstitions, gleaned from older traditions in British folklore. For example, if the deceased had lived a good and proper life, then colorful flowers would supposedly grow and bloom on his or her grave. If people had lived otherwise and were deemed evil, then weeds would assuredly grow unattended and bloom profusely above them. If anyone noticed a roselike scent in the home, and no roses were nearby, then someone was about to die. A single snowdrop (Galanthus) plant found growing in a garden also foretold a death in the family. It was considered extremely bad luck to mix red and white flowers in a vase, especially inside a hospital, as a death would surely follow. Proper mourning etiquette was essential. Widows grieved for two years and wore solid black clothing with no trim, and bonnets with long, black face veils. No flowers were used. Their veils were shortened during the second year, and white or purple flowers were then permissible as decorative adornments to their plain black bonnets. The Modern American Way of Death: Flowers and Dying Today, Victorian practices have evolved further into an immense, nearly $21 billion US funeral industry, whose customs vary widely depending upon ethnic background, religious beliefs, region of the country, and socioeconomic stratum. Some people will not grow or bring scented narcissus (Narcissus tazetta) into their homes because their fragrance reminds them of embalming fluid. However, a little-known change in the treatment of the dead—the use of formaldehyde and other embalming fluids to prolong “viewing life” (the time available for an open-casket ceremony during a funeral or memorial service)—has occurred. Unknown to most, unless you are a mortician or are employed in a modern funeral home, is another surprising use for floral fragrances: dead bodies are being perfumed like real flowers. The new practice is not altogether unlike those of nineteenth-century America, when home parlors were jammed with large and fragrant floral wreaths, of white lilies and other flowers, to mask death’s telltale scent. Today, the unmistakable nose- and eye-stinging scent of formalin (aqueous formaldehyde) has changed. New, milder-scented embalming fluids are used, and even the Civil War - era formalin has been modified to assuage modern sensibilities. Now, embalmers typically add strong floral-based scents to their embalming fluids. The sweet fragrance of white lilies has been chemically synthesized and is sold to funeral parlors as an additive for their embalming solutions. Flowers have come to our rescue. To paraphrase the famous marketing phrase of a modern chemical-manufacturing giant, perhaps now we also have “better dying through chemistry.” It’s my impression that flowers now used at funerals are less fragrant than previously. Those pale gladioli, now in vogue, have no scent at all. Is it a coincidence that the beautiful, large, white, durable, and waxy white blooms of the nearly odorless calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) from southern Africa seem perfect for placing in the hands of a corpse during an open-casket memorial? I don’t think so, but it’s perhaps ironic that these blooms belong to the same family of arum lilies the Minoans used to decorate their sarcophagi. While fresh flowers seem such ever-important elements of modern US funerals, their use dwindles as their costs rise. In the United States today, floral arrangements might comprise roughly 10 to 20 percent of the total cost of a modern funeral averaging $8,000. We want and expect to see flowers during our times of grief. Flowers lift our spirits. Even with the recent “in lieu of flowers” practice where friends and family are asked to make cash donations in the memory of the deceased to a favorite charity, flowers and flower-giving have not gone out of fashion. A significant portion of the $34.3 billion (in 2012) florist-industry revenues are spent on cut flowers, potted plants, and wreaths supplied for funerals, memorial services, and placement on graves. The more than twenty-two thousand funeral homes in the United States stage more than 2 million funerals annually, about six thousand each day. Returning to that February day of my father’s funeral, I have vivid memories of honey bees alighting to drink nectar from the sprays of white flowers draping his silver-blue casket. It was a chilly Southern California day with a few cumulus clouds. The sixty-degree morning temperature was barely warm enough to get bees out of their hives, up and flying, in their continual quest for flowers. My eyes watched as those softly buzzing bees visited every blossom, drinking their sweet nectar. At the time, I was a twenty-two-year-old graduate-school student. Throughout my career as an entomologist, I’ve studied bees (melittology), along with their biology, and floral interactions, the science of pollination ecology. I don’t believe the bees were any kind of spiritual omen, but seeing them visiting my father’s graveside flowers reminded me of happier boyhood times spent together. The flowers and their bee visitors helped ease my grief on that somber California morning four decades ago. Now, we leave the rituals of death and dying behind and move to the showiest of them all, flowers (dahlias, roses, lilies, sunflowers, and more) bred for their spectacularly vivid colors and sex appeal. Gardeners enter flower shows hopeful that their prize blooms will win a coveted Best of Show ribbon, along with accolades from their gardening peers. We enter the high-stakes world of technology-dependent, commercial plant breeding—the creation of unnatural blue or brown roses, and black petunias, in the laboratory and field. Gardeners are cautioned that modern flower breeding, especially its newest hybrid creations, may reduce pollinator-attracting floral scents, along with pollen and sweet nectar—essential foods for bees and other pollinating animals. Pollinator gardens may appear bountiful, yet can in reality be unrewarding nutritional deserts. The pomp and circumstance of London’s one and only Chelsea Flower Show is revealed with its phantasmagorical artificial environments, new floral introductions, dream merchants, and fanciful exhibits. Step into the verdant exhibit booths. On with the show.

[basileuus]

“you’re the most extraordinary man i’ve ever met.” Oh You Know

*: ･ﾟ✧  lawrence  of  arabia

     The  guise  of  well - aged  wine  isn’t  enough  to  justify  the  rose  rouge  that  splotches  on  his  cheeks.  Diomedes  raises  his  glass  to  the  Prince  of  Ithaca  in  thanks  and  hides  his  half  smile  in  the  cup.  It’s  a  boyish  gesture,  one  that  winning  wars  cannot  stand  against.  He’s  come  back  from  Thebes  taller  now,  standing  just  a  bit  higher  than  Odysseus,  with  a  beard  beginning  to  grow  on  his  jaw  and  a  strangeness  in  his  eye  that  marks  him  as  a  butcher.  Athena  blesses  him,  of  course,  but  Diomedes  is  not  without  his  own  brutality.

     “There  was  a  war,  my  side  happened  to  win,”  he  shrugs  evenly.  “What  of  it?”  A  breeze  runs  across  the  balcony,  and  the  smell  of  lamb  cooking  on  an  open  spit  wafts  up  with  the  heavy  scent  of  wine  and  the  sharpness  of  rosemary.  Somewhere  in  the  distance,  waves  crash  on  rocky  beaches,  and  the  long,  thin  drapes  framing  the  open  threshold  leading  out  to  the  terrace  billow  quietly.  Sounds  of  celebration  and  revelry  float  up  as  well,  just  as  much  music  as  the  melodies  from  the  ensemble  of  instruments  and  the  little  tambourines  hanging  from  the  hips  of  dancers.  

     The  world  on  the  terrace,  despite  the  celebration  and  the  dark  aftermaths  of  war  and  the  stars  that  dance  endlessly  in  the  sky,  slows  for  the  respite  between  the  two  men. 

[wheelercore]

This oedipus post is going to take so damn long to write i can already tell

[shatteredminds]

Mother Day event!

Ask the mama's anything~

Mothers-

Azura/Luka, Lucy, Zila, Lillith, Elysia, Deaevidra, Kira, Freja, Rosa, Lana, Uzara, Thebe, Hulda, Anima, Vex, Rosemarie, Polyxena, Vesta, Bast, Scarlett, Kalliopy, Hina, Clover.

[marialeto]

Today we focus on the cheek chakras.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

 It is Thankful Thursday

 When the cheek chakras are healthy, you feel, active and agile, you are drawn to magic, you like coloring, you work well in groups, you enjoy poetry, and you work well with your hands.  

 The colors are heliotrope, peach, and black

 Foods, cucumbers, olives, crackers, and peaches

 Oils,  rosemary, pine, and cypress

 Yoga poses, prayer pose, sun god pose, and monkey god pose

 Gemstones, Cat's Eye

 Places, Brisbane, Neptune, and Thebes

 Keyword, Meditation

 Number, 15

 Resonates with Deities and Angels, Ming, Saint Christopher, Archangel Cassiel, Archangel Camael, Archangels, Warriors of God, Poseidon, and Sea Creatures.

 My oil for today is Samuel "Love, Harmony, and Liberation" a special blend of Rosemary, Eucalyptus, and Black Spruce.  

 The sacred bracelet of Samuel is made of Red for Love, Black for Harmony, and Light Green for Liberation.

 The message "Living in the light brings us freedom."  

[shugademus-fbandt]

LRB

2/7/19 Ferdinand mount on Johnson Bunkers (historical & contemporary) Thebes Charles booth poverty maps History of WHO Library hunters WWII Shakespeares Englishes: against englishness Charlot vs Hulot (Tati) Consider the hare On pronouns

10/10/19 The great firewall of china lanchester For the record Cameron China’s millenials Hinch yourself happy Fat cultural history of the stuff of life Patricia lockwood on Updike At the movies - Delft Herzog ! Lucian freud - Colm toibin A horses’s impossible head - tj clark on Delacroix

7/11/19 Hitler - a life At the parr house How to buy drugs Review of shahida Bari The scraamvke for Europe : young Africa on its way to the old continent

5/12/19 Gauguin - tehamana Engineering the eternal city infrastructure, topography and the culture of knowledge in late 16c Rome Biography of Brando, William Mann Ducks, Newberry port (ellman) The pocket: didn’t history of women’s lives

2/4/2020 covid Diary from orvieto Plague, chaucer Clarice lispector - gulches Foundling museum - pregnancy Childhood - Reve

16/4/20 The earth had need of me - Beauvoir reviews Van eyck (detail) Spilliaert - royal academy expo Joseph Conrad - time and the sea How to set up an ICU

7/5/20 consider the Greenland shark Just a diphthong away - complete Gary lutz Obscene pedagogies - medieval Britain

21/5/20 italian wwII At las posas Archigram the book Scotland’s dreaming - literary politics Ian Sinclair in brussels

4/6/20 American virus (pandemic) mAigret’s room lanchester The last whale - Colin burrow Lady in waiting/glenconner - rosemary hill Taste of honey/Delaney Coetzee death of Jesus review Zubaran - Jacob and sons The mosquito

30/7/20 Who am I prepared to kill - carl Schmitt The shrine Alan Bennett Who’s century tooze china How company states made the modern world The common seaman in the heroic age of sail Counterfactuals James lomax - oil, Turkmenistan

HISTORY TODAY

3/2020 Acre Shampoo sake dean Mohamed The great rabbit hoax

NY

20/1/20 The bristlecones speak out (worls oldest trees)