#some unknown deity made it but credit to he/she/it/them

[uraharasfavoriteexperiment]

??? WHOS RYDER IM AN OG FOLLOWER

WHOS RYDER???

-🍓

OH UM

UH

UM

UM

UH

my honest reaction

[songzhong]

💗 @herrscherbled​​. 

“The crystal flowers that the kids were speaking about? Uh-huh, they were indeed mine,”  Elysia smiles at the man without thinking of how the kiddos might have described the flowers to others. They disappeared the moment the pinkette said she had to go, but it seemed like the children’s tales will travel just as far as the wind’s current. It made the woman chuckle as she noted on the bright golden gaze of his, making her immediately think of her dearest friend Eden, but it was quickly tossed away as she’d continue.

“Are you perhaps an appraiser? With eyes that seem to reflect the knowledge and the wisdom of someone who has seen enough, it makes me wonder just what exactly will you find in the crystallized flowers that have no place in this world? Are you searching for the heavenly blessing of radiance or are you perhaps indulging in the fairytales told by children, hoping it is true as they say?”

The poetic ways of speaking would continue as the woman giggles again and then shakes her head as if to toss away that flowery language. The kids must’ve called her a goddess as Elysia introduced herself, a joking manner of calling herself a deity of love. How serious will she be taken was unknown, but her words were always carried with a mischievous but a warm note.

“For the one who has stepped under the light of the lanterns in the City of Contracts, this delicate flower will expose her blossoming blessings,” the ungloved palm opens up before the man, from the nowhere appear glimmers of pink before the crystals start to dance in the air, levitating above her palm. The soft and warm glow radiated from them, mysteriously and alluringly.

Before, kids played as the crystal flowers were levitating above their heads without being touched. Elysia’s smile softens as she lets the crystals dance in the air around her then, transforming into three flowers that then would return to levitate above her extended hand.

“In the city of the Geo Archon, I can only hope that their radiance will not be offended by the sight of my blessing. Does this satisfy your curiosity of the rosy radiance? This gift cannot be carried away. I will advise for you not to hold them for too long if you wish to make sure they are real. Would you like to touch one of them before my departure, dear stranger? Perhaps, it is luck that led you here. I was about to search for a place to stay after indulging the youth.”

(Elysia without knowing that she is standing before the Geo Archon: Look at how pretty my crystal flowers are, I hope CEO of GEO won't be offended that they're so pretty. Well, my cute appearance should soothe any consequences!)

Zhongli did nothing as he listened to the other, only looking in solemn silence, unmoving, calm and controlled as always. Words of a mysterious traveler with particular abilities yet no visions had him investigate, especially since the words came from young civilians. After all, in retirement, he had time, and he’d hate to put the Millelith in danger against an unknown foe. Since an individual able to control all elements without a vision woke up after falling from the sky, who would know if anything else was possible...

A hand delicately raised towards the nearest flower, wishing to inspect it, although the consultant’s fingertips only grazed against its petal, not willing to disturb its levitation, although only briefly before his hand was brought to his back, posture relaxed but serious. He could not detect any Archon element, which caused him to frown internally, atop of the power emanating from this person... not unlike a Harbinger.

“ My name is Zhongli. I am a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. I imagine you could say I am an appraiser of some sort, but for such matters, I do think that there are more credited professionals than myself for this. I only wield some general knowledge here and there. ”

The second gloved hand opened with grace, low at his belt as to not feel boastful to this Traveler, as elegant petals of a golden glazed lily opened into the dragon’s palm, slightly smaller the one he had just looked upon. With his “vision” shining at his lower back, the flower was made out of an auburn core spread Geo particles to make up its refined apparition, just as casually made, from two individuals quite used to their abilities.

“ Aesthetics are not exclusive to the land of Liyue. It would be most disrespectful to not appreciate those from quite afar.

If you wish to stay at the Harbor, Baiju Guesthouse is down the main stairs, its entrance is at the port. They can accommodate travelers who are only passing or those who stay for an extended period of time... ”

[americangodstalk]

Notes about S2E2: The Beguiling Man

# During his interrogation, Shadow has electrodes put on him, as well as a serum injected (maybe a truth serum?). We get to see the first appearance of Mr. Town, from the novel - and just like in the book the scene takes place in a train, except here it is still active and moving, and filled with shining... stuff. 

# Many have tried to read in Shadow’s peculiar interrogation device a symbolism, from the Christ on the cross to the Vitruvian man.

# Czernobog mentions all the old European traditions related to the death of someone : ringing a bell, opening the windows, covering mirrors and sprinkling salt. While Wednesday is confident that a “newborn star” will rise, Czernobog thinks that Zorya Vechernyaya is definitively dead due to the lack of faith and belief in the Slavic gods. He also uses the “Nine Hells” to curse - I honestly don’t know if it is a Slavic or Russian concept. 

# The Jinn is more precisely referred to as an Ifrit.

# As usual, Mr. Wednesday is also called Votan and Grimnir, two of the alternative names of Odin. More precisely, Votan/Wotan (Odin’s name in Old German) is used by Czernobog and Grimnir (the “hidden one”, “the masked one”) by Mama-Ji. 

# Mama-Ji mentions she needs to swap her “week-end shift” with Arjun. Arjun, or Arjuna, is the mythical hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. 

# While the serum is what I assume to be a truth serum (which is something around which numerous myths and legends were centered, and that fed popular culture, media and is part of the “classic tropes” or shadowy organizations), the electrodes are visibly to give Shadow electrochocs if he refuses to answer. Mr. Town is visibly aware of the Old Gods and the New Gods, and refer to them as deities (contrary to his book version who believed the gods were simply aliens). Mr. Town refers to Odin as “Cargo” also known as “All-Father, Grimm, Wednesday”. 

# Shadow’s mother refers to the Statue of Liberty as Libertas, the Roman goddess - which is a foreshadowing of her later mention. Many fans like to reinterpret the words of Shadow’s mother about “spreading her messages” as her being a priestress or even the goddess Libertas herself. But I think that’s a bit too far-fetched.

# Mr. Town (who refers to the New Gods as the “gods of progress”) explains that Mr. World sent him to kidnap Shadow because Mr. World wants to know why a simple guy like him, a random mortal man, would be chosen and treasured by Wednesday. 

# Mr. World explains that he allowed the Old Gods to gather together merely because as a result it was much easier to “chop all of their heads at once” like an hydra - the monster from the Greek mythology which could be defeated only if all of its heads were permanently destroyed. 

# The walls of the train are so weird... what are they?

# Mad Sweeney says he knows a “devil” in New-Orleans. Everyone theorized (and were right) that he meant the Baron Samedi. 

# As I mentionned in another post, all the “jumbo screens of Time Square” seen in TB’s quest for Media hint of her future transformation: advertisements, news channel, pop-art colorful ads and “animesque” like slogans for “Kawaii Media”. There are also advertisements for Xie Com and references to the future appearance of Argus. Technical Boy clearly expresses his arrogance and self-centeredness: he calls Media “retro”, says that art is “irrelevant”, he claims that he is “mankind’s greatest achievement”, “the compass rose” and “fucking binary”. At the opposite, Media claims that “Art is the most valuable means of insight into the direction of our collective purpose.” She  explains that she isn’t hiding but merely learning and observing, adapting and learning to survive. She also presents her own tactics and methods when dealing with humans as such: “The appetite for distraction is infinite. I can choke them with trivia, drown them with passive pleasure and devastate their spirituality with baby talk.” And that “there is no distinction between education and entertainment”. 

# We are presented with “The Hoard” of Mad Sweeney, which he calls “like the Backstage, but smaller” and that apparently only Sweeney can control. It is visibly where he keeps all the gold coins he keeps pulling out of his hands - and visibly a reference to the famous “treasures under the hill” of the leprechauns and fairies, which is equaled with the “burial treasures” of ancient kings and the “secret palaces” of the Tuatha dé Danaan. The hoard apparently is made mostly of the colors green and gold - there are flashes of gold, and the sound of coins dropping. During their travel through it, at one point Sweeney and Laura appear both naked, and in another shot Laura looks alive again. 

# Mr. Town lists that the New Gods offered humanity “penicillin, streaming porn and aircraft carriers that circle the globe”. He openly explains he works for those New Gods, and he strangely keeps insisting that Shadow is “unworthy” of the gods attention and time. 

# In the rest of the train, outside of the other “spooks”, we find jeeps and missiles and other military equipment. The other spooks visibly have electricity-generating weapons. In the credits, four men are merely referred to as “Mr. Town’s agent”, but two are identified as Wood and Stone from the novel: Eric Daniel plays “Mr. Wood” and Chris Mark plays “Mr. Stone”. It is unknown if this Mr. Wood is intended to be the same as the Mr. Wood from the first season, though it seems impossible - season 1 Mr. Wood being a monstrous abomination, entirely tree-like, and season 2 Mr. Wood being a mere human easily killed. 

# The coin the “mystery character”( that is of course Wednesday) holds in his hand during Shadow’s childhood first appears as a gold coin with a buffalo printed on it - before turning into a regular quarter.

# Many have tried to find what kind of flowers were the blue ones in the field Laura rests in. Some ask if they are a form of blue lotus, or waterlillies - due to a field of waterlillies (referred to as the “lake of flowers”) is one of the steps to access the Egyptian afterlife. Others have suggested they were myosotis (aka “forget me not”), flowers used a lot when it comes to memorating the deads - mostly soldiers fallen at war or victims of a genocide. 

# “Betty” is revealed to actually be the “modern” form of Odin’s steed, Sleipnir the eight-legged horse.

# A final thing some have spotted: the container Shadow stands onto when plugged to the “interrogation machine” is actually from the Vulcan factory. Many had theorized that the “Deus mortuorum” bullets used by the snipers in the previous episode had been crafted by Vulcan - and it seems that indeed Vulcan was the main weapon provider for the New Gods (or at least for the Spooks). 

[adversitybloomed-a]

🌸┊ FRIENDLY REMINDER: this is a headcanon for my muse only. please do not take claim to it as your own. any graphics set on here, are edited by me.  the only exceptions for those who can use this as references to my muse are my RP partners. i just ask that you credit this post ┊ 🌸

I will be placing this post under read more, because it is EXTREMELY LONG, due to the fact that it covers ALL verses.

HEADCANON:  PHOENIX ( fenghuang ) Part 2. 

                                        original posting, here. 

to begin with, this post can go along with almost ALL of my verses if you would like. for the most part, this will be canon for her, unless the other mun asks for just a human Mulan. 

              TO BEGIN:

Main Verses: Mulan was born human, who had the phoenix sealed away inside of her. Unknowing to her powers that lay dormate within, she grew up thinking that she was different, and enjoyed learning many things that were considered only for “BOYS” at the time period. 

when she turned sixteen, her family announced that it was time for her to meet with a matchmaker to determine a match for marriage. though her heart did not wish to go through with this, she knew she had to bring HONOR to her family and agreed. a match was found, however, soon came the news that her father was called back to war, but this time, NOT AS A GENERAL -- - but a solider instead. 

knowing that he would not be able to survive, should he leave. She went to her ancestral shrine and prayed for guidance in her decision she was about to make. it was there & there where she met @hiighwarlock​​ ( Magnus Bane, aka Cat Deity, Li Shou, for more info, see their post here ).  hearing her prayer, he turned to his human form, SHOCKING the young girl as he agreed to help her with her plans. 

what neither of them knew though, was this was the starting trigger that began to awaken the phoenix within. helping her disguise herself, he turned into a dragon, hidden within her clothing as she stole her fathers armor, sword and bow & took her families war horse khan & rode off into battle. 

when she arrived at camp, he guided her with her made up name  Hua Jun. during her training, he began to notice signs of her not being QUITE human, for one thing, her strength & speed. another, when it came to going to battle & surrounded by enemies, a FAINT GLOW only noticed by other creatures of magic can sense ( or those who are highly trained ), seemed to flow around her. 

Little did she know, EACH TIME SHE DREW UPON HER POWER -- - especially fighting with someone who was stronger then her OR if surrounded by a large series of enemies, she lost some of her humanity and began to awaken her immortally. 

after the war, Mulan continued her friendship with  Li Shou ( Magnus ), and in turn, began to think of him as the brother she never had. She started calling him Mimi ( Chinese word for cat ) & he in turn, began to call her mèi ( which means little sister in Chinese ). 

TRAVELING ( Red Strings Verse ): three years after the war, Mulan has received orders to accompany diplomats overseas and to Japan & be stationed there as a general within the Emperors command. choosing to accept this mission, she leaves at once, but not before exchanging a magical paper, so she can communicate with her chosen brother,  Li Shou ( Magnus ). 

Upon her arrival, she grew tired of the company of whom she protected & decided to go for a stroll, eager to see the city around her, considering she came from the country side. It was then, by chance, she met @koeii​​ ( Hanzo Shimada ) and formed what she thought would be a simple friendship. 

As time went on though, her feelings for him grew, and a relationship began. Over time, she met with @omniphrenia​​ ( Genji Shimada - this is still depending because we need to interact to see where their relationship goes. ) & ended up developing a bond with the two brothers. Considering that they were part of the  Syndicate crimina, & women generally had little to do with it, she did her best to stay out of that life. Only sometimes coming onto their families grounds if invited by the brothers; sneaks in to visit Hanzo within the night, because she cannot sleep OR if she sneaks in dressed as a man, to see them. 

During the time there, unless the brothers happen to see her within a battle, her powers were drew upon very little & instead she only used her raw strength and prowls. However, once incident changed changed that ( post here ). Coming back from a mission, by chance, Hanzo had taken a blade for her --- - taking his life. Unknown to her, the phoenix within her fully awoke and restored his life force to him, the power draining her completely and rendering her unconscious. during this time, only little humanity remained within her, the phoenix almost fully awakening & the powers starting to come loose from within. 

Years later, when Hanzo believes he kills Genji ( unknown to either of them that he’s still alive ), her powers once more started to show. At first, she went after Hanzo, him going missing & worry causing her to panic. but after two months of searching, she found out she was with child -- - a child who would later inherent the dragon from the Shimada’s. because of this, as the child grew within her, it began to draw upon her spirit within, causing what remained of her power to fully awaken, though she remained unaware until she began to outlive almost all of her family and friends ( still in the works ). 

PLEASE NOTE: when it come to any characters mentioned that is not Mulan. it completely is up to the mun how they wish to proceed & if they choose to make themselves immortals/gods/dragons. whatever it is they want. it is COMPLETELY up to them. this information is just for MY MULAN in general. 

             OTHER VERSES: some to note.

INUYASHA: similar to how the main started, she began as a human but soon unlocked her abilities. The Phoenix in this is considered a demon.  TMI: This verse has two parts. the one where she is a shadowhunter, she will not be a phoenix & this must be asked upon through request. THE MAIN VERSE IN THIS: 

having been born with the powers of phoenix & many years since the beginning of the main verse, Mulan has lived countless lives -- - each of them, Magnus Bane, has been apart of as he considers himself her time keeper. Because of her abilities, should she lose her life, she will sometimes forget her past and turn to him for guidance. He in turn takes care of her, as his little sister, often time the two living together or having separate homes but often visit one another. 

Mulan in this verse, if she is the phoenix, can be refereed to as a WAR GODDESS -- - due to her prowls in battle & each life, she often finds herself going into a war, even if it has nothing to do with her. 

            POWERS:

The phoenix is a balance between life and death. due to this she will have the following types of powers. 

REBIRTH: If Mulan dies, there are two prices she has to pay when coming back from the dead; 

one being that she has to lose certain memories if she comes back quickly enough. These memories can come back, but usually in a dream like state.  the rebirth process can take years to happen, where she remains in a sleep like state, covered with fire energy.  Another part of her power of rebirth: if death comes to someone else. she can bring them back from the dead, given the right time frame. if this does happen, it will leave her completely exhausted & often times she will pass out. 

FIRE: Mulan can control fire, but only later on when she is able to train & accepts her power. The fire can purify, due to the phoenix & with it, can often cure poisons. 

this power will only happen in certain verses, and if both muns agree to it.

DEATH’S DANCE:  a ability to use in battle. the warriors of the dead, come to guide her blade, letting her feel out moves so that she could come out the victor.  IMMORTALITY:  it goes without saying, that as a phoenix she is an immortal being, who can actually be killed, but not for long. this power does not come into affect until she either she burns through her humanity ( main verse ) OR when she reaches a certain age, ( im thinking around 22 ), she stops growing old and looks young forever. 

 in this state, she does not feel pain, but only a lust for blood. which tends to scare her. but she knows she needs to use it to win in big battles or against an enemy stronger then her.

SIDE NOTE: More powers might come later. 

[quanf99]

Sovereign Citizens, and the Definitely Not Real Global Domination Pandemic

It was 12:40am when I got out of bed to check my mail box, behind yet another fridge magnet from Josh Frydenberg was a postcard from the Protector Party, a political awareness group warning of a ploy by governments to control the masses through the current coronavirus pandemic, or something along those lines. The Protector Party are tied to the resurgence of sovereign citizens, members of society who believe they may choose exemption from the laws of society, a right supposedly outlined in the Magna Carta. While fringe political beliefs have always floated around, they're gaining traction in Australia after strict lock down laws imposed by the Andrews government. I was familiar with such ideas, but this was the first time I'd encountered said ideas in my mail box. I decided to look into sovereign citizenry some more, who were they? And what gave them the right to leave insane post cards in my mail box?

For many residents of Melbourne, Dan Andrews tough lockdown laws herald the rise of an all-powerful authoritarian state. These laws have made it illegal for people to visit other households, or leave home past 8pm, they force Melbournians to wear face masks when leaving home. Democracy is truly at threat when I can't order from the McDonalds drive-thru at 12am. Fighting on the frontlines against totalitarianism is a group calling themselves sovereign citizens or, Freeman of the Land. Freemen argue that laws only apply to corporations, which on their terms include the government. Birth certificates are a contract with the government as corporation and only apply to a person if he or she consents to it. This sort of imaginary legal argument has existed long before the coronavirus  pandemic and Dan "Stalin" Andrews' lockdown, cropping up whenever somebody gets summoned to court for unpaid driving tickets. Recently these pseudo-legal ideas have gained traction via Facebook groups. Through social media, thousands of middle-aged Australians are rallying behind the cause, who else will defend our rights to get pissed in the backyard on a Friday night. I thought I'd join one of these groups to get a read on the sovereign citizens. I found one group, Truth and the Unknown - Australia, it tends to focus on conspiracy theories in general but has recently shifted to uncovering the facts regarding coronavirus. The discussion surrounding the pandemic comes from livestreams of really intelligent looking people explaining to audiences that, coronavirus is not a virus, that even if it was viruses can't be caught by body, that coronavirus mortality rate is so low, no one should be worried even if they do catch it, despite 894 people dying in Australia. Unsurprisingly almost all of the information posted in Truth and the Unknown - Australia, contains no sources backing up any of the information provided. Discussion then shifts to memes explaining how 5G internet connections weaken the body making it more susceptible to coronavirus, a virus that isn't actually a virus, and even if it was you can't catch it. Further down the rabbit hole, GMO foods, vaccines causing autism, Rockefellers and Freemasons, government ties to Satanic cults and Bohemian Grove. All of this was mildly funny and maybe a little disturbing, but I was having trouble finding any concrete political ideas from any of these sovereign citizens. I decided to get in contact with the man who first sent me down this rabbit hole, that's when I got in touch with John Tiger Casley, leader of the Protector Party. Mr Casley is an older man, he speaks in old Australian figures of speech which find a balance somewhere between endearing and condescending, responding to you with phrases like "Alright young fella". Mr Casley used to be a history teacher, he now resides in Brighton presumably retired, spending his time making YouTube videos and sending people weird post cards. I asked "What do you think the end goal supposedly is for this deep state?" to which he replied "I believe their goal is psychopathic humanoid control over human bodies via violent injections and 5G, as well as human perception through media propaganda and AI." Q: Do you think this current climate of politics, sovereign citizens, and a general openness to these ideas will result in positive changes to politics in Australia? J: I believe it depends on the amount of human power given away to the Psychopathic Humanoids in JFK's Monolithic Conspiracy, although I've never known opportunity for political engagement to be higher. Q: How did you first become aware of things like, JFK's Monolithic Conspiracy? J: I began reading, gratefully, the logic, evidence, experiences and suffering of the most amazing mind of this century - David Icke's. While my interview with Mr Casely was interesting it revealed little in the way of concrete political beliefs, again it felt more like I was hearing a conspiracy theory check list be ticked off, rather than any solid politics. I decided to look into David Icke afterwards. Icke is a former football player from the UK, who writes about an inter-dimensional race of reptilians who run the Illuminati and have hijacked the Earth. These reptilians are known as the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian deities of the Underworld. Again the formula for these ideas feels tried and true, pick an ancient pre-Judeo Christian deity (preferably from Mesopotamia) and center them around a secret shadow government conspiracy to rule the world. Whether its democrats sacrificing babies to Moloch, or underground Illuminati lizard men, the pattern feels obvious. Next I spoke to Zac Galloway, a practicing lawyer with a law degree from University of Tasmania. After moving to Melbourne a few years back, Mr Galloway has become active in promoting the truth about the pandemic through platforms like Facebook. I figured Mr Galloway would have to be well educated if he was a practicing lawyer, and should be able to back up his views better than the average Facebook conspiracy theorist. Q: I'm interested to know, are you connected to any particular groups or organisations? Mr Galloway: I'm not connected with any organisations, although I do follow a few Facebook pages where people share and spread information. I don't believe everything that gets spread in these groups and take most of it with a grain of salt however. Q: Do you believe the virus is real? Or a ploy by the government towards some other agenda? Z: I believe the virus is real but our perception of it is far from the truth. There seems to be overwhelming evidence the virus was man made and originated in a laboratory. Whether this was done intentionally doesn't matter as much to me, I think there's a clear agenda from government worldwide involving mass control and surveillance of the population. Q: Have friends and family been receptive to your message, or do you find a lot of push back regarding your ideas? Z: I find a mix of responses, I've got many people who message me frequently to show support, wishing they were brave enough to speak up. Q: What do you think the rising trend of belief in the sovereign citizen movement says about Australia's current political climate? Z: I think it shows that people are willing to stand up for their rights which to me is a no brainer. There's a very slippery slope between freedom and tyranny and when people voluntarily give up their rights so easily I become gravely concerned. To me it is good that people are willing to stand up for their rights. Although I think much of what he said was shaky at best I was glad someone could give me answers beyond vague gestures to Moloch and vaccines. I don't want to give Mr Galloway too much credit though, perhaps there's something even more troubling in the way he dresses up blatant disregard for the social contract as 'logical reasoning'. It can be harder to discredit arguments about Daniel 'Karl Marx' Andrews using coronavirus hysteria to destroy the economy, when they have more formal validity. And one can't avoid the irony of someone who supports sovereign citizenry, utilising his institutionally given power to practice the law. Regardless of the validity behind  any of the ideas I've gone over here, these ideas and their rising popularity represent something more troubling, perhaps more disappointing. It's undeniable that society is structured to segregate the common person from the powerful, while every day people are led along by the false promise of enough hard and honest work, those born into wealth use loop holes to consolidate their position on the throne. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to be mistrusting of governments and those in power, reasons that don't have anything to do with mass mind control, vaccines, 5G towers or ancient sub-terranean lizard people. I spoke to Dr Lauren Rosewarne, cultural commentator and lecturer at Melbourne University. Q: Do you think the popularity of the sovereign citizen movement ties in with the rise of conspiracy theories coming closer to public consciousness? Things like the death of Jeffrey Epstein, or Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Elections? Dr Rosewarne: Sovereign citizens are nothing new in Australia. The internet however, has enabled them to connect, recruit and have a public platform for their views thus giving them greater visibility. Q: Do you think the rising visibility of such a platform, and these sorts of fringe political ideas in general, might suggest deeper political unrest in society? L: I'd be more inclined to say that Covid serves as a rallying cry for these people in a way that few previous events have. Whether that persists as unrest in a post-Covid world, only time will tell. When people take up these conspiracy theories, its disappointing to see how close to the nerve they hit, clearly something larger than everyday people puts us on an uneven playing field. Why then, do we look for answers beyond the real quantifiable structural devices that shape society? There are many complex reasons, the simplest one being that its much easier, much less ambiguous to imagine some sinister, wholly evil force is pulling things behind the scenes. It's easy to laugh at conspiracy theorists, a lot of the things I've seen people post are honestly insane. However, I think it's worth remembering too, that when people start believing these theories, a part of them must recognise the way things are really stacked against us, and from that place maybe we can hope that more people are on the path to greater political consciousness. Or who knows, maybe the democrats really do drink the blood of newborns in exchange for eternal youth.

[ayearinfaith]

𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟴: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗼𝗻𝘆

The 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 is an 8th or 7th century BCE text written by the poet Hesiod in ancient Greece, around the same time Homer was writing the 𝘐𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘥 and 𝘖𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 has been considered historically and in the modern day as something of a Greek mythology canon, notably containing the origin of the universe, succession of the gods, and many, many detailed lists of genealogy for gods, nymphs, and demi-gods.

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗻?

The nature of the religion of the ancient Greeks, and indeed the nature of most religions before the modern era, was quite different from modern conceptions. We are used to religious traditions like Christianity or Hinduism, which have central texts and prophets; concrete elements around which a “core” religion can be built. But many traditions lack these elements, being instead the result of commonly told stories and cultural values. In Hesiod’s day, and for most of Greek history, there was no central canon nor even a concept of such a thing. Various city’s and towns would have all had their own versions of gods and legends. Hesiod collected as many myths as he could and attempted to create a single cohesive narrative that included all of it. The 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 cannot truly be called a source of Greek canon as its publishing in no way created some form of central dogma that all Greeks were beholden to. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to take from it any role in the centralizing of a common Greek religion. The 5th BCE century historian Herodotus credits the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 with creating a thread of myth commonly to all of Greece, and throughout the ages, right up to the modern era, the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 is one of the first sources looked to for questions about Greek beliefs. Thus while the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 was not comparable in its religious authority to the Christian Bible or Hindu Vedas, it did create a commonly known version of religion that would spread across the Greek dominion, perhaps more comparable to the impact of the Grimm Brother’s collection of Central European fairytales on the then splintered Germanic speaking peoples of Central Europe.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝘀

Probably the best-known section from the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 is the legend of how lordship over all the cosmos was passed down ultimately to Zeus, king of the gods. At the start of the universe there is only a being called Chaos, whose name is literally “gap”, “void”, or “emptiness”. Three other beings come into existence after Chaos, uncertain if they are produced by it or simply came into being. These are Gaia (Earth), Eros (sexual desire aka. the impulse for creation), and Tartarus (the underworld). Chaos then produces (and this time it definitely is from Chaos) Erebus (the darkness below the earth) and Nyx (the darkness above, aka. night). Erebus and Nyx then promptly make love and produce Aether (the divine light of the heavens) and Hemera (the light of the day). Gaia produces Uranus (the sky), Pontus (the sea), and the Ourea (ten mountain spirits and, yes, Hesiod did name all of them). With Uranus in the picture, the succession can truly begin. How exactly Uranus came to be the first sovereign of the cosmos is uncertain, perhaps simply an after effect of him being the literal sky above. Every day he and Gaia make love and produce children. They have 18 children total. The first are twelve gods, the ones we will come to know as Titans; Oceanus (the ocean), Coeus (intelligence), Crius (role unknown), Hyperion (heaven), Iapetus (progenitor), Theia (divinity),  Rhea (ground), Themis (order), Mnemosyne (memory), Phoebe (stars), Tethys (inland sea), and Cronus (harvest). They are followed by three one eyed giants, the Cyclopes; Brontes (thunder), Steropes (lightning), and Arges (flash). Finally are the most enormous and strong Hecatoncheires, each with fifty heads and a hundred arms; Cottus, Briereus, and Gyges (all seemingly foreign names).  Uranus despises his six monstrous children and imprisons them deep in the earth. This enrages Gaia who asks the Titans to avenge their brothers. The youngest, Cronus, rises to the challenge, and uses a magic sickle to castrate his father. As the disembodied testicles fall into the ocean, the churning froth produces Aphrodite, the goddess of love. With his father incapacitated Cronus now stands as the king of the cosmos and rules over the Golden Age on earth. However, not all is well with the new king. Uranus and Gaia give him a prophecy that, just as he usurped his father, so shall his son usurp him. In an attempt to maintain his rule Cronus eats every child he produces with his sister-wife Rhea. Like her mother before her Rhea cannot bear the treatment of children, and upon the birth of her sixth child, Zeus, conspires with Gaia to hid him. Gaia takes Zeus into hiding and Rhea tricks Cronus into eating a swaddled pile of rocks. Zeus grows up and tricks Cronus into eating an emetic, causing him to vomit up the other gods; Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. War ensues between the generations of gods, a battle that lasts ten years. It only ends when Zeus finally releases the last of Gaia’s children from their imprisonment: the Cyclopes, who craft Zeus’ lightning bolts, and the Hecatoncheires, whose might cannot be matched. Thus, Zeus comes to be king of the gods at last. However, the succession is not quite done, as Zeus is given the same prophecy as his father, destined to be usurped by the son of his wife Metis. When Metis becomes pregnant Zeus decides on a way to cement his rule: he eats Metis, thus ensuring no son can ever be born to her. Incidentally, the daughter she was pregnant with is still later born, splitting forth from Zeus’ head: Athena.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀

If you made it through that last section you may be able to conclude Hesiod did not omit names and details. He painstakingly lists not just the genealogy of the various gods, but also huge lists of all the names and associations of various classes of nymphs ex. The 10 Ourea or mountain nymphs, 50 nereids or sea nymphs, 41 oceanids or ocean nymphs (generous as he gives their total number as 3,000), etc. He also probably added in a few creations of his own, or at least partially his own. There were probably less than 12 Titans in most versions of the tale, as evidenced by several of those he lists (such as Crius, Coeus, and Theia) being hardly ever recorded outside of the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺.  Why all the bolstering and listing? Remember, the 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘺 was an attempt to weave the disparate myths of all of Greece into one internally consistent narrative. Hesiod had a lot of variety to compile and lots of themes to maintain. Its possible he needed places to put more localized deities, or a way to create fleshed out lists where local traditions were willing to just say “12 Titans” without naming them. Hesiod’s perhaps inadvisable desire to create consistency where there was none is a part of why most Westerners have such a wealth of knowledge of a tradition that died out thousands of years ago. If you have ever seen a great graph of the family trees of Greek figures you are almost assuredly seeing, at least in part, the influence of Hesiod.

Image Credit: Saturn Devouring His Son (Saturno devorando a su hijo), Francisco Goya, 1819-23

[psyentifically-minded]

Ptah: Ptah (depicted top left) was a luna God said to be the husband of Bastet or Sekhmet and was thus father of Nefertem and Maahes. Ptah was depicted as a green-skinned pharoah with a crescent and full moon on his head, standing on the symbol for Ma’at and holding a staff crossed with a scepter/ankh and the djed pillar of Osiris, he is also sometimes pictured with a crook and flail. Ptah was often described as self-creating and sometimes credited with creating the universe he also God of craftsmen, metallurgy, sculptors, ship builders and carpenters suggesting that he may be related to Egyptian builder cults. Ptah was also known to be part of a trinity with Osiris and Sobek and was identified with the Apis bull and acted as a herald of Ra. Ptah was also the foundation of Ma’at that the scales rested upon.

Qadesh: Qadesh was a Semitic Goddess sometimes worshiped in ancient Egypt.

Qebehsenuef: Qebehsenuef was a God with the head of a hawk and was one of the four sons of Horus. Qebehsenuef was therefore depicted on canopic jars and was the one in which the Intestines were stored, he was said to be protected by Selket. Qebehsenuef was said to represent the West and was one of the four rudders of heaven or four pillars of Shu.

Ra: Ra (depicted top and central) was the main solar God of Egypt particularly associated with the noon sun. Ra was said to have fathered Shu and Tefnut in some myths and in others he was born from the unfurling of the lotus in the primordial waters of creation. Ra is said to have created Hathor, Sekhmet and Bastet who are all also his consorts and daughters and ultimately one Goddess identified as the “Eye of Ra”. Ra took many forms and was merged with many deities including: Amun, Horus, Atum and Khepri he also had a female counterpart making him an androdgynous being she was known as Raet-Tawy. Ra literally represented the sun and was depicted as the sun, when merged with other deities they were depicted with the sun disc on their heads. Ra was said to travel in two boats across the sky (Nut) these were Mandjet in the morning and Mesektet in the evening. When Ra was upon Mandjet he took the form of a ram and was accompanied by the deities Sia, Hu and Heka. In the evenings Ra was accompanied by other deities such as Seth. Ra was said to battle each night with the serpent God of chaos Apophis and was said to be swallowed and sent to the underworld each night to become one with Osiris and was then reborn victorious in the mornings as Horus - the sun on the horizon (Horus-Risen).

Raet-Tawy: Raet-Tawy was the female aspect of the sun God Ra and may have come to influence later Goddesses such as Hathor.

Rem: Rem (depicted top right) was known as the “tears of Ra” and was a fish God said to fertilize the land with his weeping which then provided vegetation, amphibians and reptiles. Rem was a male counterpart to Hatmehit a fish Goddess known as the “Eye of Ra” this pair may have influenced the star sign of Pisces as they are known to be the two fish protecting the sun Gods boat.

Renenutet: Renenutet was a cobra-headed Goddess often depicted as an aspect of Ma’at with the feather of truth on her head she was said to give the Ren (name) at birth and was mother of Nehebkau who bound the Ba (soul) to the Ka (vital spark). Renenutet was the consort of the Gods Sobek and Geb and was closely associated with both Wadjet and the Nile.

Renpet: Renpet was the Egyptian representation of the year and was the Goddess of time, a kind of zeitgeist known as the “mistress of eternity”.

Satis: Satis was the Goddess of the flooded Nile. Satis was an early war, hunting and fertility deity who was seen as the mother of the Goddess Anuket and a protector of Southern Egypt. One of Satis’s titles was “she who runs like an arrow”, which is thought to refer to the river current and as such her symbols became the arrow and running river. Satis was pictured as a woman wearing the conical crown with gazelle or antelope horns or as an antelope - a fast moving creature that lived along the Niles banks. Satis was often depicted with a bow and arrows however she may also be depicted with an ankh symbolising the life giving powers of the Nile. Satis acted as a fertility Goddess who graunted the wishes of those who sought out love. Satis is also described as offering jars of purifying water. Satis would later be described as a consort of Khnum. Satis is also one of the Goddesses refered to as the “Eye of Ra”.

Sekhmet: Sekhmet (depicted second row and left) is the lioness-headed Goddess of war and wife of Ptah, she was said to be born from the fiery gaze of Ra gaining her title “Eye of Ra” and eventually became Bastet and Hathor. Sekhmet is also described as mother of Nerfertem and Maahes. Sekhmet was a Goddess of fire and vengeance and was known as “arbiter of the divine justice of the Goddess Ma’at”. Sekhmet also held the titles “one before whom evil trembles”, “lady of slaughter”, “mistress of dread” and “lady of the flame”, in these respects she can be seen as an ambivalent force both a protective Goddess against demons and as a force of evil herself. Sekhmet had a close association with blood and was only ever dressed in red likewise she was once sent to end humanity by utilising her powers as eye of Ra only to be tricked into drinking alcahol which pacified her and transformed her into Bastet this story influenced the worship of Sekhmet with rituals involving wine and associating her with the flood Nile when it coloured red with clay and silt. Sekhmet was often depicted with a sun disc and Uraeus on her head while holding a scepter and ankh.

Selket: Selket (depicted second row and central) was a scorpion Goddess sometimes depicted as a scorpion with a womans head, chest and arms and at other times as a woman with a scorpion on her head holding a scepter and ankh. Selket was the Goddess of poison, venom and venomous creatures as well as medicine and was invoked to cure those who were suffering as a result of such things, she was also a fertility Goddess associated with nature and magic. Selket was associated with protection from venomous creatures and thus also from demons and particularly Apophis who she guarded once he was captured and bound. Since venomous bites could lead to death Selket was said to be protector of the dead also and was a consort of Horus and the mother of the four sons of Horus who protected the organs of the dead. Selket was made up of other scorpion Goddesses such as Hedetet and ultimately became synonymous with Isis.

Sheshat: Sheshat or Seshat (depicted second row and right) was a Goddess of scribes and messurment who was acredited with discovering writting and was also a Goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, surveying and cannabis. As a Goddess of architecture and messurements Sheshat likely relates to early Egyptian builder cults. Sheshat is usually depicted holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharoah. Sheshat was also depicted holding other tools and often holding the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures. Sheshat is frequently shown dressed in a cheetah or leopard hide - a symbol of funerary priests, the pattern on this hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity and association with the night sky and indicating the need to messure celestial objects and their movements in the workings of astrology. As the divine messurer and scribe, Sheshat was believed to appear to assist the pharoah in both these practices. Sheshat was said to assist the pharoah in the “stretching the cord” ritual, a ritual related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred alignments and precision of dimensions of the building. The use of hemp ropes for messurement meant that Sheshat was important in surveying the land after the annual floods to reestablish boundary lines. Sheshat’s priestesses were trained in mathmatics and knowledge related to meassurement and often oversaw the work of the builder cults and slaves used in the building process. Sheshat was also depicted with a seven pointed cannabis leaf on her head this is because of the hemp ropes created for meassurement but also relates to ritual uses of the cannabis plant for example a line in the coffin texts reads “Sheshat opens the doors to heaven for you”. Sheshat was thought to be the daughter and consort of Thoth and an aspect of the Goddess Ma’at, this is drawn from the fact that Ma’at as a set of balance scales is a system of messurement requiring calibration, Sheshat is often depicted near the scales of Ma’at as a plum level or as the Merkhet - a cord and plum-level tool used in ancient Egyptian astrology.

Seth: Seth was born of the union of Nut and Geb and was a brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys. Nephthys was the consort of Seth but had the child Anubis with Osiris causing a bitter rivalry between Seth and Osiris and it was Seth who cut Osiris into thirteen pieces and scattered them. Seth represented the barren deserts of the red lands of upper Egypt and was said to be infertile after Horus destroyed his testicles in revenge for Seth scratching out Horus’s left eye. Horus and Seth were said to engage in many competitions for the throne of Egypt with Horus ultimately being the victor. Seth was the God of darkness, chaos, the desert, storms, violence and foreigners he was depicted as a man with the head of an unknown animal known as the “Set”/“Seth” animal however in later works he is depicted as a donkey. Seth as a God of darkness showing the period where the sun went below the horizon at sun-set but accompanied Ra on his solar boat to help fight the chaos God Apophis. Seth was often depicted holding a scepter and ankh.

Shay: Shay was the Egyptian deification of fate not usually assigned a gender and sometimes androdgynous appearing both male and female. Shay has a variety of consorts including Mesnet, Renenutet and Ren. As the deity of fate, it was said that Shay determined the span of each mans life and was present at the judgement of the soul of the deceased in Duat. Shay was sometimes represented as a serpent with the head of a pig.

Shezmu: Shezmu was a demonic God of the underworld sometimes hawk-headed and at other times lion-headed, he was said to wear human skulls as a belt and was a God of execution, oils, perfumes and wines in particular he was said to give red wine to the virtuous dead and to slaughter the unholy dead by forcing them into a wine press to turn their blood into wine, he was connected to Sekhmet from this association but as a God of perfumes and oils he is also connected to Nefertem who was given a similar connotation from the plesant smell of the Egyptian sacred water lily. As a deity of oils Shezmu was closely linked to the embalming process.

Shu: Shu (depicted third row and left) was the God of the air and consort of his sister Tefnut, the pair were both born of Atum and Iusaaset and spawned the sky Goddess Nut and earth God Geb between them. Shu was charged by Ra to uphold the sky Goddess Nut from her brother Geb forbidding the two from further union after the birth of Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys, in this role as the air upholding the sky Shu became associated with a ladder of ascension or ladder to heaven which would parallel in later Kabbalistic symbologies where the tree of life is refered to as “Jacobs Ladder” alongside other mystical ladders in other traditions with the same meaning of ascension thus Shu was titled “he who rises/raises up”, this is further explained since Shu also embodies the feather of truth of weighing scales of Ma’at which granted ascension to any soul whos Ib (heart) weighed equal or less than the feather. Shu was often depicted upholding the sky or with an ankh and scepter and was seen as a duality in the world because he caused the seperation between Nut and Geb.

Sia: Sia was the deification of intellect snd commandment and was part of the trinity of magical deities including his brothers Heka and Hu. Sia was said to accompany Ra alongside Heka and Hu during his day voyage across the sky and was himself a deity of wisdom. The triplets Sia, Heka and Hu were said to be created by Atum from some accounts from the blood of his circumcision or castration (though the later often refers to sacred marriage in occult terminology).

Sobek: Sobek (depicted third row and central) was a military deity who presided over the Nile and its dangerous creatures such as crocodiles or hippopotamuses. Sobek was often depicted with the head of a crocodile or as a crocodile and wore a duel-plummed headress with sun-disc and duel-Uraeus, he was often shown holding a scepter and ankh. Sobek was also a fertility deity and his name means “to impregnate”. Sobek was the son of Khenemu or Seth with his mother being Neith, Sobek was also said to be the consort of Renenutet. Sobek was likely a solar deity at times merged with both Horus and Ra. Sobek was a fierce deity associated with social crimes such as robery and perversions, he was also a deity associated with healing and funerary rites. Sobek was worshiped at crocodilopolis in the form of sacred crocodiles kept in large pools they were interpreted as oracles and were mummified once they died.

Sokar: Sokar was usually depicted as a mummified hawk and sometimes as a mound from which the head of a hawk appeared. Sokar was said to open the tombs and was a guardian of the dead. Sokar was part of a trinity of Gods alongside Osiris and Ptah forming Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Due to his connection with Ptah, Sokar was also seen as a God of craftsmen and possibly related to ancient builder cults. Sokar was also depicted standing on the back of a serpent with his wings outstretched in an emblem thought to denote resurrection.

Sopdet: Sopdet is the Goddess of the star Sirius which is the brightest star in the night sky, it also forms part of Orions belt with three other stars that in Egyptian times were thought to be Osiris, Isis and Horus, the pyramids of Giza were aligned with them. Sirius rises in the sky at around the same time that the Nile flooded each year this caused Sopdet to be associated with the fertility that the flooded Nile brings as well as with other deities of the Nile. Sopdet was depicted as a woman holding an ankh with a five-pointed star on her head.

Ta-Bitijet: A scorpion Goddess and aspect of Selket who bore the four sons of Horus from her union with Horus. Ta-Bitijet is the “lady of the menstrual blood” as it was written that when Horus penetrated her hymen the blood that flowed forth was a cure for all poisons, this is likely a metaphore for the ritual use of menstrual blood for healing and in sacred marriage rituals.

Tatenen: Tatenen was the personification of the Benben land that rose from the abyss when Atum created it. Tatenen was androdgynous and seen as a protector of nature. Tatenen was seen as the personification of Egypt and as an aspect of Geb. Tatenen wielded a magic mace that was shaped to venerate the hawk or falcon called the “great white of the earth creator” it was used in battles against the chaos God Apophis and may relate to the earlier Sumerian mace Sharur. Tatenen eventually became synonymous with Ptah as the one who had set up the djed pillars of stability in the land of Egypt. Tatenen was also a God of vegetation and fertility and was often depicted as seated with green skin and a pharoahs beard with either a crown or rams horns and a sun disc or with two serpents on his head.

Taweret: Taweret (depicted third row and right) was a protective Goddess of childbirth and fertility shown as a bipedal hippopotamus with cat-like claws, large pregnant belly and human breasts. Taweret was identified as a hippopotamus because the female hippopotamus is so protective of its young. Taweret is sometimes a consort of Seth because the Male hippopotamus was considered a symbol of chaos. Taweret was the main Goddess among a group of Goddesses identified as hippopotamuses who were all likewise deities of childbirth and fertility. Taweret was closely associated with ritual knives and wands made of hippopotamus ivory that were used in magic formulas designed to aid the process of childbirth (possibly early caesereans or for cutting umbilical cords). Taweret was closely associated with the Nile and was said to purify its waters she was also said to purify the dead in their passage through the afterlife making her a Goddess of rejuvenation. Taweret is closely linked to the Goddess Hathor and is often seen as an aspect of her. As a dangerous animal the association between the hippopotamus and Taweret could include the death of children during child birth as well as being used as a powerful image thought to ward off evil spirits that might harm children.

Tayet: Tayet was a Goddess of purification and protection said to weave the bandages used in mummification this connected her to all the funeral deities as well as deities of fate making her a lesser aspect of the Goddess Neith.

Tefnut: Tefnut is the Goddess of rain and moisture and is sister and consort of the air God Shu, she was born of the union of Atum and Iusaaset and went on to spawn the sky Goddess Nut and earth God Geb. Tefnut is often depicted as a lioness-headed Goddess wearing a long wig with a solar disc on her head, she is usually shown seated on a throne holding a scepter, she is sometimes depicted as an androdgynous image that bares the head of both Tefnut and Shu as one being in reference to Hieros Gamos.

Thoth: Thoth (as depicted bottom) was shown to have the head of an ibis or babboon and was a male God of the moon and scribes he was sometimes the consort of Sheshat or Ma’at. Thoth held a position on the boat of the sun God Ra. Thoth was also a God of sciences, alchemy and magic as well as philosophy, religion and wisdom. Thoth was closely associated with the judgement of the dead where he records the judgement of Ma’at against the dead soul. Thoth was often depicted with a crescent moon on his head and a full moon above it, at other times he was depicted with a crown. Thoth also served as a mediating power between good and evil insuring fair judgement between the two. Thoth was said to have produced the calculations for the establishment of the heavens and their celestial bodies and was also said to have directed their movements linking him with astrology.

Unut: An early Egyptian Goddess in the form of a snake whose name means “swiftness” she was also depicted with the lower half of a serpent, the body of a woman and the head of a hare. Unut was associated with moon deities but her specific role is unknown.

Wadjet: Wadjet whose name means “green one” was depicted as a cobra ascending from the third eye of Ra and is closely associated with the Uraeus. Wadjet was also depicted as a two-headed snake-woman, as a snake around the sun-disc and as a woman with a single snake head. Wadjet in the form of the Uraeus is also sometimes depicted crawling up a papyrus staff in a symbol related to the later Greek wand of Aesclepius and Caduceus. Wadjet may also be an Egyptian version of the Ouroboros and potentially signified time. Wadjet likely represents an Egyptian kundalini/serpent energy mystery. Wadjet was the protector of Ra and in some myths was the great serpent which forms the milkyway galaxy and in this role she was closely associated with Hathor, she would later also be co-absorbed into the mythologies of Bastet.

Wepwawet: A war God seen to be the brother or son of Anubis and also like Anubis being represented by either a jackal or wolf, Wepwawet was also a God of hunting and was commonly pictured on the standards of Egyptian soldiers and on the thrones of pharoahs. Wepwawet in the form of the wolf was also depicted on the front of the boat of the sun God, Ra where he acted as a scout seeking out paths gaining him the title “opener of ways” which is also a title of the Goddess Neith who is associated with both Anubis and Wepwawet from her position as a funeral deity, since Wepwawet was the scout of the boat of Ra he was seen as a psychopomp guiding the souls of the dead.

Werethekau: The deification of supernatural powers and thus her name means “great of magic” or “great enchantress”. Werethekau was a Goddess of protection whose image appears on funeral items particularly ivory weapons ment to allow the dead to protect themselves and to assist women in child birth which makes her a greater aspect of Taweret. Werethekau was seen to be the Goddess of the twin crowns of unified Egypt snd as such was represented as serpent or lion headed linking her to Wadjet and Sekhmet respectively likely in reference to the great power of the third eye of Ra to create or destroy. Werethekau is an epitath often bestowed upon Isis and her previous forms such as Mut, Neith, Iusaaset and Hathor.

[jannasilvane]

antehac. pars una.

When King Rowan was killed in battle by Dontin Sorren -- his own kin, and by some accounts a childhood companion -- Soren’s Rebellion was said to have come to an end. It was unknown to historians of the time that more rebellions were to follow, and appeared then to be the shaky conclusion of a swift but bloody war. King Dontin quickly and viciously executed each Rowan who was left behind in the Peaks, but a save few had been spirited away by allies to the nearby Noble Isles. It was recorded that King Sorren intended upon pursuing the deposed royal family; with the goal of murdering each man, woman, and babe within their lineage. History claimed that it was Lord Carsen Silvane who cautioned against this decision; arguing that it was best to leave the beggar kings to die in anonymity across the sea. If we fight them, stories often quoted the Lord as saying, they know we fear them.

More warring would nonetheless follow, leading some over time to question the sageness of Silvane’s counsel. Debates waged on, but produced no measurable change: a Soren Kings ruled, and Rowan boys grew into disgruntled men who had new boys of their own.

The summer sickness which had ravaged the region in the year preceding the ascension of King Owayne -- called a mad plague by healers who noted the delirium it caused in victims -- had infiltrated the royal household in the apex of the sweltering heat. It claimed the lives of several courtiers before it took down the younger prince and princess, and when it finished with them it set its course onto the ruling King and his heir. Despite Queen Celessa’s valiant attempts to save her husband and son by appealing to the mercy of the gods -- the pious woman fasted and prostrated herself before the images of the deities for several days on end -- Kevan Soren followed his two young children to the grave. Mercifully, Owayne recovered and was swiftly coronated. 

Despite regaining his physical health, he seemed thereafter touched by what’d occurred.

In the early years of their reign, Janna found Owayne to be workable when caught in the right mood. He was quick to agree to her suggestion of naming her eldest brother as his chief councilor, and heeded the advice which came from both Silvane siblings as it pertained to the rebuilding of a land injured by its illness-related casualties. When Owayne was not beholden to his wicked temper, he proved to be willing to relinquish his grip on the Peaks to his wife and goodbrother, who stepped into the role with all the finesse of adults who had been reared for the job since they were babes. Whilst Alister assembled chosen men to serve as councilors and guardsmen within the walls of Driftpeake, Janna put her efforts into public works for the benefit of the common people, and made seemingly innocuous political plays at selecting women to serve as ladies-in-waiting from notable families across the region. Both siblings would work together on charming the noble class behind closed doors -- and it was during several strings of private dinners that issues such as brokering marriages, arranging new taxation policies, and doling out debated land occurred. 

In return for Owayne’s willingness to pass the reins, Janna and Alister were happy to allow him the credit for the bulk of their work. It was the King who ultimately signed off on each and every issue that went first through the Silvanes, and it was the King who received praises from his court. Whether or not this dynamic was believed by the realm at large was to be debated, but it seemed as though the Peaks were set upon finding some kind of stability. Should Janna fall pregnant, their reign would be further cemented. 

Of course, all reigns were not without their issues. 

A particularly poor farming season left many hungry, and the need to feed the masses led to loans being taken out by the crown to afford the outsourcing of grains and other goods. The answer to the repayment of these loans came in the form of higher taxes put onto the people. Though the rising taxes were not unthinkable for those on the receiving end, it nonetheless warranted some displeasure with the capital and the King who resided in it. 

For Owayne, who had always been temperamental, the change in public opinion took its toll. He spoke frequently about wishing to be likened to heroes such as Dontin Sorren, and began to seek private meetings with his Lord of War, Merrick Highstorm. Though Alister had hand-selected Lord Highstorm for the position, the man’s newfound favoritism at court seemed to cause him to forget this -- and as he ingratiated himself into the King’s goodwill he separated himself from the Silvane siblings. When -- after several months of this unwelcome dynamic-- Lord Highstorm presented the notion of warring with the Wetlands to the council meeting, Janna and Alister were taken aback. A debated stretch of land just beyond the northern territory of the Peaks had fallen into possession of the Wetlands some sixty years prior, and Owayne had come to the decision that he intended to reclaim it, and then some. 

The King staunchly refused to hear any dissent to his desired declaration of warfare with the Wetlands, and in fact seemed to have a boyish excitement about the issue. Declaring himself to be the King chosen by the Gods, he asserted his word was law and all those who argued against him were traitors to the crown. The only thing to do with a traitor, he argued, was put them to the sword. Given their proclivities for keeping their heads, there were none among the council who wished to argue with the young ruler after this point had been made. Try as she did, no amount of sweet words from Janna could cajole him to rethink his plan, either. 

Much to the dismay of the Silvanes, Owayne’s fool’s war was waged. Given the lands he intended to conquer, it was Lord Jon Silvane and his bannermen who were forced to bear the brunt of the skirmish -- though other Lords would be soon forced to surrender men and money to the needless cause. Two years were lost into the fruitless war, as were the lives of several hundred men of the Peaks. In that time, Owayne had visited the warfront once, stayed for a fortnight, and then returned due to the unfavorable weather. He’d spent more time parading through towns as they navigated the countryside than he had amongst the war he’d initiated. When all was said and done, the King had won no land, had increased the debt of the crown threefold, and had earned the outright contempt of several principle lords. For the first time in several years, the King’s spymaster -- a man called Wilmot Monfort -- produced reports that there were Lords who toasted to the health of Arthur Rowan. 

And that was where their real troubles began.

The once only irritable King flew into fits of rage with ease; and mounting paranoia caused him to see treachery and plotting around him at every turn. Fearing that his nation had been made weak by the cost of his war -- which it had -- he was tortured by nightmares of usurpation by Arthur Rowan across the sea, carried out with the helping hands of Lords who’d turned their backs on him. 

It helped little that the spymaster presented an abundance of reports detailing growing armies under the Rowans across the sea; and whispers that Rodric Rowan was dispatching spies into Driftpeake to report on the King. 

When Owayne began chattering during council meetings about having both Rodric and Arthur Rowan killed, Janna and Alister did not take it immediately to have much substance. They wrongly assumed that their King had some shred of sense to him, and would not bait a man to war with an unsteady land. They maintained the position their forefather Carsen Silvane had delivered, not simply because they did not wish to demonstrate such open fear, but because they could not easily mount the war effort necessary to deal with the issue. Janna was intent upon handling the issue internally, and repairing the torn bonds in the realm that Owayne’s war had created. Alister had tried his hand at diverting the King’s attentions from his dreams of Arthur’s head, and instead implored Owayne to worry over rehabilitating the opinion known or suspected Rowan loyalists had of him.  My Lord Uncle Vorgrove is safely on our side, Alister had said, but House Tyde and House Cratter should be brought to court and minded. 

Alister’s advice went unheard, as did Janna’s when she encouraged Owayne to flatter unruly Houses with gifts of titles and land to appease them. She even went so far as to suggest a marriage between her brother Randall and Lord Tyde’s daughter -- all of which fell onto deaf ears. Owayne could be only fleetingly distracted from his dream of Arthur Rowan’s head -- and that was when he set his sights on other real or imagined enemies, of which there were increasingly more of every day. Executions occurred with a growing frequency; the victims largely consisting of servants whom Owayne claimed were Rowan spies. The once malleable King appeared to have become unhinged, and it was all Janna and Alister could do to attempt to find some hold on him to regain their control with. 

There was no going back after the deaths of the Woodgards. 

Robin Woodgard had been the eldest son of the ruling Lord Oliver Woodgard, a powerful nobleman with land in the west whose family had in the past been connected with Rowan sympathizers. When Lord Woodgard came to Driftpeake to discuss necessary changes to the major trade roads which went through his land, his son had noticeably been absent -- a matter which had been explained away by a reported illness. Through his own twisted thinking, Owayne had deduced that Lord Woodgard had sent his son to meet in secret with the Rowans, and that his presence in the capital was no more than a distraction whilst the enemy was funneled into the region. On no evidence beyond simple paranoia, Lord Woodgard was imprisoned and his son was demanded to appear at the court. When Robin Woogard presented himself with men to swear testimony to his lack of travel across the sea, Owayne deduced that they were all traitors, and ordered them tortured until they revealed their crimes. 

When Alister attempted to intercede, he was instead stripped of his role as chief councilor and threatened with imprisonment should he continue to protest the issue. Wilmot was placed into his position in the interim. Without her brother in his position and deprived of her ability to influence the King’s decision making, Janna was left powerless.

After several days of torture, the Woodgards confessed to their crimes -- or simply admitted them to stop their agony -- and begged to swear fealty to their King. When Owayne had his paranoid suspicions confirmed by their confessions, he denied their request. Instead, he ordered their execution. Rather than giving the father and son a nobleman’s death by beheading, he instead opted for death by hanging, drawing, and quartering. When the tortured men arrived at their gallows dragged by horses, there were none save for Owayne who saw justice being done: instead, a mass horror seemed to greet the grisly executions. With ropes around their necks, Lords Oliver and Robin had renewed their innocence and protested for aid. After the ropes nearly wrung them of their lives and they were cut down, they continued their pleas for mercy. Janna, who had up until then retained a cool demeanor beside her excitable spouse, could not abide the carnage. By the time the executioner had made his first cuts into the bellies of the screaming men, Janna had fled her seat in full view of the watching crowd.

In the days which followed the deaths of the Woodgards, pockets of insurrection burst throughout the Peaks. The deposition of King Owayne was called for by several principle lords of the realm. Some argued for a regent to take hold of the land -- Alister Silvane’s name was presented amongst several -- while others openly encouraged the return of the Rowans. Owayne demanded the heads of each and every person who railed against him, but lacked the manpower to spread soldiers far enough to accomplish it. Letters were sent informing dissidents that they would be marked traitors if they did not appoint at court to bend the knee. Most went unanswered. Letters were sent to the lords guarding the southwestern border of the Peaks imploring them to protect the land -- these, too, went unanswered. 

Not four months after the Woodgards were tossed into their graves, the Rowans landed just outside of the territory of Lucidus Stronghold. The news had seemed to make Owayne giddy, who shared that they at last had the war he’d dreamed of. 

But it wasn’t a war --- it was an invasion.

[dontshootmespence]

Supernatural AU: Episode 4 - Devoid

Part 2

It took a full two days of little food, few stops for gas and even less sleep for them to make it to Hardin, Montana. “Cops, nap, research,” Dean said, pulling off the exit ramp. 

“No, research, cops, nap,” Bobbie replied. They needed to get ahead of whatever this was.

Sam barely even opened his eyes in the backseat, but he was insistent. “Both wrong. We’re all about to pass out. Let’s grab a motel room and power nap for 30 or 40 minutes, then we can go to the cops and gather the information we need so the research we do doesn’t get influenced in any way. It makes the most sense…and I’m too tired for this shit.”

She wanted to fight it, but Sam was right. They were all exhausted – physically and emotionally. No matter how mad she was at their father, if he felt there was a job here, there probably was – and she wanted to get to it. But they’d booked it here so fast that the need for sleep was outweighing everything else, so the second Dean saw a motel in Hardin he pulled into a parking lot, they gave their fake credit cards in for a room and crapped out. It was nearly an hour and a half later than Bobbie woke up in a cold sweat.

She screamed so loud that Sam and Dean shot up from the bed and the couch. “What the hell was that?” Sam asked.

Dean replied while his sister tried to catch a breath. “Nightmare. She always has one of two. One is about the night mom died and the other she won’t tell me.”

Sam glanced her way expectantly. “You always tell us you want us to be open about this kind of shit and then you keep that inside?”

Bobbie wiped her forehead, the sweat cool to the touch and clammy. “I’ll make you a deal, Sammy. You tell me what’s been keeping you up at night lately, and give me more than ‘nightmares about Jessica’ and I’ll give you a peek into my fucked up brain.”

Without missing a beat, Sam spat out that he blamed himself for what happened with Jess – not that he could’ve stopped it considering they didn’t know what it was – but he did have the dreams and said nothing and had accompanied Dean and herself, leaving Jessica all alone. “It was not your fault and you know it.”

“And undoubtedly whatever is going on in your head isn’t your fault either, but you’re blaming yourself, huh?” Sam was determined to get something out of her, even though opening himself up so candidly had taken even him off guard. “So what are you blaming yourself for Bobbie?”

“Nothing,” she replied, grabbing a glass of water and gulping it down in three or four big sips. “Yet. The other dream I have, besides Mom, is always about you two.”

“What?” Dean’s head left his hands and turned toward her. “What about us?”

“It’s always the same. I’m not getting deep into it now because we have work to do, but it always involves you two fighting in the Impala, me mediating and then you Dean, crashing the car. It spins out and we all end up in a lake. You’re both stuck in your seatbelts and I can’t get you out. I live. You die. There’s a voice telling me ‘it’s all your fault, you’ve failed me’ and then I wake up,” she said quickly, her voice shaking with each word. She didn’t want to recount this again. She didn’t want to think about it. With her eyes open, neither Dean nor Sammy could reach out for her as they took their last breath – not if she had anything to say about it. “Let’s get going, okay?”

“Bobbie, you have to-“ Sam started, but she cut him off with the flick of her hand.

“There’s nothing I can do about it, so let’s stop talking about it and focus on some people that need our help.”

Dean wasn’t about to let it go and neither was Sam, but they knew better than to test her right now.  “Okay, let’s go.”

-

After introducing themselves to the local police as Agents Acer, Vanir and Laird, Dean asked Chief Goldstein if he could tell them anything about the child suicides in the area. “Anything you can tell us would be helpful.”

“Is this even in your jurisdiction?” He asked.

“Believe it or not yes,” Sam replied quickly. “The FBI sometimes conducts what we call an equivocal death investigation, which basically means the case has lingering questions. We can end up classifying the deaths as homicides, suicides, natural causes, accidents or something unknown. This fits that perfectly considering the kids were all so young and so well adjusted.”

With his question answered, Goldstein pulled out the files on the three children that had died over the course of the past six weeks. “Mia Thomas was seven and drowned in a lake. Her parents claim she was a fantastic swimmer. Nathan Cope was eight years old and found hanging in his closet and Otis Wickens jumped out the window of his doctor’s office building.”

Sam shivered at the image of the latest child jumping out of a building. What could possibly have been so horrible that he would not only take his life, but take it in such a way?

“And none of them had any issues at school? No bullies? Family life okay?” Bobbie questioned. The most likely reason for child suicide would’ve been bullying if she had to put money on it. Either that or issues at home. If it wasn’t that, something supernatural was her next best guess. “Nothing out of the ordinary?”

He repeated himself, saying nothing was wrong with any of the children. Otis had gone first, he was also eight. Nathan next and Mia last. “Otis and Nathan were in the same class,” he said. “So maybe you want to start there.”

“Okay, thanks Chief,” Dean said. “We’ll keep you updated.”

Outside the station, Bobbie, Dean and Sam decided to head over to the Wickens’ house first to see if they could interview the grieving parents. The loss of a child had to be the scariest thing Bobbie could think of. “So what do we think this is?” Sam asked. “If it is something supernatural.”

“Maybe a witch,” Dean said. “The parents are being targeted by way of their kids.”

Bobbie was off in her own world in Baby’s passenger seat. “Possibly, but wouldn’t a witch make it look like an accident or natural so it wouldn’t raise any questions?”

“Could be a dumb witch?” Dean replied, grasping at straws. “The fact that it’s suicide is what you’re hung up on, right?”

“Yea, it’s just…” Her head was pounding, flashes from her ever-present nightmare sporadically running in and out of her brain. “Something’s up.”

-

Stepping up to the Wickens’ home was like stepping toward an open grave. At a closed grave, someone could leave flowers, say a few words, apologize for wrongdoings if there were anyway, but the death was done, smoothed over like the grass that grew on the ground above. At an open grave, death wasn’t real yet, it was like there was still a ray of hope in the air, but a ray of hope that could never actually be fulfilled. It was still too raw to be fully comprehended. It was a ray of hope purely for the sake of pain. The family’s next door neighbors, the entire street seemed like it was at a standstill so that the Wickens could grieve and eventually shovel the dirt into the grave, allowing them all to ‘get back to normal.’ “Let me,” Bobbie said, knocking lightly on the door. “Mr. and Mrs. Wickens? I’m Agent Acer, these are Vanir and Laird. We’re from the FBI.”

“You’re here about Otis?” His mother said, a tear falling from the corner of her eye. “Do we have to go over this again?”

Bobbie was about to reply when Dean chimed in. “Mrs. Wickens, we’re here because the same thing happened to two other children in the area. We’re trying to see if there’s a connection.” His voice was soft and Bobbie could see that he was looking at her in his periphery. “There might be something that could explain why things happened the way they did. Give you some kind of relief.”

A hint of gratitude could be seen, but nothing would bring back her child and that was all she wanted. “I don’t think that’s possible. But please, come in.”

Mr. Wickens came to join her on the couch, fingers intertwined and clinging to each other like they were alone in an open sea. “Can you tell us exactly what happened?” Sam started. “Not at the doctor’s office,” he clarified. “Beforehand. How did his personality change? When did it change?”

“Otis was the happiest boy in the world,” Mr. Wickens began. “He loved soccer and science. Was convinced he was going to be the world’s first professional soccer playing scientist when he got older so he could do it all and then his mood turned sour.”

“When?” Dean asked.

“About three weeks ago?”

Over the next three weeks Otis got worse and worse until that day at the doctor’s office. “Did anything out of the ordinary happen around the time the mood change happened?” Bobbie asked, catching a glimpse of a picture of the happy family and hating how anyone, any deity, could let something so awful happen to another.

“For a couple of weeks he had nightmares,” his father answered. “About a fire in the house. He never really had nightmares, but that was it in terms of anything out of the ordinary.”

They asked a few more questions, getting it from the source that nothing was happening in school or at home. Brian and Tina Wickens were happily married. They’d had no issues at either of their jobs, so money was secure and Otis had been excelling in school, both intellectually and socially. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Wickens,” Sam said before they made their way out.

Back in the Impala, Dean asked if they had any ideas. “Because I’m more confused than ever.”

“Me too,” Sam replied.

Bobbie had no idea either. “We still have too little information. Let’s interview the Thomas’ and the Cope family first.”

-

Back at the room later that night, the three siblings poured over the information they had. “All three kids were popular, smart, happy kids, their moods went south and then they ended it all,” Dean said exasperatedly as he paced the floor in front of the two beds. It was taking everything in him not to grab another beer, but he needed to think straight right now. “At seven and eight years old. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“What if this isn’t supernatural?” Sam asked.

Of course it was a possibility, but what else could it be? “It’s not homicide because none of them had any other DNA on them other then their own,” Bobbie started, glancing at the papers that Sam had been able to find by hacking the county’s medical system. “The Thomas girl’s drowning could be considered an accident, save for the fact that the parents insist she was a great swimmer. But accidents wouldn’t account for either of the boys’ deaths, because the manners in which they died were far too deliberate. Natural causes could mean it’s some kind of medical issue, but if that were the case, it’s pretty likely that more children would be affected. That leaves us with suicide and unknown cause of death.”

Sam shook his head, his hands clasped in front of his face. “So either, these kids were hiding feelings so tortured that there parents didn’t know and then suffered alone until they killed themselves, or it’s something supernatural that causes suicidal thoughts?”

Dean and Bobbie nodded sadly. Silence hung in the air for a moment until Sam’s eyes went wide. “Wait…”

“What is it?” Dean watched his brother sprint across the room to the bag that held John’s journal. “You think Dad has the answer in there?”

“Possibly,” he said, licking the tips of his fingers as he quickly flipped through the pages. “Here! ‘Bobby and Rufus came across one once apparently, but I still never have. I’m glad I haven’t because I’m not positive I’d know how to kill it.’”

When he turned the journal toward them, the older Winchesters saw a picture of a chimera-looking thing – a monster made up of various animals’ body parts. “A chimera?” Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. “Kind of, but not exactly. A Baku.”

@remember-me-forever-silent-angel @gaylemonshark  @marveldivergentouatdctvfangirl @lalirang @averagekansan @addsomesalt @stusbunker @sebba-hiddles @fanfictionrecommendations-com @hoppy519 @thatwrestlingfan91 @extremeobsessions101 @spence-imagines @bettercallsabs @whaaatthefuuuuck @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @your-imagination-runs-wild @cryinglots @steggy01 @gigilame @sedulous-mind @a-unique-girls-heaven @just-antiyou @rmmalta @original-criminal-fanfics @ties-n-suits @veroinnumera @eurusholmmes @fanficienjoyedreading @astridstark13​ @ties-n-suits​ @demonlover87​ @kennybud​ @shittyafblogwnopoint​ @pleasantlyfadingpeace​ @bulldozed88 @a-gir1-has-n0-name​

[wandering-rock-n-roll-witch]

A Complete Bless Hex

Photo Credit:  Unknown (Please message me if you know the artist so I can remedy this!)

This is an original spell, originally used for a rather personal purpose.  I’m not the most conventional or formal witch in the world, so this may seem more scattered than it is meant to, and I’d be happy to field questions if you’ve got them or hear any ideas on how to better this working.  This, however, is how the spell appears in my handwritten grimoire.

This spell worked for me, so I decided it might be a good one to share.  Mind you, as always in witchcraft, everything depends on experience, and while mine was favorable, it may not work the same way for everyone.  This IS a customizable spell and anyone’s free to move elements of the working around as needed for their specific purpose. A COMPLETE BLESS HEX

SPELL NOTES: The purpose of a bless hex is pretty simple.  The bless part is the privilege.  The hex is the punishment.  If the person learns their lesson through any means, then the bless will cancel out the hex.  If they do not learn their lesson, the hex will outweigh the bless, and the hex will deliver continuous punishment until the target learns - and if you wish to add the extra bit at the end, it will follow the target throughout all reincarnations until the target learns their lesson.  

Intentions must be very clear in this spell, or it will backfire and repercussions will be yours to bear.  Be very cautious while planning this one out!  Be VERY specific!  If you aren't fully and completely sure of what you want the outcome of this spell to be for your target, do NOT do it.

This spell is about balance, but it's also about petitioning for Karma to come into play when the timing is right.  It is meant to be somewhat of a flag on the target, saying, "Hey, Karma, monitor this one, they're not doing right by their fellow humans, and they need a dose of reality!  Hit 'em real hard with a reality check brick until they recognize their issues and address them!  And if they don't ever do that, well, it sucks to be them for the remainder of their pitiful existence!"

Karma is a funny spirit, she enjoys what she does, so it's best to remember that if you incur her wrath, you could be on the same wavelength as your target.

If you are choosing to bring in deities, bring ones that are known to balance the scales of justice, punish the wicked, forgive the truly sorry, and reward the change.  Sometimes I like to invoke Loki along with Karma, because the mischief is what made the magick happen when I first cast this spell.  It worked so well, I was actually stunned by its success.

For this spell...

YOU MUST INVOKE - Karma + any deities you wish that suit the purpose YOU MUST REMEMBER - Never to be rude to Karma or the gods, to have your intent fully in your mind whilst casting, and to be incredibly clear in the working and in your words HERBS - Agrimony, nettles, meadowsweet, lavender, asafoetida, frankincense, dragons blood resin, hyssop, forget-me-nots, oak moss (or Irish moss, or both if you like), and dandelion root, plus any that you believe will suit your purpose CRYSTALS - Black tourmaline, clear quartz, smokey quartz, hypersthene, hematite, bloodstone, citrine, carnelian, tiger iron/mugglestone, any that you feel will suit your purpose ITEMS - Black candle, red candle, white candle, tea lights (as many that can make a circle), small circular mirrors (found at craft stores), black salt, white salt, a jar, some sort of thick string, a bundle of sage, suitable incense, paper, and a pen

ALTAR SPACE: Grid the crystals into a sort of yin-yang pattern, with a focus on balance.  Lay out the string, jar, bundle of sage, incense, paper, pen, candles, tea lights and mirrors and salts, close by within reach but not yet on your altar space.  You will want to have a specific space for the candles within your "yin-yang" layout - the white candle will go in the center, the red on the left and the black on the right.  I'd suggest putting candle holders where the candles are to go while gridding with the crystals so you know how much space you'll have.

THE SPELL:

First, as usual, cast your Circle, call your deities, your guardians, and ask Karma to be near to hear your petitions, and while you do so, thank her for her kind attention.  She really likes manners in her petitioners.  Be mindful of this.

INVOCATION - Speaking to the Target

(Name) - Today I have you in my mind, your behavior, your actions, your words. Today, I say that your behavior is unacceptable. Today, I say that your actions are unacceptable. Today, I say that your words are unacceptable. You have caused great pain to me and to others. You have caused lost trust and feelings you refuse to acknowledge. You have done things that may never be forgiven, and certainly will never be forgotten. (Name) - Today, you are being held responsible for everything. (Here, state what they have done very clearly.  List it if necessary.) (Name) - Today, I refuse to allow any more abuse. (Name) - From today, you will never forget me and what you've done to me, nor will you ever forget anyone else you have done any wrongs to. Forever it shall haunt you.

Take the piece of paper, write the target's name in big bold letters.  Put this in the bottom of the jar.  Cover with black salt, then white salt.  Carve all candles with appropriate symbols and dress with appropriate oils.  Light the white candle, then the red, then the black, and use the white candle's flame to light the incense.  Allow it to burn in the background while you work.  Grind up the herbs and put them over the salt.  Light the sage, waft it over the whole bit.  Let it rest close to the grid while working the next part.

(Name) - Today, I ask Karma to send you a lesson. From today forward, all of your bad behavior will bring consequences into your life. As you destroy others, Karma will destroy you. Should you recognize your actions, should you atone for them, Karma will have mercy and bring you blessings to reward you.

(Name) - Today, I ask Loki to bring you the mischief you deserve. Each time you misbehave, and repeat your unacceptable actions, he will bring you his own version of twisted blessings, he will make free of his gifts that you will call curses. He will not stop until you have recognized and atoned for your behavior.

(Here is where you do a similar intonation for each of the deities you are employing.  I would suggest utilizing some offerings that might be appropriate, and having a proper conversation with each about what you would like them to be doing in this situation.)

Speak to the target again:

(Name), I do not wish you harm, but your actions have forced my hand. (Name), I truly wish that you learn from your own behavior. (Name), when you learn from your mistakes, blessings flow. (Name), until you learn, this hex follows you throughout your days. Bad luck, ill winds, hard times, and the dissolvement of relationships are yours to bear. Tension in friendships, clashing in the family, and anger between neighbors are yours to bear. Misery in stagnancy is now yours to bear, (Name). Misery in bad behavior is now yours to bear, (Name). I wish you to learn from it.

Contemplate over your jar spell, and send energy and intentions very clearly into it.  Add some wax from each candle, with the white topping the rest.  Toss in a burning piece of sage, close the jar very tightly, and let the smoke settle inside, then seal the jar with wax and tie the string around the top in nine knots.  If you wish, you can recite a knot spell here as well.  Settle the jar spell into the grid somewhere and allow the candles to burn down as much as possible.  Take the time to mark the jar with a permanent marker with intention, runes, and other symbols that pertain to your needs.  During this part, I tend to have open dialogue with deities and guardians and the target of the spell, to get anything and everything off of my chest.  I sometimes even tell full stories of what the target has done, sparing no detail, to sort of give Anyone listening a good taste of why I'm working this spell at this time.

BLESSING

Note:  The blessing is not for the target specifically.

(Name), you'll see all around you attain their blessings, attain their wishes and desires, and become better people. You will see the betterment of your friends and family, and you will wonder why it does not happen for you. Learn your lessons well, and blessings will flow for you. Learn your lessons well, and you'll know good rewards. Watch the joy of others and let it add to your misery, and your misery will last throughout time. May all around you be infinitely blessed, as they deserve... May all around you have goodness in their lives, as they deserve.

Karma, should (Name) learn (his/her) lesson, bless them as you see fit. Should (he/she) stagnate, take away blessings bit by bit.

CLOSING

(Deities names) - Thank you for attending! Go with blessings and my gratitude! Karma - Thank you for attending! Go with blessings and my gratitude! (Guides/etc) - Thank you for attending! Go with blessings and my gratitude! Today a lesson I send out into the world- (Name) - Let it be one you attend to. You will do what you will do, and Karma may see fit to structure you. It is out of my hands!

As the candles begin to get to their lowest, light sage again and cleanse all crystals, all tools, and put them away.  Wipe the altar space clean.  Sage it.  Say your favorite saging chants, or focus on purification of the space.  Dismiss the Circle now, and continue to purify your space.

The jar should go somewhere in the target's vicinity.  If you cannot bury it in their yard, try finding a park or wildspace near where they live and bury it there.

Take care of yourself, eat a good meal, have a nap, meditate, do something you enjoy that is not magick-related for the rest of the day.  This is very necessary.

[corinthbayrpg]

NAME. Ramses Runihura ( Apep ) AGE & BIRTH DATE. 3000+ & Unknown GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male & He/Him SPECIES. Rift OCCUPATION. Unemployed FACE CLAIM. Mena Massoud

BIOGRAPHY

( tw: death, murder, natural disasters ) To speak his name was to invoke chaos, misery, and strife. How much safer the ancient ones believed themselves to be as they whispered well earned titles instead through hushed tones. Lord of Chaos, World Encircler, Soul Eater. The monikers shifted in waves along the loose sands of time, each more devastating and horrifying than the last, yet veracious all the same. The mythos painted him in dashing colors as various reptilians throughout history, but always returned to the most shrewd and ineffable of all: the great serpent.

Apep, or Apophis as his mother once named him, cannot recall the moment of his creation, woven somewhere in the primordial threads of existence shortly after his brother’s rise as architect of all… Or so the endless droves of mortal supporters would eventually claim. The sun god who fashioned himself an entire universe purely for his own worship, how pretentious and it allotted far more credit than Ra deserved on even his best day. Amun and Horus were both absorbed into the overrated caricature at some point, disregarded for their contributions which eventually blended into credit undue for this golden god. Still the blind fanaticism continued and his brother’s ego grew with every passing century, solidifying Ra’s undeserved role as King of The Gods.

Where the citizens of antiquity adored and fawned over the sun god and his intolerable pharaohs, Apep’s impressive abilities were shunned and dreaded. Unlike his brother and fellow deities, no one worshipped at the god of chaos and darkness’ altar. They did not even deign him worthy enough to construct a shrine in his honor. Instead the world sprung fear and hatred of the one who directly contrasted their beloved patron of light. Solar eclipses, devastating natural disasters, and terrible storms were linked to his name. Not without merit of course, but Apep believed it justified for those who so blindly trusted the gods to care. If anything, he should have been praised for not cowering behind sanctimony and false benevolence.

Distaste and distrust turned humanity bitter. They made a yearly ritual of banishing his presence from their lands in which priests would build effigies of Apep thought to contain all of the evil and darkness in Egypt. The symbolism might have been considered flattering were they not burning the representation to protect against malevolence for another year, nor housing a secondary figure which was taken into the temple before being beaten, crushed, smeared with mud, and burned. From therein they narrated stories about Ra’s numerous and overblown victories whilst reciting useless spells which did absolutely nothing to quell Apep’s thirst for cataclysm. Even the dead were thought to require protection from his brutality in the underworld lest he swallow them whole, so they were often buried with spells that could ward him off.

How astonishingly naïve. Darkness, like its sister death, could not be subdued by mere carvings and prayers.

None saw purpose through the god of destruction’s perspective, not even those who shared in his divinity. Too often whilst attempting to challenge his brother did he find himself in combat with the other celestial beings protecting Ra–– who, frankly, didn’t deserve their loyalty. Every night as the sun travelled across the sky, human text claimed that Apep’s roar would fill the air and he launched his persistent attack. Ironically, more often than not he discovered himself across from Set, a youthful harbinger of chaos whose true nature could only be subdued for as long as he remained beneath Ra’s forceful thumb. The deities rested on opposing ends of the spectrum, where Set harnessed his true disposition and relied upon morality, Apep remained a force for pandemonium and could not be reasoned with.

It was written that Apep’s movements often resulted in earthquakes, and his numerous battles with Set were thought to have created the origin of thunderstorms. How deliciously poetic and twisted, until Set inevitably became corrupted by his very nature and no longer wished to serve Ra in his army against Apep. Just as the great serpent predicted, none were immune to their own penchant for carnage and his fellow chaos lord plunged into the darkness alongside him. The pair considered themselves to have a… mutual understanding of sorts from then on. Loathed by the people of Egypt and the world, cast out in the sacred texts and admonished for simply adhering to what they were. What they had always been.

Yet mankind were weak, dispensable, and quite unimpressive in the grand scheme of the cosmos. Their opinions meant little when the greatest enemy, Ra, still held the lofty throne and continued to exist as a pain point. Unfortunately, such fixation on the King of The Gods undeniably led to Apep’s downfall and became his undoing. The trap was admittedly laid quite carefully, and were he not so arrogant as to assume his brother’s moral obligation then perhaps he might have been able to avoid its snare. Caught by his brother and thrown unceremoniously into the veil between worlds without method to escape or wield his power, the god of darkness lingered in the clutches of oblivion.

From inside of this schism he began to plot, turning over any opportunities with the sort of cunning only found in the most cold-blooded of snakes. Despite no longer acting as the devourer of souls within the underworld, he still maintained a bond and audience alongside Hades. Another pantheon, another overlooked pillar of divinity, the pair had long since bonded over the villainous mantles bestowed upon them in direct contrast to their louder, brighter siblings. The lord of death began to whisper words of chaos and destruction from the Grecian realm, it was decided then that direct vengeance against Ra could be placed aside while there were other ways to infiltrate humanity. If anything, it provided ample room for his brother’s difficulties to grow. Ra could weaken himself in time as Apep punctured holes in the world.

Thus he whispered back instructions for a being of his own creation and the method through which it could be done. Hades, as all loyal companions do, began to spread the word of such power throughout the Greek world and soon enough the mischief spread into additional pantheons. Some were repulsed by the notion of this new being, but far too many were taken with its purpose and possibility. They deemed them cubi, humans turned immortal and cursed with the ability to devour souls. Unknowingly fashioned in Apep’s own likeness, of course.

As the first fledgling incubi and succubi began to wander the world, consuming souls and magic, causing ruination in their wake, the primordial god bided his time. He witnessed their numbers grow and then dwindle in harmony with the empires of mankind, but in truth felt nothing towards their existence at first. They were simply a means to an end, a method in which he could enact chaos from within this unholy confinement. Eventually they began to die out entirely, bitten by those infernal shapeshifters and reduced to a pitiful count.

No matter, the dawning of a new age came and with its arrival stemmed the unanticipated crack in an already delicate prison. The veil seemingly tore and eons of patience finally paid off; Apep discovered freedom in the hastiness of his escape. Noticeably weakened from three millenniums spent housed in the limbo between divinity and the mortal plane, he pressed forward into the human world with every intention of regaining his former glory and strengthening what little army of immortal demons were left. The cubi meant nothing to him whilst trapped, but now that he actively rejoined the playing field? Well, they might just be his ultimate tool in destruction.

Everything he did now would culminate in the pursuit of the intentions Apep had possessed since birth… Ensure the crumbling of Ra’s empire and plunge the universe into unending darkness.

PERSONALITY

+ ambitious, independent, cunning - narcissistic, wicked, merciless

PLAYED BY MARTY. PST. She/Her.

[tipsycad147]

Charge of the Goddess

The Charge of the Goddess has a long and complex history. Srdjan Pav / E+ / Getty

History and Variations

By Patti Wigington

Updated June 14, 2019

Charge of the Goddess is perhaps one of the best-known pieces of ritual poetry in today’s magical community, and is often credited to author and priestess Doreen Valiente. The charge itself is a promise, made by the Goddess to her followers, that she will guide them, teach them, and lead them when they need her the most.

However, before Valiente, there were earlier variants, dating back at least as far as Charles Leland’s Aradia: Gospel of the Witches. Because, like so many other writings in today’s Pagan world, Charge of the Goddess has evolved over time, it’s almost impossible to attribute it to one single author. Instead, what we have is a constantly changing and fluid piece of ritual poetry, that each contributor has changed, modified, and rearranged to suit their own tradition.

Did You Know?

The Charge of the Goddess first appeared in an early form during the late nineteenth century.

Doreen Valiente's version, released in the late 1950s, is the most commonly referenced variation today.

Today, several traditions use unique versions that pay tribute to their own deities of a number of different pantheons.

Leland’s Aradia

The Charge of the Goddess is a powerful piece of ritual poetry. Anna Gorin / Moment / Getty

Charles Godfrey Leland was a folklorist who roamed about the Italian countryside collecting legends during the final decade of the nineteenth century. According to Leland, he met a young Italian woman called Maddalena, who provided him with a manuscript about ancient Italian witchcraft and then promptly vanished, never to be heard from again. This, obviously, led some scholars to question the existence of Maddalena, but regardless, Leland took the information he claimed to have obtained from her and published it as Aradia: Gospel of the Witches in 1899.

Leland’s text, which reads as follows, is a speech that Aradia, daughter of Diana, delivers to her pupils:

When I shall have departed from this world, Whenever ye have need of anything, Once in the month, and when the moon is full, Ye shall assemble in some desert place, Or in a forest all together join To adore the potent spirit of your queen, My mother, great Diana.She who fain Would learn all sorcery yet has not won Its deepest secrets, them my mother will Teach her, in truth all things as yet unknown. And ye shall all be freed from slavery, And so ye shall be free in everything; And as the sign that ye are truly free, Ye shall be naked in your rites, both men And women also: this shall last until The last of your oppressors shall be dead; And ye shall make the game of Benevento, Extinguishing the lights, and after that Shall hold your supper thus…

Gardner’s Book of Shadows and the Valiente Version

Doreen Valiente played an instrumental part in twentieth-century Pagan practice, and her deeply evocative version of Charge of the Goddess may be the best known. In 1953, Valiente was initiated into Gerald Gardner’s New Forest coven of witches. Over the next several years, they worked together in expanding and developing Gardner’s Book of Shadows, which he claimed was based on ancient documents passed down through the ages.

Unfortunately, much of what Gardner had at the time was fragmented and disorganized. Valiente took on the task of re-organizing Gardner's work, and more importantly, putting into a practical and usable form. In addition to finishing things up, she added her poetic gifts to the process, and the end result was a collection of rituals and ceremonies that are both beautiful and workable - and the foundation for much of modern Wicca, some sixty years later.

Although Valiente’s version, released in the late 1950s, is the most commonly referenced version today, there was an incarnation that appeared a decade or so earlier in Gardner’s original Book of Shadows. This variant, from around 1949, is a blend of Leland’s earlier work and a portion of Aleister Crowley’s Gnostic Mass. Jason Mankey at Patheos says,

“This version of the Charge was originally known as  Lift Up the Veil, though I’ve heard it referred to as “Gardner’s Charge” on a number of occasions… Doreen Valiente’s version of  The Charge of the Goddess dates back to sometime around 1957 and was inspired by Valiente’s desire for a less Crowley influenced charge.”

Some time after writing the Charge poem that has become well known to today’s Pagans, Valiente also crafted a prose variant, at the request of some members of her coven. This prose version has also become immensely popular, and you can read it over at the official Doreen Valiente website.

Newer Adaptations

As Paganism changes, so does ritual. Bill Hinton / Moment / Getty

As the Pagan community grows and evolves, so do the various forms of ritual texts. A number of contemporary authors have created their own versions of the Charge that reflect their own magical beliefs and traditions.

Starhawk included her own form of the work in The Spiral Dance, first published in 1979, which reads in part:

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise. You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites. Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My Presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth.

The Starhawk version, which forms one of the cornerstones of her Reclaiming tradition, may be the one that newer Pagans are the most familiar with, but – as with any other piece of poetry or ritual – it is one that many have continuously adapted to suit their own needs. Today, several traditions use unique versions that pay tribute to their own deities of a number of different pantheons.

For a complete and in-depth breakdown of the various influences upon the different versions of the Charge, author Ceisiwr Serith has a great piece on his website, comparing Aradia, Valiente’s work, and the Crowleyan variants.

https://www.learnreligions.com/charge-of-the-goddess-history-and-variations-4151704

[discordrhythm]

Suijin no Ikenie Review

So I’ve been into a manga with a mix of deities lately. Then I stumbled into this chaotic world of Water god. Well literary it was a mainstream story of a girl who was suddenly transported by some unknown force into a different timeline in which gods exist and people worship them for help. Making you think that uuh, I should be not left alone beside a small man-made pond. 

This manga focuses on the story of a little girl named “Asahi”. Some unknown force kidnapped her from their house using the backyard mini pond. There at that old era she met Subaru a child of the chief in the village and offer her some help. Without knowing anything, Asahi trusted Subaru’s mother who plotted behind her back. They offer Asahi in a ritual to become the Water God’s Bride. She was transported to the realm of the gods especially the domain of the water god. Due to some unforeseen situation, her voice was taken by a god. She was tested by the gods along with Subaru who came to her rescue. From that point on Asahi began to distrust other people and learn to fight for herself. 

As soon as they left and pass the trial of the gods. Subaru hid Asahi from the villagers especially from his mother. However, they were seen by Subaru’s sister and they captures Asahi and put her in some sort of cleansing trial which ended up burning Asahi’s hand from a boiling water. Saying that the water god was angry and return Asahi back that he was mad from them. This sudden changes from the succeeding chain of events makes the water god angry because people keeps on blaming Asahi from all the wrong things that happens in their place. 

He bring fort and flooded all the place around the area. That time be casted also an enchantment at Asahi that everytime she cries the sky will also cry. Because of that incident they make Asahi as the maiden responsible for worshipping the water god since she was his bride.

Certainly she was indeed your bride. I’m afraid that this manga is still on-going however, if you possess any account via otakumole you‘ll be able to read this up to the latest chapter released.

Author: Toma Rie  Credits belongs to the author and the one responsible for this manga.

[spiteweaver]

previous | next

Phantasos departed through the south gate at well past midnight. The guards did not see him leave. Cloaked in black, he was nearly invisible to the naked eye--and perhaps they had had just a bit too much to drink, so that the rest of their senses were dulled.

That was, of course, all according to plan. The young heir was up to no good, as he quite often was, and he couldn’t afford for a single soul to see him leaving.

The farmlands beyond the village walls were in a deep slumber. Out there, surrounded by acres and acres of rural country, he should have felt safe in the knowledge that there was no one around to catch him for many miles in every direction.

Instead, he felt vulnerable. There would be nowhere for him to hide until he reached the southern woodlands, and the journey would take him an hour or more on foot, then several more hours to the Hewn City Border. If one of the local farmers’ dogs caught wind of him and raised the alarm, he was done for...

...and he wouldn’t get another chance at this.

For a while, he followed the main road. It connected the farmlands with the Sea Path away to the west, and to the smaller communities living in the southeast. By day, it was crowded with carts hauling crops and cattle into the village, but by night, it was deserted, save for the occasional fox skulking in the shrubbery along its edges. He made good time on level, compact dirt.

Inevitably, the houses grew too close together, and he abandoned the road for fields of wheat and corn. The crops hid him from sight, but not from smell--and he knew from personal experience that farmers kept particularly keen and vicious dogs to patrol their lands after dusk. More than once, Phantasos had been caught stealing vegetables from them, and he would not soon forget the fear of their gnashing teeth.

Tonight, he encountered no resistance. Although he was not particularly religious, he took it as a sign, and uttered a quiet thanks to his clan’s patron deity. Perhaps She was smiling upon him--or, more likely, She found his arrogance highly amusing.

Regardless, he’d take what he could get.

It was nearing sunrise when he arrived at the Hewn City Gate. Beyond it lay the darkness of the unknown, and a past long forgotten by dragonkind. It tugged at his cloak with wispy fingers, whispering for him to step into its parlor--and it took all of his will to resist its tempting invitation.

Very few dragons were permitted beyond its gate. The Luminaries, on business from their Patron; a handful of scholars and archaeologists, who often never returned; and his own dede.

Dreamweaver spoke nothing of their visits to the Hewn City. When they left for it, they did so without a word, and returned likewise. Their business there was almost certainly the Lightweaver’s business, and although She held no fondness for secrets, whatever it was Dreamweaver did in the ruins under Her name must have been important enough for Her to go against Her very nature as an arbiter of truth.

But Phantasos was his dede’s son, and far keener than any of his clanmates gave him credit. Even now, as he stared into the undulating blackness beyond the gate, he could feel them.

He could feel the being Dreamweaver communed with.

“I know you’re there!” he called. Most would have cowered before the Hewn City Gate, but his words did not falter, and he stood tall and straight. “Come!” he called again. “I command you!”

“You command us?”

The voice was like thunder in his ears, as deep as the core of the earth and as ancient as the gods themselves. The darkness beyond the gate stirred, only just, and a single flash of gold appeared at its heart.

“You are the dreamwalker’s child,” the voice rumbled, “but not the dreamwalker themself. Tell us why we should obey you.”

“Because I’m stronger than my dede,” Phantasos replied, with a cocky upward quirk of his lips. “If you obey them, you should want to obey me even more. I’ll bet I could beat you with my eyes closed.”

“Would you like to try it?”

“Not if I don’t have to.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No, I just don’t like to get my hands dirty without good cause.”

The being beyond the gate chuckled, and the ground beneath Phantasos’ feet shook. “You are certainly an arrogant child,” it said, “but you show some of your progenitor’s wisdom. What do they call you?”

“Phantasos,” Phantasos replied, “and you?”

“Collectively, we have no name,” the being said.

The darkness began to coil and whirl, drawing Phantasos’ gaze to the single gold point at its center. His eyes flashed in response to its power, the same otherworldly light as his dede’s, and his body moved of its own accord, stretching out a hand toward the gate.

His palm found cool, black scales, resonating with the thick, throaty hum of old magic, and his eyes cleared.

“But you may call me Ozymandias.”

He was the largest Imperial Phantasos had ever seen--and he was willing to bet that no dragon was meant to grow to such an immense size. Ozymandias was from a time before the beginning, so long-lived now that he had surpassed the limitations of common dragons and become a being apart, a god in his own right. His scales were as black as night, his body adorned with golden trinkets, and all across him were runes, written in a text no living dragon knew or could possibly decipher.

He was truly a being from a lost age.

Phantasos grinned. “Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Ozymandias assured. “Tell me, Child of Light, why has your progenitor sent you here?”

“They haven’t,” Phantasos replied, “I came on my own.”

“Then they have spoken of me to you?”

“Not at all.”

Ozymandias gave a quiet huff, but to Phantasos, it may as well have been a hurricane. “You sensed my presence upon them,” he said. “You possess a rare gift.”

“I’m their child,” Phantasos reminded.

“Yes,” Ozymandias said, “you most certainly are.” Then he abruptly dropped all of his immense weight onto the ground with a content sigh. “What have you sent yourself here for then?” he asked. “You wished to speak with me. Your wish has been granted.”

“Our world is changing,” Phantasos explained, “becoming more dangerous by the day--and my dede is weakening. They don’t want to admit it, but they’re worn thin. As their son and heir, it falls to me to do something about it.”

“You believe I may be of service?”

“Yes,” Phantasos said. There was a brief pause, during which he looked exceedingly proud of himself. Then, “You’re going to be my royal guard.”

At this, Ozymandias burst into a fit of barking laughter. “What cheek!” he exclaimed. “You may possess power beyond even your progenitor’s, but you are still a mere child! Your wish is that I abandon my long-held post on the whim of a fledgling?”

“Pretty much,” Phantasos replied. “With your power on our side, no one would dare to harm us. If you protect us, you’ll be protecting our allies and those who rely on our village. You’ll be protecting all of dragonkind. Leave the Hewn City to the shades and come with me.”

“Do you know what I am?” Ozymandias asked.

Phantasos frowned. “Do I need to?”

“I am forces beyond your comprehension,” Ozymandias said. “You cannot hope to control me. Even the Lightweaver, in Her tower of gold, fears my might and my wrath.”

“You’re not so tough,” Phantasos replied. “You’re trying to scare a little boy, after all.”

Ozymandias opened his great maw, and blew his hot breath onto Phantasos’ face. It stank of death, and sulfur, and cataclysm--and Phantasos’ legs trembled, but the fire in his eyes only grew with the challenge.

“Very well,” said Ozymandias. “I shall accompany you. However, in return, you will bear the brunt of the responsibility of seducing me away from my post. Should the Lightweaver disapprove, it will be your head on Her platter.”

Phantasos did not hesitate, only smiled. “Deal.”

[storiesofwildfire]

Goddess Reborn

         { @bifrostgold​ -- and yet again another plotted starter because we have no self-control }

♔—- In hindsight, leaving Asgard hadn’t been a difficult decision to make for herself. After learning the truth of her origins ( at least, part of the truth, as much of it still lingered in mystery ), her desire to be as far away from Asgard as she could be had never been stronger. She prepared to leave for only a few short days, more or less taking the time to tell a few people she’d been close to that she was leaving and to make arrangements for someone to watch after Sleipnir while she was gone.

Leaving without her son proved to be the hardest thing. Sure, she’d traveled off-realm before without him, but never for an indefinite period. Eventually, Loki would be forced to return to Asgard. She couldn’t run away from it forever and there were too many people she loved and cared about to simply turn her back on it and never return, but she had no real plans to do so until she sorted out a number of details.

What those details were, she couldn’t be certain outside of. A few solid ones came to mind. Her children, of course, were always at the forefront of her journey and with her loyalties to Odin severed and his control of her broken, nothing could stand in her way to liberate them short of the obstacle of where to find Fenrir. 

Aside from that, though? She wasn’t entirely sure what she would do. Part of her thought she should go to Jotunheim and search for her biological family. She hardly believed a word Odin said when he desperately tried to explain where she’d come from and why he’d taken her. How could she trust him when he’d lied for so long? When she could practically taste the deceit in the air between them as they spoke? After everything he’d done to her, things finally fit into place. Details of her abuse and the abuse of her children finally made sense, and part of her longed to seek out the people she should have been raised with.

But what if Odin hadn’t been completely dishonest? What if her family truly did not want her? And did she actually want them? She’d been raised with an idea that the Jotun were a race of monsters, quicker to slaughter than they were to negotiate. Most of Asgard believed such and that idea made the truth so much harder to digest. Was she a monster? Did she believe herself a monster? Did she believe her people to be monsters? Could she separate those prejudices she’d grown up with from herself and the land from which she came? Did she even want to try?

An answer that only she could give, but one she did not know the answer to. So many lies needed to be clarified and she had so many options in front of her, she wasn’t sure which to take. Starting off by going to Midgard seemed like as good of an idea as any. At least there she could meet up with her son, Jörmungandr, and she could figure out where to go from there. 

What she hadn’t stopped to calculate or plan for was someone insisting on going with her. Sure, she almost expected someone like Asmund to make the offer, but for someone to not only insist but give her no choice in the way of turning them down? Absolutely not. 

Once he’d caught word of Loki’s plans to leave, something he found out through Sigurd rather than Loki herself, Fandral marched right up to the Goddess and expressed his desire to accompany her. Loki tried to persuade him to stay. He had a family that he loved, friends who loved him, and a role to play in Gladsheim, not just for the people, but for Sigurd as well. She could not deny how useful it would be to have someone like Fandral accompany her, though. The type of connections he had, those that were not loyal to Odin in any respect, would come in handy during whatever came next...

And just having the company of someone who cared about her and wished to see her well was a welcomed thing. Her discovery turned her entire world upside down and she felt like she was constantly dragging herself back from a mental break. How long could she do that before something deep within her actually did snap? How long would she be able to withstand the overbearing nature of her own mind before it got the better of her? And if she wasn’t alone, could she maybe cope in a healthier way? Having someone to vent to, someone to hug when she needed that support but couldn’t find the words to express herself, and someone who would look after her while giving her someone to look after as well sounded...

Better than she’d originally given it credit for and Fandral seemed so very sure that he wanted to do nothing else.

They both knew they would return to Asgard eventually. Fandral wasn’t turning his back on his family or his friends forever, but for the moment, he saw how horrible life became for Loki. She’d been half the reason he ever went to Gladsheim at all, half the reason for all of his success and everything he had access to now, his friends included. He didn’t owe her and he knew that she never would push that mentality onto him, but in doing so much for him, she’d become one of the most important figures in his life. How could he sit back and watch as she vanished from Asgard?

Together, they slipped out of Asgard. Loki shifted into her female form, a form that Fandral was familiar with for the fact that it was the first form he met her in. Most, however, were not familiar with it and did not associate her face with Loki. Taking on a visage that went unknown to those who would be looking for her the most made sense, but Fandral understood better than almost everyone that her chosen body was as much Loki as the prince’s visage that everyone knew and loved so thoroughly.

Fandral... possessed no magic and while Loki could have helped him take up a new visage, he declined the offer of changing much. Perhaps he was much too in love with his face to alter it, Fandral still had a knack for hiding in plain sight. He’d gotten around realms on strategic charm and an uncanny ability to simply adapt to his surroundings, the very same talent that allowed the son of a farmer to blend so seamlessly into Asgard’s glittering capital. 

Once they reached Midgard, they made quick work of traveling to modern-day Norway, along the coast of the Norwegian Sea. Loki and Jörmungandr often met up there and Jörmungandr even took up temporary residence from time to time in a sizable cottage that allowed him to surface and walk around in his Aesir form without injecting himself into some of the busier areas of the world. Jor loved exploring and he loved meeting new people, often choosing to throw himself into some of the most chaotic cities across the globe when he fancied, but he also valued alone time, where he could take walks through the forest unbothered by anything human and curl up next to a fireplace with a good book at the end of the night.

Loki and Jor spent many nights in Jor’s cabin, when they wanted to visit and catch up without the noise and stench of more populated areas. 

Scandinavia also held a particular fondness in Loki’s heart. Without going into unnecessary detail of the culture that once thrived there--the very same culture that worshipped her and many other Norse deities--she’d also met Vera deep within the rich forests of Scandinavia all those years ago. Her very first love and the woman she’d nearly abandoned Asgard for. Before Sleipnir and before the triplets...

Though, even before Vera, Loki felt a strong connection to the area that thrived on something more than worship and more than falling in love for the first time. Something deep within her often tugged at the darkest recesses of her mind, as if trying to pull something to the forefront for her to remember. That always bothered her. No matter how hard she tried to recall these phantom memories, nothing really ever came to her. 

Hunting with an enchanted bow, a woman’s soft and soothing hums, a deep voice of a man who often sounded irritated or angry when he bothered to speak at all.

Memories from her childhood, she assumed, but things that took place on Asgard. Things that were relatively easily explained, even when her mind was much too young to retain full details.

Loki took Fandral to the cabin, set up on a high cliff that overlooked some of the Norwegian Sea. A simple spell crafted by a mother and her child to seal the dwelling off from anyone who did not know it was all it took for the door to give way. Fandral took one of the guest rooms, a modest-but-well-decorated room with a bed tucked to one side and a desk with a bookshelf filled to the brim with books on the other. Keeping in tune with the rest of the home, there were paintings, some collected from around Midgard, and some painted by Loki or Jörmungandr.

Once they’d settled in, Loki elected to stay in Fandral’s room rather than retire to her own. While they weren’t in any sort of romantic relationship, both parties held silent interest in such things, but asking to stay with the warrior came purely from a standpoint of not wishing to be alone. Strong, warm arms wrapped around her frame and he pulled her close without a moment’s hesitation. Part of her wanted to protest, to tell him that he didn’t need to put up such a fuss and that it was more than enough that he let her stay with him. Any desire to protest fell away quickly, though, as she came to rest her head against his chest, listening to the steady, even beating of his heart. A bit quicker than it should have been, she thought, but still strong and comforting in a way that helped lull her into a state of calm.

She realized then that if she’d elected to come on this venture alone, she probably would have broken down the second she climbed into her own bed, so for that, she was thankful for Fandral’s company. Amazingly, with his arms around her, she even managed a restful night that helped her feel refreshed the next morning. 

After breakfast, they took a small trail down the cliffside to the seafront. Loki anticipated seeing Jörmungandr surface, but when the waves finally broke in an unnatural pattern, it wasn’t her son at all. Instead, one wave brushed forward, overtaking the rest of them as it rushed towards the shore. Chilly water splashed up onto the rocky beach, causing Fandral to jump backward in hopes of avoiding the spray.

The wave crashed down in a way that was almost gentle, if the crashing of waves could be described as such, and as the water receded, a woman resting on her side in the sand was left in its wake. At first, the pair simply stared at her, unsure of what to do or how to process what they were seeing. Surely, if she’d been lost at sea, she must have been dead by now?

But she didn’t look like she’d been left in the water too long. What Loki imagined would have been beautiful, dark locks were tangled into a mess of hair draped across her face and her clothes were ruined with saltwater, but her flesh showed no signs of decay or real damage and as Loki got closer, she realized there was magic pulsating off of her. Whether it belonged to the woman or not, she was not certain, but whatever its origin, the magic likely kept her alive. Or, at the very least, in a state that could not be killed but was not exactly the definition of ‘alive’.

“Who is that?” Fandral murmured, a hand reaching out to the Goddess to keep her from wandering too close. “That’s not... that’s no Jor, is it?”

“Unless Jor’s taken up a love for shapeshifting into beautiful women and drowning himself, I’d think not,” Loki replied and she would have been amused, had there not been a strange woman in need of help at their feet. Before she could pull herself from Fandral’s grasp, however, a flickering above her head drew her emerald gaze upward. Magic pulsated from the sky above them and an odd-looking serpentine creature descended from a place not even Loki could see.

Upon closer inspection, the small creature looked more like a Wyvern. Two arms that Loki imagined would allow it to crawl around on the ground with no problem and multiple wings that kept it in the air, it lowered itself to Loki’s height, though its piercing gaze looked over the pair of them intently and almost curiously. Just as quickly as it appeared, it whipped around behind them both. Fandral turned around just in time to catch sight of the creature landing at Loki’s heels, its head and wings both pressing against the Goddess’ back and shoulders to urge her towards where the woman rested in the sand.

Loki stumbled, looking back at the little dragon-like being as well as meeting Fandral’s confused and extremely concerned gaze.

“Don’t worry,” Loki assured him. “I don’t think it wants to hurt us. I think it wants us to help her.”

“How... would you even be able to know that?”

“I don’t know, I just... I’ve always felt things around me. People, animals, magic, foliage. It all gives off a certain energy that speaks of intent or feeling and for the most part, I can pick up on it. You just have to trust me, okay?” She didn’t resist the Guardian’s urging and carefully lowered herself down into the sand beside the woman, paying no mind to how it clung to the knees of her trousers or soaked through her clothes. A gentle hand reached up to brush the hair from her face and a faint green hue spread across her body. Loki’s magic pulsated around her, gently probing for serious injury or anything that would keep them from moving her. “I think she’s stable enough that we can take her up to the cabin. She’s in a coma, I think, or... hibernating, almost. Come help me?”

Fandral’s look of bewilderment didn’t stop him from stepping forward to help Loki hoist the woman up. She was actually quite large, probably taller than even he was, but between the two of them, they didn’t struggle to get her up the cliffside and into the cabin. 

Once inside, the laid her out across one of the beds and Loki shifted her attire to something dry and more comfortable for resting without actually having to undress her. 

For a few days, Loki attempted more traditional healing magic, things she’d learned from Asmund over the years that would treat most injuries or ailments, but nothing seemed to have much impact on the strange woman. Her condition never changed. During that time, she grew intimately familiar with the magic wrapped around the woman, though. It was not her own, though Loki was certain she also possessed magic beneath the power that wrapped around her. 

The energy acted almost like a cacoon, sealing the woman inside to keep her in a state that would allow her to survive in the harshest conditions without taking the damage. It kept her healthy, but it did not give her room to come back. Removing that protective barrier seemed like the only thing that would bring the stranger back, though Loki feared doing so in the event that such a barrier was the only thing that kept her alive. If removed, would she die?

Loki didn’t know the answer to that, so slowly, painstakingly so, she absorbed that magical sac, only taking a little bit at a time so she could monitor the woman’s state as she did. She showed no signs of worsening condition, so over the stretch of what was almost a week, Loki absorbed the power little by little.

One night, nearly two weeks into looking after the woman, Fandral pulled himself out of the bed he still shared with Loki as carefully as he could to go check on their guest. Moments later, he came rushing back into the room to rouse the sleeping princess, who groaned and rolled over with an air of ‘don’t wake me up, I’m exhausted’. A sympathetic look filled his azure eyes, but he nudged her shoulder again.

“Loki, wake up. I’m sorry, but it’s important,” he whispered.

“What?” Loki nearly hissed, her head snapping around quick enough that she could look back at the man. “What is it?”

“I think she’s waking up. I went to check on her and she was groaning quietly in her sleep. She even started stirring.”

“Are you sure?” Loki asked, sitting bolt upright. In all the time they’d been watching after her, she hardly moved, so the idea of her stirring was promising to the hope that she might finally be waking up.

“I know better than to wake you up for anything less than being sure.”

She pushed herself out of bed, paying little mind to the horrible state of bedhead her hair found itself in. The only thing she took time to grasp was her robe, which she quickly pulled over her shoulders and loosely secured around her waist before rushing off towards the room they’d given to their guest, the room Loki normally inhabited when she stayed here. Fandral followed close behind. 

[seniorbrief]

Why Historical Figures Always Had One Hand in Their Jackets

Everett Historical/Shutterstock

If you peruse portraits and photographs of notable men from the 18th and 19th centuries, you might notice that many of them sport the same fairly unnatural-looking pose. They sit or stand while keeping one hand tucked into the front of their jackets. They look like they’re trying to appear stately for the picture while also trying to keep the painter from pick-pocketing their wallet. With depictions of everyone from Napoleon to Joseph Stalin using the gesture, historians and curious art aficionados have puzzled over its meaning. Get a look at some rarely seen historical photos you won’t find in textbooks.

No, it’s not a secret Masonic code or a reference to an Illuminati ritual. The tradition actually dates back long before the 1700s. According to Today I Found Out, some societal circles in ancient Greece considered it disrespectful to speak with your hands outside of your clothing.  Statuary from the sixth century BC, therefore, showed celebrated orators such as Solon with their hands tucked into their cloaks.

Little did the ancient Greeks know that their legacy would carry on a whopping 24 centuries later. In the 18th century, artists began looking to antiquity for inspiration. What did they find but statues of celebrated speakers, posed with their hands in their cloaks. Portraitists began representing subjects in a similar pose, believing that it conveyed a noble, calm comportment and good breeding.

One of the most recognizable historical figures to be depicted in this pose was Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Several portraits of the French emperor show him with one hand in his jacket, leading theorists to wonder if he was clutching a painful stomach ulcer. One painter, Thomas Hudson, painted so many men in this pose that his contemporaries wondered if he simply wasn’t good at painting hands.

With the advent of photography in the early 19th century, the trend continued. Major historical figures—everyone from U.S. president Franklin Pierce to Communist Manifesto author Karl Marx—were photographed with unbuttoned jackets and hidden hands. It wasn’t until the end of the 1800s that the pose’s prevalence began to decline. But, even after that, it popped up in photographs every now and then; Joseph Stalin adopted the stance in a 1948 photo. Next, see if you can identify these historical figures from only one image.

10 Historical Figures You’ve Been Picturing All Wrong

Buddha

Norbert Eisele-Hein/imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock You’ve likely seen fat, smiling “Buddha” statues in Chinese restaurants, antique stores, or gardens, but did you know that little guy is not actually the “real” Buddha? It’s actually Budai, the “laughing Buddha,” who is a reincarnation of the “real” Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The “real” Buddha was actually thin, because in the Buddhist tradition, once you’ve become “enlightened,” you no longer crave the pleasures of the world. Gautama spent half of his life in wealth and half in poverty, in order to find the ideal balance. His philosophy became the modern Buddhist religion.

Pocahontas

Universal History Archive/UIG/REX/Shutterstock Thanks to Disney, Pocahontas is perhaps the world’s most misunderstood historical figure. She was born in 1596 under the name Ammonite (she also had the more private name Matoaka), and the name Pocahontas was actually her nickname. When the Europeans came to colonize the Powhatan land, Pocahontas did not turn her back on her family to join the European crusade. She occasionally brought food to the settlers to ease tensions between the two peoples, and was later imprisoned by the Europeans and converted to Christianity. Contrary to popular belief, Pocahontas did not marry John Smith––she actually married a tobacco farmer named John Rolfe. She died in 1617 from an illness, but was instrumental in attempting to make peace between the Powhatan people and the Europeans. Learn more fascinating facts about America that your history teacher didn’t tell you.

Che Guevara

ShutterstockThe charismatic Marxist revolutionary, who helped overthrow the Cuban government with the Castro brothers, is often seen as just that. He is seen by some as inspirational and by others insufferable. However, while most people are aware of his rebellion and passion for the counterculture, they don’t know that he was also a ruthless executioner. He oversaw the executions of hundreds of men in Cuba during the early days of Fidel Castro’s government. Feeling like everything you thought you knew has been debunked? Find out the 16 history questions everyone gets wrong.

Oliver Cromwell

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/ShutterstockCromwell was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the mid-1600s. In 1653 he declared the Parliament corrupt and got rid of them by force; many saw him as a hero for this. Afterward, he became the Lord Protector. But what many don’t know is that Cromwell actually was involved in Irish massacres in a move to help the English gain control of the country. So, while many have seen him as a hero for destroying the corrupt Parliament, he was actually pretty corrupt himself.

Cleopatra

Historia/ShutterstockCleopatra is widely known for her beauty and sex appeal. However, she was the last Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. She began ruling with her father, but later was the sole ruler… of an entire empire! That’s not a simple feat. Most people reduce her to her looks, especially because of her relations with Caesar and Mark Antony, despite her powerful reign. Check out the 12 historical predictions that totally, completely missed the mark.

Alexander Graham Bell

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/ShutterstockAlexander Graham Bell. who is recognized as the inventor of the telephone, is actually a phone-y (pun intended!). The actual inventor was an Italian living in New York named Antonio Meucci. He invented a functioning telephone five years before Bell, and filled out a “patent caveat,” which is a precursor to a real patent. As the story goes, Meucci couldn’t afford to file the official patent, and Bell stole it right under his nose. 

Pontius Pilate

Historia/REX/ShutterstockPilate is typically known as the ruler who joyfully ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but that may be a myth. While Pilate was certainly a harsh ruler, some historians suggest that Pilate was reluctant to crucify Jesus and believed he was innocent. Check out the messed-up history facts you definitely didn’t learn in school.

Vincent Van Gogh

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/ShutterstockThe “Starry Night” painter we know and love actually fits the “tortured artist” persona, despite many of his bright paintings. Van Gogh suffered from depression and lived in poverty—he was an unknown and unloved artist in his time. Even though he had over 2,000 paintings which now sell for millions of dollars, he only sold one in his lifetime.

Confucius

Historia/REX/ShutterstockConfucius is typically regarded as a religious figure. The founder of the Chinese philosophy of Confucianism, Confucius actually had nothing to do with religion. The traditions of Confucianism were based on typical Chinese beliefs and morals: family, respect for elders, and the rights of others. While many people associate these morals with religions, Confucianism is known as a philosophy––no deity involved. Confucius was just the teacher and politician that became recognized by the Chinese government for his principles. Find out the 10 famous people that may have never actually existed.

Christopher Columbus

imageBROKER/REX/ShutterstockIn recent years, different activist groups have shed light on the fact that Christopher Columbus should not necessarily be celebrated for “discovering” America. Columbus was an accomplished explorer, traversing the seas multiple times in the 1400s. He was actually looking for South Asia when he stumbled upon the large land mass we now know as North America in 1496. He is falsely credited for discovering America; it’s believed that European explorers had explored Canada several hundred years earlier, and Columbus actually never stepped foot in what is now North America. It is also widely known that Columbus took part in the enslavement and mistreatment of the peaceful Native American tribes he came in contact with in the Caribbean and contributed greatly to destroying native populations. Next, find out the 11 biggest lies that made history.

Original Source -> Why Historical Figures Always Had One Hand in Their Jackets

source https://www.seniorbrief.com/why-historical-figures-always-had-one-hand-in-their-jackets/