#the white calf

[serpentface]

The titular white calf of The White Calf and his adoptive mother.

The calf has no name, both in that he is a wild creature and in that he is destined for sacrifice. He is ceremonially referred to as Mitlamache, the face of God he will represent at the time of his death. He is also known as 'the white calf, 'the wild ox calf', 'the calf', 'that calf', 'the cow', 'stupid cow', 'bastard cow', 'little shit', 'cute little guy', and so on.

As an albino aurochs, he is not only an ideal sacrificial beast to the Lunar Face of God, but himself a perfect representation of the form that God took to lift the foundation of the world from the waters, inseminate the primordial sea, and to bring about creation with the offering of Itself (only a lot smaller). He is set to become the most important offering in the rite to restore God to Its lands and bring back the rains.

He was spotted as a newborn and later captured from a herd of wild aurochs in the dry grasslands on the eastern outskirts of the city-state of Wardin. He was then successfully grafted to a mother cow from the king's herd, whose own calf was killed by feral dogs (the white calf wears its pelt here, in the process of getting his adoptive mother to accept him as her own via recognition of the scent).

His mother is a notably beautiful but otherwise typical cow of southern Wardi stock, being short-coated with a heavy dewlap, a fatty hump, and lyrate horns. Her halter is decorated with a full seven set of pelatoche charms (one of which has little cowbells), as means of spiritual protection and putting potential thieves under the gaze of God. Her temperament is strong and hardy but gentle and trusting of people, and she is an experienced and (mostly) successful mother, making her an ideal guide and guardian for the calf as it is marched across country. Her name is Dandelion.

Both cattle travel with a small herd (including a couple of lesser backups, in case the calf doesn't make it) alongside the mass pilgrimage, with their physical protection and spiritual wellbeing assigned to the Galenii monks Tigran Otto and Palo Apollynon, the Odonii priestess Couya Haidamane, and the soldier Etsushir as his personal bodyguard. As two of the most important individuals in the pilgrimage, these cattle are better protected (and far better fed) than the majority of the people that accompany them.

[space-mouse]

fanart for @serpentface 's story, The White Calf. inspired by tags on this post. tfw you are having just the worst pilgrimage imaginable, but hey! at least this gun-toting woman can put off your least favorite fellow pilgrims!

[tuttle-did-it]

Two pieces of good news for the Rhinos: a baby Javan Rhino (the most endangered) has been born!

Also, a two-year-old white rhino had a successful surgery on her broken foot.

[whegan]

from this video

[terminallytwee]

i know the point / is that life is precious, / finite

but

maybe in the version i write / this freak of nature / at least meets the sun

happy 2024

[klaasfoto]

Five personal favorites for the 2023 Year End Top 5 Photo Extravaganza.

Peekamoo

Untitled

Mudhead

Untitled

Dawn

Previous top five's:

2022 / 2021 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015

IG / 500px / YouTube

[thugguzzler]

All in The Family Felons: Father, Recidivism and Son, Habeas

[lamorchemoveilsoleelaltrestelle]

Christian Dior, Fall 2023 Couture

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the Associated Press (AP):

The reported birth of a rare white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park fulfills a Lakota prophecy that portends better times, according to members of the American Indian tribe who cautioned that it’s also a signal that more must be done to protect the earth and its animals.

“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and the Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle.

The birth of the sacred calf comes as after a severe winter in 2023 drove thousands of Yellowstone buffalo, also known as bison, to lower elevations. More than 1,500 were killed, sent to slaughter or transferred to tribes seeking to reclaim stewardship over an animal their ancestors lived alongside for millennia.

For the Lakota, the birth of a white buffalo calf with a black nose, eyes and hooves is akin to the second coming of Jesus Christ, Looking Horse said.

Lakota legend says about 2,000 years ago — when nothing was good, food was running out and bison were disappearing — White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared, presented a bowl pipe and a bundle to a tribal member, taught them how to pray and said that the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food. As she left, she turned into a white buffalo calf.

“And some day when the times are hard again,” Looking Horse said in relating the legend, “I shall return and stand upon the earth as a white buffalo calf, black nose, black eyes, black hooves.”

A similar white buffalo calf was born in Wisconsin in 1994 and was named Miracle, he said.

Troy Heinert, the executive director of the South Dakota-based InterTribal Buffalo Council, said the calf in Braaten’s photos looks like a true white buffalo because it has a black nose, black hooves and dark eyes.

“From the pictures I’ve seen, that calf seems to have those traits,” said Heinert, who is Lakota. An albino buffalo would have pink eyes.

A naming ceremony has been held for the Yellowstone calf, Looking Horse said, though he declined to reveal the name. A ceremony celebrating the calf’s birth is set for June 26 at the Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters in West Yellowstone.

[eroosensei]

[serpentface]

Death drive

[replicayouth-art]

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this

freak of nature, they will wrap his body

in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north

field with his mother. It is a perfect

summer evening: the moon rising over

the orchard, the wind in the grass.

And as he stares into the sky, there

are twice as many stars as usual.

(poem by Laura Gilpin)

[prettyboykatsuki]

why do all tops have the same preferences (white ruffled ankle socks) i'm gagged 😭

what this ask felt like fr /lh

[weheartstims]

A Christmas stimboard with animals and sweets! Merry Christmas!

🎅|🦌|🎅 🦌|🎅|🦌 🎅|🦌|🎅

Banner credit: 🎄

[generationexorcist]

Reported Birth of Rare White Buffalo Calf in Yellowstone Park Fulfills Lakota Prophecy

“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and the Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle.

The birth of the sacred calf comes as after a severe winter in 2023 drove thousands of Yellowstone buffalo, also known as bison, to lower elevations. More than 1,500 were killed, sent to slaughter or transferred to tribes seeking to reclaim stewardship over an animal their ancestors lived alongside for millennia...

Time

White Buffalo Calf Woman: The Lakota Goddess of Peace and Healing

[cognitivejustice]

Many tribes consider a white bison birth to be a sacred omen that signifies change. The herd this calf was born into has also become an important cultural symbol - it's the last wild buffalo herd in North America.

The herd is entering a new chapter of its life as stewardship of the species is increasingly being overseen by indigenous communities again and advocates push to grow bison populations.

The white calf has added spiritual significance to buffalo advocates' efforts as they test a long-standing status quo where government policies prioritise beef ranching over the beliefs of native tribes.

For the last 2,000 years the people of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakoda tribes have told the story of a woman who arrived during a time of need.

A version speaks of two scouts searching for food and buffalo in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The mysterious woman appeared and offered their tribe a bundle of sacred gifts, including a pipe carved from red rock, and instructed the people on how to live and pray.

She transformed several times before taking the form a white buffalo calf with a black nose, black eyes and black hooves. As she departed, a great number of buffalo returned to feed the people.

Dozens of other tribes have white buffalo stories, interpreting its arrival as both a blessing and a warning.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, a spiritual leader of the Lakota Tribe, is known as the Keeper of the Sacred Bundle — the bundle and pipe left by the spirit. He likens the white calf’s return to the second coming of Christ.

Looking Horse, 70, said that before she departed, the woman told the people that she would return as a white buffalo calf “when everything is sickly and not good, and when people are with a not good mind”.

“This is spirit. It means spirit is happening,” he added.