#wide bay region

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The post was rather a joke in the Colony, but the Maryborough Chronicle did its best to congratulate him:

We are no great admirers of such offices merely ornamental, as they appear to us; but since they who should know better deem this one necessary for the good behaviour of legislators, and to add dignity to Parliament, inspiring vulgar outsiders with becoming reverence and awe, we submit, and congratulate Mr. Uhr on his good luck, than whom we know of no one more thoroughly fitted for the office. Mr. Uhr had been resident in the Wide Bay and Burnett upwards of fourteen years, and though we believe he has not accumulated a fortune he has earned, both as a public and private man, a larger share than ordinarily falls to the lot of one man of the good wishes and esteem of his fellow-colonists.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[simp-ly-writes]

Hope in a Bottle

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Pairing: AU!Silco x Reader

─ · · SUMMARY: You had died many years ago, or at least that was true in Silco's world. He had learned to live without you but when graced with the opportunity to see you once again- he can't help but indulge.

─ · · TAGS: gender-neutral pronouns, ANGST (but no seriously there are no happily ever afters), some fluff/comforting moments, suggestive themes.

─ · · MASTERLIST | TAGLIST REQUEST | WORDCOUNT: 2,668

─ · · A/N: I cried like at least four times when writing this, this show HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD.

─────── · ·

Silco often thought about you in passing moments. These moments he remembered sharing with you amongst your friends and in the comfort of your arms used to be coated in blue that he would drown and surround himself in; but as your presence forever lingered in his mind blue turned to pink and rose-tinted glasses glossed over every moment- every memory with a certain degree of fondness that he would catch himself smiling even when no one was in the room.

You would always manage to light up the room, tell him a joke when he needed it most, told him off and raised him up. He put so much of himself into you into your presence that when you left... it was like he had to redefine who he was but forever remained unsuccessful.

Silco learned to live without you physically but that did not mean that your jacket was still not waiting for your return on the back of his couch or your glass still half-filled by the bedside. Your chair at the bar was always kept at the back, awaiting your return as you both shared kisses in the storage room. He would always remember how the stained glasses reflected in your eyes, the colour breaking across your skin in a forever radiant presence just like you.

Vander would catch Silco in these moments when wiping down the bar top or taking a walk down by the Zaun bay, overlooking the artificial lights and hints of sunlight being cast upon the black waters. Watching as the mans hand opened and tensed before falling back down to his side.

"You doing alright there. brother?" Vander asked in a soft tone as they both crossed over to topside for the day. Silco looked up, a strand of his hair falling from his salt and pepper hair- blowing with the wind. "We are always alright in the hope to be better, and when we get better we hope for it to stay only to be alright once again; stuck in the cycle of it all I find myself on the better side today."

Vander hums along to Silco's words as they stop at the various market stalls to see their offerings a few new bottles for the bar from another region across the sea and a bag of sweets for the kids in the area. The men are suddenly greeted with another body stepping in between the two and falling inline with their pace.

"And how are we doin'?" Powder asks with a wide smile, trying to squeeze her arms together to encompass both of their sides before turning around to walk backwards and hold conversation.

Silco winces as Power almost misses lamp post after lamp post by mere millimetres. "We are fine, just about to make our way back home actually. Anywhere your headed, young lady?" Silco teases, his voice sharing sincerity in every syllable.

Powder rolls her eyes before turning back around, head tilting over her shoulder before she disappears back amongst the crowd, "Going to see this new invention Echo has been telling me about!" Vander shakes his head with a loving stare where Powder had just stood.

"She's going to change the world one day, you know?" Vander says to the wind, hoping that it catches her ears but it only does Silcos.

"I'm afraid she already has for she is your own world," Silco comments, placing a hand on his friends shoulder before powering forwards. "I hate it when your always right," Vander teases before taking two long strides to catch back up.

"Well I perfected it only from the best." Both mens minds go directly back to you, smiling and twirling in the bar to a new record you had found on the topside. Somehow you had already known all the lyrics after this being your supposed first time listening to the piece.

"They always knew, huh," Vander says, looking down to catch Silco small smile. "Yes, but not everything I wanted them to..."

─────── · ·

When back in Zaun and at The Last Drop, bar-goers had already flooded the decorated space for tomorrow night it would be the inventions fair, a bar local already chosen to set the mood for the night and a few university members stationed with scholarships in mind.

Both Vander and Silco were excited to witness the extraordinary kids they knew have the opportunity to show their talents to others and hopefully the collective dream of them changing the world would come true but fate always had to make its presence known in the doorway.

Blue sparkled out of the corner of Silco's eye as he leaned against the bar top waiting to continue his conversation with Vander. A half eaten apple sat beside his notebook that he was picking away at while conducting the accounting for the month. His back burned with his age from being hunched over for so long as he stood up to stretch.

Laughs echoed throughout the bar, feet dancing against the wooden plank floors, drinks clashing and spilling against the tables as another gets thrown out the side door. Powder had left a few moments ago with Echo, a certain mischievous look in her eye that Silco did not find unusual at the time would only shock his system now when he caught from reflection in the glass of his amber filled cup.

Your name graced his lips, remembering the feel, imaging your warmth against his skin and to feel it, to see it. He thought to be surreal, to be going senile as he looked to Vander for support and only found him smiling with a wink before turning back around to serve another customer.

Your skin was a thousand colours coming to life in his eyes, his hand drifting from the back of your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder, neck upon which you shiver and rest your forehead upon his own. "How I've missed you," words that he only hoped to hear, have only read to himself in comfort written by his own hand- a fantasy turned reality now spoken to truth between your very own lips that Silco had to claim.

You melted into his touch, decades without the familiarity- him haunting your body with memory of his touch now appearing as goosebumps in recognition. You smile against his lips, hand running up against the smooth fabric of his vest before lacing in the silver locks of his hair.

Out of breath, you both pant, hands still gripping one another tightly as if afraid the other would disappear once more. "I thought to have lost you, to be so alone for so long. Why is it now that you appear just when I was surviving once again off of scraps?" Silco asks into your ear, not wanting to break this moment between the two of you. Even when in a crowded bar, it is only the two of you present in this moment.

"I would ask myself the same questions when I came back alive thanks to the technology developed in my universe and by what force I have yet to know, I am forever thankful for returning me, my soul, back to you to rest finally," you speak through tears mixing with Silco's silent ones dripping down his cheekbones and falling against your clothes that stain the fabric dark.

"I should thank that force as well," Silco murmurs, lost in your eyes, brushing away your tears. "I think it best we have the rest of this conversation elsewhere," Silco grabs your hand before pulling you out of the bar. The cheers and claps becoming distant as he leads you back to his apartment.

He locks the door behind you both, watching as you gently let go of his hand and walk around his space. Your hand feels the leather of your jacket still sat in the same place where you left it, against the couch in a forgotten moment of need. You continue towards the kitchen, seeing the various crayon pictures of Violet and Powder attached to the fridge who Silco explained to you before walking towards the bedroom. Your glass still waiting for you beside an unopened bottle you remember gifting Silco for his birthday.

"Why did you never open it?" You ask, fingers tracing around the neck of the bottle coated in a layer of dust you blow from your fingertips. "You said not to open it without you there to try it, I kept to my promise in hope for an impossible day like today. It was a reminder of not to drain my hope as many other's do."

All you can do is nod before holding the bottle in between your hands, a sickness suddenly washes over you as you take in Silco's form leaning against the doorframe. His arms crossed, leg tucked over the other and the scar of his yellow eye glowing warmly- lighting up the room amongst the candles.

He expects you to open the bottle, you understand that in doing so means you are to stay but that is something you cannot do. Not when Echo and the Professor are building a time-machine, not when your world is about to erupt in ruins.

You want nothing more to indulge more than you already had into this word of perfection and wrongs written right but that would be a cruelty brought upon this world. You knew you shouldn't have gone up to him, kissed him, felt his skin upon you skin only to take it away like the hopes of everyone else who had died during this war.

But you were only human, your heart already shattered and in need of repair, of warmth and kindness but you would only be selfish just as much as those you were out to strike down. "I-I can't open the bottle Silco. I-" you start to sob, hands shaking before placing the bottle back upon the nightstand.

You bring your knees back up to your chest, breaths heavy as your head spins, blood starting to drip down your nose, the reflection of blue out of the corner of your eyes as you gripping the sheets, knuckles turning white as Silco runs over, falling to his knees as he begs to see your face.

"Please, whatever is the matter, darling?" Silco asks, the sweetness of his tone doing nothing but to further indulge your nausea as you spiral. "I shouldn't have come to you, have done any of this!" You shout, trying to shove the man away but Silco only stands, wrapping his arms around your body as you do your best to kick and shove him away.

You look over his shoulder, watching as the sunsets through the window and sheer blinds. "Silco," you sob, fingers digging into the material of his vest once again in a panic rather than in reverence. "Silco, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that this was not forever, that this will only be another memory and perhaps the once that hurts the most knowing that I left rather than was forced to..."

"Then let me hurt, allow me to bleed, allow me to weep for I have endless time for that but only a finite time to be truly happy. So please, indulge me, drink it all and leave me once more with the knowledge that you are out there somewhere in another place, alive. Please, please," Silco begs turn into whispers as you press your tears into his neck before leaving a lingering kiss.

"Until the sunrise we shall be happy in the night," you speak softly in between kisses, your vision still clouded in tears.

"Until the sunrise," Silco restates before capturing your lips once more and sighing heavily. The moons bask ignites you both, lighting the liquid in your bodies burn as you take pleasure in one another.

You feel him, your hearts and souls connecting, rekindling in what is only to be heartbreak that makes you both press harder into one another. Leave marks across each others skin and kiss them delicately afterwards. It is in you both taking a bath afterwards until the cold waters have you both frozen still in realization as the sun rises and fills the room. Its warmth lost as you pick up your clothes and leave your jacket leaning against the couch once more.

You stare at the empty bottle at the bedside and watch as Silco picks it up and looks at you through it was a wavering smile. "Goodbye, my love and know that it was always you my soul yearns for and you who I define myself as."

"I really wish this didn't have to be the end, Silco...." you try your best not to sob, chocking on your words yet standing firm in your positions knowing that comforting one another would only make the hurt worse than it already was burning. "...in another life, I can see how easily we could have had it all- could have been happy."

"I wouldn't want any other memories than the ones we share," you nod in agreement, your body shakes, skin burns in want as you reach for the cold handle that sends shivers down your spine.

"Goodbye, Silco, I love you, forevermore."

"And I you."

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The walk to Jinx's place is a long and cold one, a thousand pairs of eyes stare at you with their condolences. You refuse to meet any of their stares, knowing that by just one look you would be running back into his arms for comfort.

Echo and Heimerdinger are already there and waiting for you, Echo extends his hand and lifts you up onto the platform. A swirl of arcane magic mixed fits the seeds of that all-too-familiar blue have you floating with a scream as the Professor sacrifices himself with one last salute to you both. Echo holds you, the loss of today holding heavy yet his touch is not what you yearn for as you cry into his jacket, gripping the collar of it as colours swirl around your vision and you are brought back to the battlefield once more.

Bullets wiz past your had, another graces your cheek as your blood falls like tears against the broken pavement. The roar of a monster rumbles the ground as you sprint towards the closing barriers, throwing yourself over them and into a sea of dead blue enforcers.

Screams haunt your ears, echoing distantly through your memories and brought forth into reality as you step over cast aside limbs and guns. You watch as Vi ahed of you holds another as they take their final breaths, a machine gun makes you loose hearing in your left ear and next thing you knew, a burning sensation was coming from your right leg where a ghastly wound had planted itself.

Hoisting and forcing yourself to stand you carry forth with a limp and defend the entrance, holding cover and watching as the trojan horse gets rolled in through the barriers all you can feel is Silco's marks as you charge forwards with an unrelenting cry.

─────── · ·

Silco fell back into the bed and stayed in that exact same numb position until Vander came to find him, "You know, there was a part of me debating weather or not to distract you from 'em and theres a part of me now that regrets not doin' so."

"It wouldn't have mattered anyways, the hurt of not seeing them when I got the chance to would have hurt just as much if not more. But I appreciate the sentiment, brother," Silco responds, rolling the cork of the bottle in between his thumb and finger.

"Finally drank it, huh?" Vander comments, picking up the bottle from the stand as gently as possible between his large hands. All Silco can do is smile, a singular tear dripping down his cheek that gets cast away, "yeah, something like that."

─────── · ·

─ · · A/N: so... what did y'all think?

[travelmanposts]

Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia: K'gari also known by its former name Fraser Island, is a World Heritage-listed sand island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. The island lies approximately 250 km north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local council area. The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland which make up the Great Sandy National Park. In the 2021 census, the island had a population of 152 people.Up to 500,000 people visit the island each year. Wikipedia

[greenwitchcrafts]

August 2024 Witch Guide

New Moon: August 4th

First Quarter: August 12th

Full moon: August 19th

Last Quarter: August 26th

Sabbats: Lughnasadh/Lammas- August 1st

August Sturgeon Moon

Also known as: Barely Moon, Black Cherries Moon, Corn moon, Dispute Moon, Harvest moon, Herb Moon, grain moon, Mountain Shadows Moon, Red moon, Ricing Moon, Weodmonath & Wyrt moon

Element: Fire

Zodiac: Leo & Virgo

Animal spirts: Dryads

Deities: Diana, Ganesha, Hathor, Hecate, Mars, Nemesis, Thot & Vulcan

Animals: Dragon, lion, phoenix & sphinx

Birds: Crane, eagle & falcon

Trees: Alder, cedar & hazel

Herbs: Basil, bay, fennel, orange, rosemary, rue & St.John's wort

Flowers: Angelica, chamomile, marigold & sunflower

Scents: Frankincense & heliotrope

Stones: Carnelian, cats/tiger's eye, emerald, fire agate, garnet, jade, moonstone, peridot, red jasper, red agate, sardonyx, topaz & tourmaline

Colors: Dark green, gold, orange, red & yellow

Energy: Abundance, appreciation, authority, courage, entertainment, finding your voice, friendship, gathering, harvesting energy, health, love, pleasures, power, prophecy, prosperity, vitality & wisdom

The name Sturgeon Moon comes from the giant lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes & Lake Champlain; this native freshwater fish was readily caught during this part of summer & an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in the region. At one time the lake sturgeon was quite abundant in late summer, though they are rarer today.

• August's full moon is the first Supermoon of the year, which means that it will appear bigger & brighter than the full Moons we have seen so far!

Lughnasadh

Known as: Lammas, August Eve  & Feast of Bread

Season: Summer

Element: Fire

Symbols: corn, grain dollies & shafts of grain

Colors: Gold, golden yellow, green, light brown, orange, purple, red & yellow

Oils/Incense: Aloe, apple, corn, eucalyptus, safflower, rose & sandalwood

Animals: Cattle (bull & calf)

Birds: Chicken/Rooster

Stones: Aventurine, carnelian, citrine, peridot, sardonyx & yellow diamond

Food: Apples, barely cakes, berries, berry pies, breads, colcannon, cider, corn, grains, honey, lamb, nuts, potatoes, rice, sun-shaped cookies & wild berries

Herbs/Plants: Alfalfa, aloe, blackberry, bramble, corn, cornsilk, corn stalk, crab apple, fenugreek, frankincense, ginseng, goldenseal, gorse, grape, medowsweet, oak leaves, pear, rye, sloe & wheat

Flowers:  Clyclamen, heather hollyhock & sunflower

Trees: Acacia, apple, myrtle,oak & rowan

Goddesses: Aine, Alphito, Bracacia, Carmen, Ceres, Damina, Danu, Demeter, Ereshkigal, Freya, Frigga, Gaia, Inanna Ishtar, Kait, Persephone, Sul, Taillte, Tea & Zaramama

Gods: Athar, Bes, Bran, Dagon, Dumuzi, Ebisu, Ghanan, Howtu, Liber, Lono, Lugh, Neper, Odin & Xochipilli

Issues, Intentions & Powers: Accomplishment, agriculture, challenges, darkness, death, endings, release & transformation

Spellwork: Abundance, bounty, fire magick, rituals of thanks & sun magick

Activities:

• Bake fresh bread

• Weave wheat

• Take walks in nature or along bodies of water

• Craft a corn doll

• Learn a new skill

• Watch the sunrise/sunset

• Leave grains and seeds in a place where birds, squirrels and other small animals can appreciate them

• Eat outside with family/friends/coven members

• Donate to your local foodbank

• Prepare a feast with your garden harvest

• Give thanks & offerings to the Earth

• Trade crafts of make deals

• Gather and/or dry herbs to use for the upcoming year

• Celebrate/honor the god Lugh by hosting a competition of games

• Participate in matchmaking or handfasting ceremonies

• Decorate your altar with symbols of the season

• Clean up a space in nature

• Plant saved seeds or save seeds to use in the future

Lughnasadh or Lammas is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland & the Isle of Man. Traditionally it is held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice & autumn equinox. In recent centuries some of the celebrations have shifted to the Sunday nearest this date.

Lughnasadh is mentioned in early Irish literature & has pagan origins. The festival is named after Lugh the god of craftsmanship. It was also founded by the god Lugh as a funeral feast & athletic competition/funeral games in memory of his foster-mother Tailtiu. She was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.

• Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind.

• Another tale says that Lugh founded the festival in memory of his two wives, the sisters Nás & Bói. 

In the Middle Ages it involved great gatherings that included ceremonies, athletic contests (most notably the Tailteann Games which were extremely dangerous), horse racing, feasting, matchmaking & trading.

• With the coming of Christianity to the Celtic lands, the old festival of Lughnasadh took on Christian symbolism. Loaves of bread were baked from the first of the harvested grain & placed on the church altar on the first Sunday of August. The Christianized name for the feast of Lughnasadh is Lammas which means “loaf mass”.

Some believe this is the time where the God has weakened & is losing his strength as seen in the waning of the day's light. The Goddess is pregnant with the young God who will be born on Yule.

Sources:

Farmersalmanac .com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

Wikipedia

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Encyclopedia britannica

Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living

[lesorciercanadien]

My Current Inventory of Magic Tools

Here's a list of tools I use in my spiritual practice that can inspire others that are on this path! While some are heritage pieces that cost a lot of money up-front due to craftsmanship, the every-day tools are pretty inexpensive. For example, most candles can be found at the dollar store, and incense can be personalized to your taste. For my practice, I use cedar incense, since it is known as a cleansing plant in the Christian tradition, and many Acadian and Québécois households used cedar on Palm Sunday before palms became widely available.

Most of the heritage pieces, for anyone wanting to participate, I strongly encourage investing a few extra dollars to get good quality items! It will last you years of magical practice, and you can use them with pride.

La ceinture fléchée - the woven sash

A symbol of identity to the Métis living on the Canadian plains, the historical Huron-Wendat people, and historically worn by French voyageurs and fur traders and their indigenous partners in trade, these sashes were strapped around the waist. These were mostly useful in keeping the woollen coats closed, store belted tools, help with the strain of carrying heavy pelts, and prevent hernias and back strain on long canoe expeditions. The long strands on the end could also be used as impromptu sewing thread. These sashes would reach about 15cm to 25cm and its length easily passes 2 metres. These sashes were traded among indigenous groups for furs, and later, by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 19th century. It became a part of the traditional Québecois peasant clothing at least since 1776. As the sash travelled upriver to the plains and beyond, Métis groups adopted the sashes, elaborated on its craftsmanship, and truly made it one of their most recognized symbols. Depending on where the sash is woven, the colours can change. For example, for Québec, they preferred a blue colour scheme, for Montréal, red, and for those woven in between Ottawa and the Red River, black was more prominent. Hand-woven sashes can take up to 500 hours to complete. (1)

The one pictured above I bought from Etchiboy, a Métis artisan. The sash I bought was inspired from the Assomption sash motif, one of the oldest known woven patterns from the 18th century. I wear it on my woodland wanderings, for rituals, and cultural days. I especially wear it in winter to keep my coat closed. I chose to adopt the sash into my practice after lots of research. It is an item of rich history between the French and their indigenous allies, and a consequence of the fur trade in our country. I encourage anyone who's interested to buy from artisans who hand-weave them! There are machine-woven ones nowadays that might be less expensive, but nothing beats the quality of good wool and good weaving. With the richness of variety in the weaving patterns depending on the region they're from, why not have a sash that harkens back to the history of your region?

The walking stick or 'le gourdin'

In Québécois folktales, the stick, known as 'the gourdin', was most seen as a gift from a woodland fairy (like a guardian of all trees, or a mistress of the birds) to the intrepid hero Ti-Jean. This magical stick could thwack all his adversaries with the simple command of "tappe, gourdin!" (slap, stick!), among other fabulous deeds (2) This stick was a tool of protection on long journeys fraught with peril. So, what better companion to the Canadien witch than a walking stick? I use mine for every excursion, and have added to it some talismans of a wolf, owl and skull to keep evil spirits at bay. There's also a portable rosary around the stick, and the Ste. Anne of Beaupré religious medal. Historically, she was often a saint prayed to by voyageurs before they undertook the long and perilous journey to the fur trading posts, usually near present-day Montreal. (3)

The pocket knife

The pocket knife is a multi-talented tool of our trade! It can carve folksy figurines, cut wooden branches for weaving, harvest plants, cut curses, and keep les feux-follets (willow-the-wisps) at bay. Folklore has it that if you're out camping in the woods, fold you knife so that it creates a 90-degree angle, and stick it into the bark of a tree bordering your campsite. In the morning, if the blade is bloody, chances are it was the feux follet being intrigued by the space between the blade and the tree, and cutting its throat, thereby being free from its doomed roaming. (4) It is also a well-known tool in case you need to free a loup-garou (werewolf) from its curse by cutting it on its white spot on the forehead where he previously received communion as a kid. (5) By extension, it is a vital tool to break curses. Of course, don't make anyone bleed with the knife. That goes without saying. Treat the knife well, keep it sharp.

The rosary

Yes, my path has Catholic tools in it. Of course! Quebecois and Acadians of my ancestry were Catholic people primarily. It is a versatile tool in my practice, used for spellwork as well as meditative prayer. For those who are interested in praying the Rosary traditionally, I'll create a separate post. For spellwork purposes, I usually say a round of "Hail Mary" ten times before starting a spell for the ultimate protective shield. There is also known folk uses for the rosary in Acadian and Québécois communities. For example, to fidget with the rosary without intent or purpose brings about the Devil. (6) The rosary can also be used as a tool to find lost items. Simply toss the rosary over your shoulder, and the crucifix will point in the direction of the lost item. If you want good weather on your wedding day, hang up your rosary on your laundry cord the day before. (7). Rosaries nowadays even come in decade forms as portable rings for your pocket, and some are actual rings you can wear on your finger. I got a few rosaries myself. One for special rituals (I never toss that one over my shoulder!), and cheaper, more portable options for the tossing spell.

Holy medals

I amassed quite a collection of holy medals for individual saints. Other notable ones are those for the souls in Purgatory (worn on All Souls Day), the Holy Spirit at (worn on Pentecost or when I do divination), Jesus the Shepherd (it's comforting), Stella Maris (patron saint of Acadians). I have a few of the same for more frequented purposes, for example, I keep a Saint Luke medal on my artist's pencil case, since he is the patron saint of artists. Traditionally in Acadian communities, it was known that when your day was going awfully, and your bread dough just wouldn't rise, you just needed to boil some holy medals in water to turn your luck around (8). They are quite inexpensive, so it's fast and easy to grow a collection in a short period of time. Many catholic retailers sell them.

Divination tools : the playing cards, dice and coin

My divination tools can be found in anyone's cupboard and drawers. The trusty playing cards deck nowadays comes in such amazing variety of art, the one I picked for myself was the Bicycle Aviary Playing Cards. It has such a lovely folk art vibe to them! The way to divine them comes from sources of card-playing and superstitions from history and folktales from folklorist Marius Barbeau, and people over centuries carrying around the cards for entertainment and perhaps a glimpse into their futures. One guide on reading the cards: Fifty-Four Devils: The Art & Folklore of Fortune-Telling with Playing Cards by Cory Thomas Hutcheson. Dice can also be used in the same manner if you're doing a numerology-based divination. The coin can be used as a simple yes or no divination by playing 'heads or tails'. The coin can be a beautiful commemorative coin like mine, or a simple 'cenne noire' (blackened penny), or whatever currency you have on hand.

The sewing kit and fibre arts

I wanted to add this iconic cookie tin into the folk witch's repertoire, because we all had grandmothers who had this tin lying around with their tools to mend and sew anything. In my practice, and in my hobbies, I make clothing and I embroider. I can use this tin to house my relevant supplies to have some sacred time darning old socks, creating spiritual garments by hand, or embroidering pretty things. You can also draw sigils on the rim's inner side for blessing your items inside! There's also other uses for some of these tools in your home! For example, my great-great grandmother used to use her thimble to create the holes in her croxignoles, these woven doughnut style rings from the Magdalen Islands.

Musical spoons

Musical spoons, sometimes made of wood to be used for musical purposes, as shown here, or made from every-day metal spoons held together for the same effect, are an iconic instrument in French-Canadian folk music. I would recommend learning how to play them rhythmically and to use that as a grounding tool. I just find these way more authentic than a drum. Not to mention rhythmic foot tapping and step dances are frequently used in our folk music to set up a beat.

Woven Cloths

These beautiful cloths or 'serviettes' were woven by my mother on a giant hand-loom, often employed by local farmer's guilds in Québec. Les Cercles des Fermières du Québec sometimes has craft fairs where they sell these among other hand-crafted items. In folklore, the cloth was present when Ti-Jean needed to create a magical feast on the fly, create a magical tent for shelter, or carry around all his tools for his journey. These cloths however were almost always given by a fay creature, so best be cautious in eating food from it. Nowadays, it can be used as altar cloths, protective shields for your tools, or to apply healing energy to an ailment you carry. (9) I use mine to do my card readings, wrap special items. If you are lucky enough to find a 'catalogne', which is a heavy blanket woven on those big looms from scraps of old t-shirts, cottons and the like, that's like, a massive cloth you can have over your bed and its folkloric properties can be used for protection and good dreams. It is also the best weighted blanket for anxiety, tried and tested by me! Mine was woven by my grandmother.

Cited sources

Wikipedia "Ceinture Fléchée" consulted on Jan 21 2025/ 2. Barbeau 1st series/ 3. Podruchny / 4. Butler/ 5. Maillet / 6. Dupont 83. / 7. Dupont 122. / 8. Dupont 83. / 9. Barbeau 2nd series

Bibliography

Barbeau, Marius, « Contes populaires canadiens », The Journal of American Folkore, vol. 29, no 111, janvier-mars 1916, 154 p.

Barbeau, C.-Marius. “Contes Populaire Canadiens. Seconde Série.” The journal of American Folklore 30, no. 115 (Jan-Mar., 1917): 27-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/534454. 

 Butler, Gary R. Histoire et traditions orales des Franco-Acadiens de Terre-Neuve. Québec 1995. p. 156

Dupont, Jean-Claude. Heritage d’Acadie. Collection Connaissance, éditions Lemeac. 1977. 

Maillet, Antonine. Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie. Les presses de l’université Laval, Quebec. 1980. 

Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World: Traveler’s and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. University of Toronto Press. 2006.  

[argyrocratie]

"How will people get healthcare?

(...)

During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona’s Medical Syndicate, organized largely by anarchists, managed 18 hospitals (6 of which it had created), 17 sanatoria, 22 clinics, 6 psychiatric establishments, 3 nurseries, and one maternity hospital. Outpatient departments were set up in all the principal localities in Catalunya. Upon receiving a request, the Syndicate sent doctors to places in need. The doctor would have to give good reason for refusing the post, “for it was considered that medicine was at the service of the community, and not the other way round.”[40] Funds for outpatient clinics came from contributions from local municipalities. The anarchist Health Workers’ Union included 8,000 health workers, 1,020 of them doctors, and also 3,206 nurses, 133 dentists, 330 midwives, and 153 herbalists. The Union operated 36 health centers distributed throughout Catalunya to provide healthcare to everyone in the entire region. There was a central syndicate in each of nine zones, and in Barcelona a Control Committee composed of one delegate from each section met once a week to deal with common problems and implement a common plan. Every department was autonomous in its own sphere, but not isolated, as they supported one another. Beyond Catalunya, healthcare was provided for free in agrarian collectives throughout Aragon and the Levant.

Even in the nascent anarchist movement in the US today, anarchists are taking steps to learn about and provide healthcare. In some communities anarchists are learning alternative medicine and providing it for their communities. And at major protests, given the likelihood of police violence, anarchists organize networks of volunteer medics who set up first aid stations and organize roving medics to provide first aid for thousands of demonstrators. These medics, often self-trained, treat injuries from pepper spray, tear gas, clubs, tasers, rubber bullets, police horses, and more, as well as shock and trauma. The Boston Area Liberation Medic Squad (BALM Squad) is an example of a medic group that organizes on a permanent basis. Formed in 2001, they travel to major protests in other cities as well, and hold trainings for emergency first aid. They run a website, share information, and link to other initiatives, such as the Common Ground clinic described below. They are non-hierarchical and use consensus decision-making, as does the Bay Area Radical Health Collective, a similar group on the West Coast.

Between protests, a number of radical feminist groups throughout the US and Canada have formed Women’s Health Collectives, to address the needs of women. Some of these collectives teach female anatomy in empowering, positive ways, showing women how to give themselves gynecological exams, how to experience menstruation comfortably, and how to practice safe methods of birth control. The patriarchal Western medical establishment is generally ignorant of women’s health to the point of being degrading and harmful. An anti-establishment, do-it-yourself approach allows marginalized people to subvert a neglectful system by organizing to meet their own needs.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, activist street medics joined a former Black Panther in setting up the Common Ground clinic in one of the neediest neighborhoods. They were soon assisted by hundreds of anarchists and other volunteers from across the country, mostly without experience. Funded by donations and run by volunteers, the Common Ground clinic provided treatment to tens of thousands of people.

The failure of the government’s “Emergency Management” experts during the crisis is widely recognized. But Common Ground was so well organized it also out-performed the Red Cross, despite the latter having a great deal more experience and resources.[41] In the process, they popularized the concept of mutual aid and made plain the failure of the government. At the time of this writing Common Ground has 40 full-time organizers and is pursuing health in a much broader sense, also making community gardens and fighting for housing rights so that those evicted by the storm will not be prevented from coming home by the gentrification plans of the government. They have helped gut and rebuild many houses in the poorest neighborhoods, which authorities wanted to bulldoze in order to win more living space for rich white people."

-Peter Gelderloos, "Anarchy Works" (2010)

[princessconsuela120]

✰ WAITING GAME ✰

—✰

Summary: Sebastian hates waiting.

Warnings: SMUT!, 18+!, vibrating underwear, fem! Reader, orgasm denial, dom! Seb x sub! Reader

Authors Note: this is my first smut guys, be nice. I have a lot of Sebastian to come in the future I love him so much! Enjoy guys!!

—✰

YOU HAD JUST RETURNED FROM THE BATHROOMS, having freshened up after a long day of school. Sebastian waiting for you eagerly in your dorm room, where he wasn’t supposed to be, having also been ready to settle down after a long day of school. You huffed irratatedly at his presence, pulling your towel up over yourself with annoyance as you fished for one of his jumpers to quickly shove over yourself.

“I’ve already seen all of you, you don’t have to hide behind a towel.” Sebastian teased, only heightening your irritation.

“I don’t care. I don’t want you to see me now.” You hissed in response, causing him to roll his eyes playfully.

“Suit yourself.” He responded, throwing you your favorite of his jumpers that he found lying on your floor. “You know it really is such a shame.”

“What is?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at him as you were now fully changed, pulling your hair into a low ponytail and tidying yourself up in the mirror.

“That you’ve just showered. Seems I’ll have to dirty you up again.” He teased, showing up behind you and kissing down your neck seductively, a tight grip on your hips as he did. You sighed into his touch, almost falling victim to his trap before pushing him back slightly.

“Well, you’ll just have to wait. I have a meeting with Madam Kagowa regarding quidditch practice. Our seeker has fallen ill and we need a replacement before the big game.” You explained, causing Sebastian to look at you with wide eyes.

“What, no! I hate waiting.” He whined, practically stomping around like a child who didn’t get their way.

“Oh well. Now hand me my undergarments, I have to be going.”

“But you know it’s so much more fun without the undergarments.” He wiggled his eyebrows at you, causing you to sigh.

“Not while talking to my teacher, it isn’t.” You grumbled pulling the underwear from his hands and pulling them on.

“Oh come on now darling.” He teased, his hand traveling down you stomach promptly, before you grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“Behave yourself Sebastian, or you just might have to wait even longer.” You explained, smirking as you watching him sulk while you walked out the room.

— ✰

IT WAS TRUE, Madam Kagowa had asked to meet with you earlier that day. It seemed as though Hogwarts had a high count of Dragon Pox patients lately, and as Quidditch captain of the Hufflepuff team, you needed to set things straight for your team. Unfortunately for Sebastian, Madam Kagowa liked to talk about Quidditch, a lot.

“I’ve been dreading this meeting being honest, it seems half my Hufflepuff team is out with Dragon Pox. Blasted curse is costing me my tournament.” She said, shaking her head as she tried to keep her anger at bay. You nodded in agreement.

“I know, it’s an awful-ah!” Your response was cut short when an angry buzzing in your core caught you off guard. The sound leaving your mouth came out as a mix between a moan and a squeak at the utter surprise you felt once the motion began. Madam Kagowa gave you a confused look, which made you chuckle nervously in response as the vibrations continued to stimulate your under regions.

“Are you alright Miss L/N?” She asked, examining your person to make sure you were alright. You pressed your lips together tightly, trying to conceal any sounds that may slip out.

“Mhmm.” You mumbled in response, all your air coming out of your throat in a relieved sigh when the vibrations finally stopped. “Just, so angry about them damned dragon pox.” You joked, chuckling as you downed the rest of your water. “Would you mind grabbing me another glass Madam?”

She nodded, grabbing the cup from the table and walking into the other room to refill your water cup.

She kept talking about the team from the other room, words that were incoherent to you as you tried to figure out where the vibrations were coming from without openly pulling down your pants and checking. You ultimately gave up, lifting the waistband of your skirt just the slightest to see what it could be, when you noticed a strange red glow coming off your undergarments.

It was almost unnoticeable, just the slightest hint of red there, but you noticed it. You only noticed however, when you tried to lift the waistband of your underwear and realized it had been enchanted to stay stuck to your body. You felt your eyes widen, then narrow angrily when you finally looked up to see Sebastian, smirking at the door, wand in his hand.

You mouthed a quick curse at him, before drawing your attention back to Madam Kagowa as she sat across from you, hoping to make this meeting quick so you could promptly beat Sebastian’s arse once leaving.

“Now, I’m sure you’d agree that postponing the game at this time would be reasonable, but between you and me, the teachers have a little bet on who will win and my money’s been on hufflepuff since I appointed you captain…”

You were paying attention, at least for the first minute or two she had been talking. That is until the vibrations began again. You squeezed your lips shit, thankful that Kagowa had lead the conversation and you wouldn’t need to talk. You made eye contact with Sebastian, who had a dark glimmer in his eyes, once full of mischief, which only seemed to turn uou on more. You had already been rendered incredibly wet from the constant vibration on your clit, one that was so torturously low that you could almost cry with the mix of pain and pleasure.

Madam Kagowa words were almost completely muffled now, and all you could see was Sebastian.

“Madam Kagowa, I really-ah, I really need to pee!” You excused yourself quickly, not even stopping to let her speak before rushing out the door. You quickly tackled Sebastian on the ground before he could escape, making the boy laugh accompanied with his smirk.

“What the hell are you doing, Sallow?” You shouted, growing angry with the stupid smirk plastered on his face.

“Whatever do you mean darling?” He taunted, raising an eyebrow at you as you rolled your eyes.

“Don’t play stupid. You-” you were cut off when a loud moan left your mouth as the vibrations increased, causing Sebastian to quickly hold a hand over your mouth to not draw any attention to you. He pulled you aside to a secluded room, whispering a quick locking curse before turning back to face you.

He couldn’t help but smirk at the sight. You were now out of breath, your face was deep red, and your eyes were squeezed shut with every whimper and moan that left your throat. Soon enough he turned to vibrations back off so you could speak.

“What is wrong with you? Why would you do that while I was meeting with Kagowa!?” You stressed, running a hand through your now sweaty hair.

“I told you, I don’t like waiting.” He replied, his eyes growing darker, which caused you to roll yours.

“Sebastian, this meeting is important, I just can’t have- oh fuck!” You yelled, a pornagraphic moan leaving your lips as you fell promptly to the ground. Sebastian smirked as he put the vibrations to the highest setting, lifting your chin slightly to face him.

“Look at me, pet.” He grumbled, causing you to strain your eyes open to meet his.

“You will sit there, finish your meeting, and take it.” He explained, pulling your arm to bring you back up. The sensations on your clit were getting to be too much, and you could feel that familiar bubble forming in the pit of your stomach. You practically fell into Sebastian as your legs wobbled, leaning your head into his neck.

“Sebastian, I’m gonna-”

“No.” He hissed, turning the vibration all the way off, making you whine loudly with frustration. Your mind grew foggy with submission, not enough to lose focus, but enough to feel yourself grasping desperately at his back, bunching his robe in your fist as you held onto him.

“Now, take it like a good girl.” He whispered, before pushing you back into the door of madam Kagowa’s classroom. Your heart was beating practically out of your chest, and you could feel tears prick at your cheeks. A squeak left your mouth as the vibrations went back to the highest setting, as you smiled pathetically at Kagowa.

“So, where were we?” You asked, sitting across from her again. Your voice strained as you made eye contact again with Sebastian. She began talking again about quidditch, and all you could do was nod, starting at the darkened glare that Sebastian gave, which pierced daggers into your hot skin.

This was going to be a long meeting.

[lionheartapothecaryx]

BIBLIOMANCY: THE PSALMS 📖🔮🕯️


During the many centuries of American history, Black African Americans had contact with various different religions and ethnic cultures ie; multiple Indigenous Tribes, Jews, Appalachians, Dutch, Swedes, Caribbeans, Haitian Kreyols and many more, through the Chattel Transatlantic Trade an land migration. These pivotal interactions are introduced the assimilation of many ritual practices. Hoodoo is a multiculturally mixed practice, with many nuances and intersections. It reflects the attitude and practices of many different generations, cultivated, passed down and preserved. While purists believe in keeping Hoodoo strictly traditional, the realist and preservationists, see Hoodoo as a constantly evolving and cunning art form, always adaptable to the times. Throughout the 1600 - 1900s, multiple different denominations of the Abrahamic faiths were wide spread through the United States influencing Black American folk magic and way of life. 
Bibliomancy was already a common folk practice at and slowly making into the consciousness of Black American folk Magick. 

The first book printed in North America to contain the psalms was The Bay Psalm Book, published in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Minister an Planation Owner, Joseph Glover, who was well known for being the pioneer of printing in the English colonies and was one of the co-founders of Harvard University. Without sufficient historical evidence we can only speculate that this is the it’s one possible origins of the usage of the psalms in Black American Folk Magick. Glover was a Rector aka a parish priest for the Church of England and was decently educated. It is highly likely during his studies in England he had access to Jewish Psalm Prayer Books which inspired him to publish one of his own, when he came to America. There were also a small afro-jewish populations and various intersectional social connections with the black community, with the Jewish, Catholic and other various Christian religious denominations that were also clear influences.


The Church was a place of indoctrination but also social relief, community and emotional escapism for Black Americans during these times. Throughout the centuries the Indoctrination of the Church became the only source of solace and safety for Black American mental health & society during ever shifty and dangerous social climates. Deeply imbedding itself into consciousness of the black community, subconsciously and consciously, which we can still see in modern times. 
As the ability to read and write increased within the black community, in addition to the growth of printing more books access to reading the Bible and the Psalms became easier and easier. Now the Psalms were seen as a powerful book of spells in African American folk magick, with a multitude of different uses. Psalms could be scratched in the mud, written on doorways, or just simply spoken or prayed over folks, tools, plant allies, talismans, mojo bags, roots, other items, water, candles and more. The intent could be love, justice, abundance, peace and even hexing. Eventually, this belief trickled down to usage of other verses, from other Bible, an influenced African American communities, all over the country. Each community like their own little tribes, some with similar or different practices and rituals, regionally. 
In practice, The power of the psalms was unmatched, people swore by it by its success rate and still do to this day, which is why the practice has stuck in modern times.

The Psalms were a vehicle of rejuvenation and life, these scriptures were considered living words of power. I’ll go into the sacred mythos behind that, for members of my Patreon, later on this month.


For some Black Americans it’s easy to overlook and even discard the power of bibliomancy especially when they have deep religious trauma when it comes to any Abrahamic faith (Baptist, Catholic, Christian, Cogic etc) which is understandable. These feelings are valid & practicing Hoodoo, means understanding the many intricate nuances of the intersection and history of this folk culture. Others also see the value in Bibliomancy and continue this ancestral practice in modern times, knowing two things can be true at once. There is a great deal of duality in Hoodoo, which is something many of us have come to accept and honor at the same time. Respecting this balance demands a deep sense of self and cultural respect, a discerning eye and great deal of empathy, whether practitioners like it or not.

Using the Psalms is a powerfully easy way to reconnect and heal with ancestral Black American practices and medicine. It’s not a requirement of course, but it’s fun to encourage other black Americans to practice and discover all of its hidden powers. Many African folk practices, were hidden out of survival, requiring a level of covert cunning. Bibliomancy was a clever way hide in plain sight without attracting too much attention. Think of our ancestors as secret agents of truth, justice with a covert strategic mentality that still has important place in modern times. Some magick requires a keen mind, good sense, without calling any attention to itself, teaching us the practice of self control and discipline. This is why the practice of bibliomancy is important, allowing you to tap into this energy and honor your ancestors and yourself.

Examples of Bibliomancy


Psalms 54 - Help In Times Of Need. Mastering Negative Thoughts, Revenge Against Enemies. 
Psalms 60 - Put The Past Behind You. 
Psalms 41 - Help With Money Troubles 
Psalms 23 - Protection, Abundance, Stability & Healing

HAPPY HOODOO HERITAGE MONTH ✨

🕯️🕯️🕯️

[qibilette]

pyrrhia maps 1: geography

happy holidays - i finished my new & improved pyrrhia maps!!! these are my take on pyrrhia, suited to my rewrite and as scientifically accurate as i could be. it took over 45 hours of work! i'll be doing a little series on them: this is part one, physical geography.

as you can see, pyrrhia is mostly mid-elevation, with three mountain ranges - the biggest runs down the center of the continent, another spans the western coast, and the third is in the ice kingdom. the central range is called the claws of the clouds mountains, while the other 2 are still unnamed (working on it...)

the claws range is from canon! i added the sandwing range to block precipitation. without those mountains, onshore winds in july would bring lots of rain, and the sandwings wouldn't live in a desert. the icewing range was added mostly for fun, because i wanted them to have some pretty snow-covered mountains.

the river map shows primary rivers and their most important tributaries, but it can be assumed that other, smaller rivers are scattered across pyrrhia, especially in the southern & eastern regions. some interesting notes:

the rivers flowing west-east in the sand kingdom are fed from sparse precipitation that breaks through the mountains

rivers marked in dotted lines are intermittent, and flow only when there's a lot of precipitation at their headwaters

the great five-tail river has been shifted north, so it now flows south from the icewing mountain range & into the bay. there just wasn't enough precipitation in the claws of the clouds range to justify starting it there. this also means the great five-tail river flows through the great ice wall, through tunnels at its base!

finally, pyrrhia has an area of about 19830000 km² - that's bigger than south america! it spans from the arctic circle to the equator, allowing for its wide diversity in climates.

[racefortheironthrone]

Now you mentioned i, I am a bit surprised Smallville is prominently and consistently in Kansas? It's Smallville, Kansas. There might be others and certainly cities located vaguely within a real region, but it's definitely the first fictional town or city of D.C. in a real-world American state to come to mind.

So this gets to the weirdness of D.C geography. When Superman was first established, there was much less of a cohesive "universe," so if Siegel and Shuster wanted Superman to specifically be raised in Kansas, that's where he was from and the rest of the geography would have to work itself out.

IMO, this early slapdash approach to world-building has (over time) led to some things that just don't make sense to me as a student of urban history and urban studies:

Metropolis shouldn't be in Delaware. It doesn't make sense in terms of urbanization, given the context of an already-crowded Northeastern Corridor - Delaware simply does not have the capacity to sustain a city of 11 million people, and you wouldn't get a municipality of that size right next door to New York City (as well as D.C's other fictional cities in the area). The whole idea of Metropolis and Gotham being across the river/bay from each other has never really worked for me; you can still do Superman/Batman team-up stories no matter where they are, because Superman can fly and Batman has his own personal fighter jets.

More importantly, it doesn't make sense in terms of historic patterns of urban migration. Moving to the big city in search of the American Dream is a big part of the Clark Kent story, but historically people moving from rural to urban areas overwhelmingly go to the nearest large city, depending on how transportation networks are arranged, whether we're talking about train lines or direct flights or highways or bus routes. There is a reason we can track regional movements of black communities during the Great Migration, because who went where depended on which train lines ran through which states:

This is why I've always felt that, while Metropolis has aesthetically been associated with New York City, it logically should be Chicago. It is the biggest city in the Midwest, one very much associated with robber baron industrialists and corruption at the highest levels, and absolutely stuffed with art deco architecture for Superman to pose on top of. Up until the Tribune Company began to strip it for parts, it's also been a major newspaper town with a long tradition of muck-raking investigative journalism that would inspire a starry-eyed cub reporter like Clark. As one of the original transit hubs and the U.S' own "nature's metropolis," it is precisely the place that a Kansas farm boy would hop a train to, because all trains go to Chicago. Also, culturally I like it better that Clark Kent represents the City of Wide Shoulders whereas Bruce Wayne is the typical Tri-State Area Type-A personality.

Going back to D.C's bizarro Northeast geography, I likewise have an issue with Gotham being in New Jersey...if New York City is also supposed to be a major metropolitan area in the D.C universe. Just as Delaware would struggle to support a city of 11 million people, it would be very difficult to grow Gotham into a city of 10 million people so close to the gravity well of the Greater New York Metro Area. New Jersey is a pretty urbanized state, but its biggest cities tend to range in population from 300,000 to 100,000 - which works very well for a place like Blüdhaven, which is supposed to have something of an inferiority complex vis-a-vis Gotham - because a lot of the population tends to gravitate to NYC for work and eventually housing as well.

I've already said my piece about the lack of cultural specificity of D.C's Midwest.

As far as the West Coast goes, I've always found it a bit odd that Star City isn't where Seattle is supposed to be. Let's face it, the only place where Oliver Queen's facial hair would go unnoticed is Seattle. Also, Coast City is often depicted too far north on the map - if it's supposed to be a half-hour away from Edwards Air Force Base, it should be significantly more southern, down by Kern County and San Bernadino County, not practically up in San Francisco.

[mapsontheweb]

Sandstorms of the coast west coast of Africa

Easterly winds blew across Namibia in July 2023, lofting bands of dust across the coastal plains and out to sea. Streams of tan-colored dust jetted out from the entire length of Namibia’s coast and parts of the southern Angola coast when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on July 11. In addition, a streak of white salt dust from the Etosha Pan swept across the northern part of Namibia.

The pattern is not unusual for this time of year, when hot, dry squalls known as berg winds rush down from the interior highlands. In 2023, the warm east winds set in on July 6, picking up dust from the desert and salt pans and sending it toward the coast.

By the time this image was acquired, the dust and sand had created poor visibility and hazardous driving conditions in some coastal towns, including Walvis Bay. According to news reports, heavy machinery was needed to clear sand drifts from roadways.

The Etosha Pan, the distinct bright rectangular patch in the image, is an expansive salt flat roughly 130 kilometers (80 miles) long and 50 kilometers (30 miles) wide. It is typically dry except for brief periods in the summer months, when flamingos and other aquatic congregate there. At the time of the image, winds had carried the salty dust approximately 300 kilometers (180 miles) toward the Atlantic.

The windy conditions were forecast to persist in coastal and interior regions for several days, with the possibility for more sandstorms, according to the Namibia Meteorological Service. However, compared with Saharan dust storms that are large enough to influence hurricane formation and ultimately the weather on the opposite side of the Atlantic, the amount of dust in southern African storms is negligible.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Rachel Henning watched the young man in action about this time as he deftly captured a band of thirteen deserters from the Native Police who turned up at Exmoor. She wrote of them:

They each had an old shirt by way of a garment & several were carrying possums which they had caught on their way. Biddulph went over to speak to them. "Good day Sare" they all said & grinned very much & then told him they were runaway troopers from Rockingham Bay where they seemed to think they had been very badly treated in being made to work. "too much carry log" one of them said. They were on their way to Wide Bay their own country.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[sudensk-the-stallionist]

The recent discussion about the prospects of the US making advances on Greenland to buy it has brought me some food for thought for something i'm particularly interested in, but seems to bear little to no attention outside of the countries where this happens - and, to some extent, not even there. Seeing discussion "out there" - on most mainstream subreddits, by liberals, etc., has made me notice that most of the time, people treat Greenland as a form of "Antarctica of the North": it is merely a piece of land, and, as such, the only things there to discuss are its nature (including fauna, flora and other natural resources) and its strategic value. You see, the problem of the US wanting to buy Greenland isn't "but the polar bears!" or smth. You see, 56 thousand people - around 90% of these native Inuit (kalaallit) - live in Greenland. And this brought me over to think about the WHOLE arrangemente of things - what about all the other Inuit peoples? See, i'm going to use the term "Inuit" very loosely here. It's going to include everything from the Greenlandic Inuit to those in Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, NunatuKavut, Inuvialuit, the Iñupiaq, etc. Sometimes i'll also say the "Inuit-Yupik-Unangan" peoples to refer to a very wide array of groups with many varieties but who have been bunched together here in case it is useful to do so, but beware: they have many many differences across those hundreds and thousands of kilometres ranging the whole North American Arctic and beyond. So now that's warned, let me start.

You see, the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan peoples - an artificial grouping of the peoples who speak one of the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan (Eskaleut) languages - are those who inhabit this whole entire area of North America, and, to a smaller extent, Chukotka, in Russia. Beware this is a map of languages, not people! However, the extent of these peoples can be vaguely represented by this.

Okay, so. I'm not going to spend much time discussing the Inuit's past history as much as i'm going to explain modern, contemporary developments. So, quick rundown; - All of them seem to come from migrations coming from some form of vaguely unified culture in Northeast Siberia some 4000-6000 years ago. These groups did not migrate all at the same time. The first peoples to inhabit Greenland or Arctic Canada were not modern Inuit, for example - as they were part of the earlier Dorset culture; - All these groups, in diverse and different ways, lived in societies without usage of agriculture en masse, and, in some cases, at all; - Many depended almost entirely on hunting (including animals such as the caribou, but this a development much more common in the mainland than in Greenland, for example); - MOST (not all) of their native regions were never settled by European colonists in the same way as, for example, native lands in the modern contiguous USA were. Some places, such as Greenland and most of Alaska are exceptions, although the situation there, obviously, was not the same as in, for example, the USAmerican East Coast just because whites settled there. As such, the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan peoples were now the subject of influence and control by European colonists; the Yup'ik and Iñupiaq by Russians, the Inuit of Canada by the English (and, much less, the French) and the Greenlandic Inuit (kalaallit) by the Danish (ignoring here the Norse for simplicity sake). This in turn meant the beginning of Christian missions - such as that of Hans Egede in Greenland among the Kalaallit and Juvenaly in Alaska among the Yup'ik. It also meant the beginning of the slow adaptation of the traditional ways of life of each of these peoples into what was profitable and good for the European colonizers; this meaning the establishment, for example, of trading posts by the Hudson's Bay Company to exchange itens such as fur, among others. It is also necessary to not fall onto some kind of anticiv trap here and believe that this trades that the Europeans made with the Inuit were all just fooling them into getting to buy the Europeans' modern equipment and clothing while the "foolish" Inuit were having no say in the matter. Yes, many Inuit enjoyed trading! Because having better itens is good, and even the Inuit, who are frequently put as these "hard, tough natives resistant to such a hostile environment" need to make their own lives better. Does this mean the Europeans were good and just trying to help those "poor little indians"? Of course not. All while this happened, the frequent visit of whalers and fishermen led to the spread of many diseases among the Inuit - also including the Yupik and Unangan, who were contaminated in this case by the Russians. Leading into the 20th century, the situation of the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan is now in a "stalemate", as to say; they still mostly remain in nomadic or semi-nomadic state, but if they live within the range of some form of constant trade they've been subject to becoming less and less nomadic. Alaska has been bought by the USA, the colonies of Canada and Greenland are much more well established, yadda yadda. This is also the time where some Europeans, USAmericans and Canadians start to most have their almost orientalistic, false and misleading fascination for the Inuit - as it's the time stuff like Nanook of the North is made. But also at this time is when it all begins to get to how it is today. PT 1

[konjaku]

水仙[Suisen] Narcissus tazetta

For the past few days, a wide area from the western to the northern part of the Japan has been hit by heavy snowfalls that require daily warnings. And it is likely to continue for the next few days.

The reason there is so much snow on the western and northern areas of Japan is that air from the west or north stores moisture from water areas, the air makes clouds, and the clouds make snow fall just before they pass over the high mountains. The water areas are not only the sea. For example, Sekigahara, known as the site of the historically famous battle in 1600, has Wakasa Bay and Lake Biwa, the largest lake, to the west, and is flanked by mountains, therefore, it snows so much there. https://maps.app.goo.gl/7xxoT1m59SSXAXJ47

Where people live, Aomori City has the most snowfall in the world. This city was hit by heavy snowfall the other day, and there is still a worrisome amount of snow falling at present. This is because the place is bordered by the ocean to the west, north, and east, and the mountains of Hakkōda to the south. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203549/

Novelist 太宰 治[Dazai Osamu] was born in 津軽[Tsugaru], the western part of Aomori Prefecture where Aomori City is located, and he traveled to that region and wrote a novel with the same title. At the beginning of the novel, he wrote the following quotation. https://maps.app.goo.gl/mVSHhMadGdLgV6Rk8

津軽の雪 こな雪　つぶ雪　わた雪　みづ雪　かた雪　ざらめ雪　こほり雪 （東奥年鑑より）

[Tsugaru no yuki Kona-yuki Tsubu-yuki Wata-yuki Mizu-yuki Kata-yuki Zarame-yuki Koori-yuki (Tō'ō nenkan yori)] The snows of Tsugaru Powder snow, Granular snow, Flocculating snow, Watery snow, Hard snow, Frozen snow, Icy snow (From The Tō'ō Yearbook) Source: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/2282_15074.html

Suisen has another name, 雪中花[Setchūka]. It means Flower in snow. The flowers in the photo are horticultural. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-ts1N-puw

[greenwitchcrafts]

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum Verum

Known as: Ceylon cinnamon & sweet bark

Related plants: Cinnamon is a member of the Lauraceae or the laurels. It is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide that can include Cinnamomum, bay, sassafras, bay laurel, litsea & cassytha.

Parts used: Inner bark

Habitat & Cultivation: This evergreen tropical tree is native to Sri Lanka, the neighbouring Malabar Coast of India, and Myanmar (Burma) and is also cultivated in South America and the West Indies. this species is found growing from the lowlands up to an altitude of 700 m. C. verum is a hardy species which tolerates a wide range of tropical soils.

Plant type: Perennial

Region: 10-12

Harvest: Give your cinnamon tree two to three years after planting to fully develop. When the bark is brown and the leaves are firm, the plant is ready for harvesting. Carefully Cut away the outer bark until you reach the yellow-orange inner bark then peel away strips of the inner bark until you reach the core of the branch or trunk. Dry the inner bark & let the peeled pieces in a single layer on a window screen or tray. They will curl as they dry until they resemble the cinnamon quills you’re used to.

Growing tips: Make sure the planting site is several feet away from other trees & at least six hours of direct sunlight on most days. Cinnamon plants prefer a rich, well-draining soil-A sandy loam will work well & don't do well in waterlogged soils, so don't plant in heavy clay or hardpan soils. They don't do well when temperatures fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or in very dry conditions.

Medicinal information: Cinnamomum verum has been reported to have anti-diabetic, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Cinnamon oil is also used in dental and pharmaceutical products. Cinnamon leaf oil has been found to be effective in killing mosquito larvae & in some studies the leaf oil is being proposed for use as an insect repellent.

Cautions: Cinnamon usually causes no side effects. But heavy use could irritate your mouth and lips, causing sores. The oil can be a skin irritant & therefore should not be put directly on your skin.

Magickal Properties

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Sun

Element: Fire

Deities: Aesclepius, Aphrodite, Bast, Helios, Mercury, Oshun, Ra & Venus

Magickal uses:

• Add to a spell to speed up action &success

• Burn as an incense to stimulate spiritual powers, increase, psychic ability & awareness

• Wear as an amulet to attract passion into your life

• Hang the sticks or a cinnamon broom above your front door to keep negative energies away

• Keep a cinnamon stick in your wallet to attract financial prosperity

• Mix with your coffee for an easy prosperity spell

• Rub the oil on ritual tools to cleanse them(but please use gloves, cinnamon oil is very strong)

• Substitute the sticks for bones while attempting divination via osteomancy

• Use in a simmer pot for money, cleansing & prosperity spells

• Burn the bark or incense to increase male libido or empower sex magick

• Along side a green candle & basil, cinnamon helps makes a quick & easy money spell

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Canary Media:

Three days before President Trump took office, an undersea-cable company abandoned plans to build a plant that would employ up to 350 people in Somerset, Massachusetts. Media outlets were quick to spotlight the loss as a specter of what’s to come for the offshore wind industry that Trump put on ice with the stroke of a pen last week.

It’s a reminder that Trump’s attempts to kill the offshore wind industry threaten not just the decarbonization plans of a few states, but job opportunities for a wide array of Americans. In fact, over 64% of the offshore wind manufacturing and supply-chain investments made or announced are in Republican congressional districts, according to data from industry group Oceantic Network.

The 64% statistic describes mostly private investment into offshore wind but also includes some public investment, including money flowing in from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s cornerstone climate law and a favorite target of Trump. In total, $3.4 billion has either been invested in or pledged to Republican districts to build a domestic offshore wind supply chain.

“Who’s benefiting? It’s the entire United States,” said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the group, which previously went by the name Business Network for Offshore Wind.

But Trump last week signed an executive order that paused the approval of leases, permits, and loans for both offshore and onshore wind energy pending a federal review. The freeze will likely impact projects in earlier stages of development while the nine commercial-scale offshore wind projects that already have federal permits in hand appear safe.

It could also ripple throughout the emerging U.S. offshore wind supply chain. Developers have signed nearly 2,000 supply-chain contracts with manufacturing firms in 40 states, including some that are hundreds of miles from a coastline, like Ohio and Wisconsin.

For example, said Burdock, Italian shipbuilding firm Fincantieri is building customized offshore vessels in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, which is part of a Republican congressional district. And in Houston, Texas — which she called the ​“engine” of offshore wind manufacturing — multiple companies are adapting technologies used for the region’s offshore oil operations to accommodate offshore wind.

America currently has 73 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in various stages of development, according to the latest data collected by the American Clean Power Association. Before Trump returned to office, the industry group estimated that offshore wind would support 56,000 jobs by 2030. About a third of those would be operation and maintenance jobs while the vast majority would be direct construction jobs, at least in these early years of the sector.

Only one commercial-scale U.S. offshore wind project is in operation today, but at least five more are under construction, all off the coastlines of Northeastern states.

In addition to the money flowing to manufacturing projects to support these installations, Oceantic reports that offshore wind has spurred $1.8 billion worth of direct investments into updating 21 shipyards and across 12 states, like the St. John’s Ship Building shipyard in Palatka, Florida, which sits in a district that’s been represented by a Republican since 1989.

Thousands of workers are also helping to update 25 ports across the East, West and Gulf coasts that will store massive wind components and safely load them onto vessels that can then carry them miles out to sea for installation. Oceantic reports that a recent revitalization project at a Connecticut port created 400 construction jobs and sourced components from Texas.