Month: May 2017

lamus-dworski:

In the Polish rural beliefs and legends connected to the wintertime the Holy Mother is often described as a ’Maiden protecting from wolves’, and also taking care of these animals so that they don’t attack the human settlements. 

She’s then typically depicted with the so-called ‘thunder candle’ (gromnica), and often called a ‘Divine Mother with Wolves’ (Matka Boska z wilkami) or ‘Gromniczna [of the Thunder Candle] with Wolves’ (Gromniczna od wilków, Gromniczna z wilkami). 

It’s connected to ancient Slavic rites and customs, which were syncretized with the Christian celebrations of the Candlemas Day (celebrated on February 2nd) over the centuries. 

Origins of many elements of these celebrations in Poland are a mystery, but they show a possible connection to the Slavic goddess Dziewanna / Devana, who was the goddess of youth, hunt, wild nature, and moon, mentioned in numerous West Slavic resources. 

On that day many Polish Rodnovers (Slavic Native Faith Believers) celebrate a feast of Dziewanna Gromniczna (Dziewanna of the Thunder Candle) – lighting the ‘thunder candles’ in her honor in order to enrapture warmth for the second half of winter. Dziewanna, as the goddess of wilderness, is also asked for protection in the cold months (especially from the freezing weather or from attack of wild animals like wolves), and guidance during winter travels.

The Slavic feast of Dziewanna Gromniczna would be analogous for example to the pagan Gaelic feast of Imbolc.

On pictures: contemporary and vintage Polish postcards and paintings. Sources: [1,2,3,4,5]

[PL] Jako ciekawostka: legenda o wilku gromnicznym.

Read more about the Polish Candlemas Day and the ‘thunder candles’ (gromnice) here.

elegantmess-southernbelle:

booksandwildthings:

breadgunner:

norseminuteman:

deathbeforednf:

moirakatson:

systlin:

kasaron:

mojave-wasteland-official:

theun–sj:

mojave-wasteland-official:

just-shower-thoughts:

Building a treehouse is the biggest insult to a tree. “I killed your friend, here hold him.”

“Friend”

Its more of I killed a potential enemy. Hold his dismembered corpse in victory.

Plants don’t wage war

Ever heard of blackberries?

Yes, plants do wage war

Mint and strawberries, too. They need to be quarantined or they will kill basically everything else. 

I planted mint in the ground 2 years ago.

It’s currently fighting a bitter battle to the death against the raspberries attempting to invade from the east while trying to annex the patio.

Could go either way at this point TBH. Unless, of course, I take a shovel and the blowtorch out there and battle both back to within their original boundaries.

And anyone wondering if a blowtorch is overkill for weeding back mint has never actually planted mint.

This post did not go where I expected it to.

Our garden plot at my childhood home slowly got overrun by wild blackberries after we stopped managing it while my sister and I were in nursing school. And by overrun I mean it was like a 4 foot tall thicket of wild blackberries. It hadn’t been touched by humans in at least 4 years. I started the ultimately futile task of trying to clear this plot with a machete and discovered to my amazement a patch of mint several feet across underneath the canopy of blackberry, still fighting the good fight all those years later.

Ultimately it took two jars of homemade napalm and some creative fire placement to clear that patch but I damn sure saved that patch of mint. It earned the right to be there.

Yall mother fuckers don’t even talk unless you’ve had to wage war on kudzu (it’s an ivy strain directly from Hell) that shit doesn’t just wage war with other plants, it wages war with all living things on planet earth. It’s some gnarly ass Blood for the Blood God, Chlorophyll for the Chlorophyll Throne demon weed. 

Can second the comments of Kudzu.

I forget where I read it but there’s this one tree that creates an extremely flammable substance that’s in both the bark and leaves. Dead trees become torches and crushed up leaves become dust-incendiary, all while the plant’s seeds are Giant Redwood levels of resilient to open flame. IE it has a goddamn scorched earth policy. It’s even more badass than plants that use toxins to starve other plants.

I’d like to third the comments on Kudzu. These are the battlefields:

See those weird pillars? Those were trees. See that strange lump in the middle? That was a house. Everything green you see in this photo is kudzu.

Southern Gothic knows Lovecraft. We have fucking kudzu.

https://www.wired.com/2013/12/hippopotamus-ranching/

tyetknot:

“… We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to Her…”

Praise be to Isis, the Great One, God’s Mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the Gods. Ave Iside invicte!

Good and Evil in Twin Peaks

One of the common misconceptions is that David Lynch is giving us an epic struggle between good and evil in Twin Peaks. This is a deliberate misdirection on his part. In looking at his entire body of work, I think it’s clear that good and evil do not exist in Lynch’s world.

The biggest clue lies in the most iconic setting of the series. Some people call it the Black Lodge. Others call it the Red Room. But its red curtains and black and white zig-zag floor pattern (Lynch’s take on the floor of the masonic temple, also used by many magical orders such as the Golden Dawn), don’t really give us a strong impression either way. I think the most accurate name for this place is simply The Lodge. Because the White Lodge and the Black Lodge only exist as social constructs among its members. The members themselves continuously try to influence the nature of reality and form factions that they may at times call White and Black, but they are all members of the Lodge. (The word lodge itself is used to refer to Native American gathering places and masonic groups).

There is no Good Cooper and Bad Cooper. There is just an entity that has been extremely out of balance that has been divided by his own wants and needs. The goal is not to destroy one or the other, but to unite them.

Does that make sense?

If anyone wants to hear more on Western occult symbolism in Twin Peaks let me know. Folks would arm themselves well by taking a closer look at the Secret History of Twin Peaks, and two of the very real historical figures mentioned—Jack Parsons and Aleister Crowley. You also wouldn’t go wrong by studying the works of the UFOoligist Jacques Vallée.

scrollofthoth:

Essentially, Twin Peaks is about two rival gangs of magicians who have fought to a stand still in a Northwest town. They are now drawing in outside agencies to continue their battle.

The children of Twin Peaks are caught up in the shit storm of synchronicity that always follow such events.

Laura Palmer did not make it through her first initiation.

Dale Cooper is a young magician who believes he is on the cusp of a major break through. He is about to suffer a false enlightenment.

My original summary of the first two seasons of Twin Peaks. It continues in season three.

My only correction would be that Laura DID pass her initiation, even though she died doing so. She has now become a powerful entity beyond the veil.