neonvincent: Lust for  for posts about sex and women behaving badly. (Bad Girl Lust)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I was watching this video yesterday and today, which inspired me to write PBS Terra and Howtown lick fossils, demonstrating Ig Nobel Prize winning science.

[personal profile] milkyway1
Once a week, I perform a formal blessing in which I bless everybody who has signed up for it.

In order to be blessed next Wednesday, please click here and sign up on my website.

I require people to sign up anew each week, to make sure I have everybody's full consent for each blessing (and to keep things manageable for me). I.e. if you'd like to receive blessings in future weeks, too, you'll need to return to the "Blessings" section of my website each week and sign up on the most recent post.
kimberlysteele: (Default)
[personal profile] kimberlysteele
It is estimated that seventy-two percent of the global population received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine. In other words, nearly three quarters of our eight billion person population took an untested, unproven, extremely rushed MRNA concoction for a flu that killed fewer than one percent of the people who caught it. If there was ever any doubt the human race is not collectively all that bright, the Covid response sums it up. The stories of people who wore masks while in their car while alone will live in infamy. To this day, I still see people who most likely have post graduate degrees wearing masks in grocery stores. Very few (fewer than three out of ten) were intelligent enough to ask “What could go wrong?” with the infamous shots. They are now finding out the hard way. Not smart.

The New Normal, ever the same as the Old Normal

To be a normie is to take the path of least resistance. Sometimes the path of least resistance is wise. On various occasions, there is no choice. For instance, if you live in North Korea, you are regularly limited to the choices of a North Korean. Though it is often argued that driving a car is an choice in suburban America, I would dare anyone with friends, relatives, and a job that provides necessary income to try it for a year. Sometimes you have to go with the flow. The MRNA vaccines were an attempt to force a Satanic communion rite upon the last few holdouts like myself who had to make bleak decisions such as “Am I willing to literally die over this?” I was and we were... are. I was willing to go berserk. I was and am willing to go full Asami Yamasaki on the biohazard-suited goon who somehow topples my last barrier, finds me in my remote hidey hole, and comes at me with a syringe. I won’t harm a hair on their heads unless they back me into a corner, but if and when they are foolish enough to bring vaccine rape to me personally, the consequences they reap for themselves will be a gory and festive homecoming. At least one of them will deeply, bitterly regret it.

Normies are zombies. Just as perfectly kind grandmas and innocent children can be made into ravening, black-mouthed brain-eaters, normies can turn into armies of monsters when the stimuli and circumstances are right. It is easy to become a Nazi, a Stalinist, or a Maoist if everybody is doing it. When we look at how force collects and flows on the astral plane or the plane of images that is both shared and individual, certain sets of images become prominent. For instance, the image of SAFETY became a collective obsession. Those infected with SAFETY in the form of a comfortable, remote work, salary class, Door Dash-ordering, isolated but not lonely, status signaling heaven could not understand why anyone would desire to live outside that image for any reason. They clung to SAFETY even though there was a tiny, niggling, mostly-unheard voice screaming from the oubliette of conscience warning that SAFETY is not free. SAFETY, as wonderful and heavenly as it was and as virtuous as it felt, carried a steep price.

Before I go any further, let me say for the umpteen-millionth time that I could be wrong. I am a rando on the internet. I am a crackpot occultist who was atheist ten short years ago. My only redeeming quality is that I never claim my truths are infallible. So do not come at me. I am only speculating here.

Hell is not eternal. Hell is not even warm. Hell is Hel, a temporary bus depot between incarnations where you sort out your crap and ready yourself for another round. And before someone says “Prison planet! Archons!” Let me say you retarded gnostics ought to give beings who are smarter and better than you a chance — not every entity is trying to cockblock you from your warped materialist vision of eternal bliss. But I digress. Hel is a place for normies. As I mentioned in my previous article in this series, heroes go to Valhalla.

Imagine a shallow ocean made of liquified clouds. The ocean rushes towards a great cliff. The liquified clouds rush towards the cliff edge and tumble off, creating a waterfall that becomes a deluge. Now imagine that you are a patch of cloud within that shallow ocean. The more one you are with the clouds, the more likely you are to flow off the edge of the cliff with your brethren. If you are amorphous like the other clouds, you will have no choice but to be dragged along to the abyss yawning beneath the cliff. The abyss is Hel.

Apocalypse anxiety

The human race has always been obsessed with apocalypse myths and has indulged in them since God was a boy. I think the reason for this is because Normies know they must rush off the edge of the astral cliff in a great hurry and spend quality time in the abyss before re-emerging in a mountain spring or at the bottom of the ocean once again. In the case of the Covid vaccines, it felt like a huge test and a great divider of souls. Souls that chose to melt into the crowd and go the path of least resistance were marked, not just physically via their Meatworld bodies but via their eternal selves. I think they knew, deep, deep down, and that is why they were so crazy dissonant about those who chose not to vaccinate. If they were damned, then all should be damned. If everybody chose to flunk, then perhaps the test itself would be scrapped, or at least not graded on a curve.

I believe one of the possibilities for the vaccinated is that they are sequestered for a time or given no choice but to reincarnate as animals as the current extinction wraps. Of course I could be wrong. Despite being unvaccinated, I wholly believe I could go back to being incarnated as an animal. I believe I was a series of geese and cats before making the jump to human thousands of years ago. I have no problem with going back to animal incarnation. There are wonderful things about being an animal just as there are wonderful things about being human. If I do go back to being a bird, I hope I get to finally do a turn as a hawk or some other cool bird of prey.

I don’t think reincarnation as an animal is anything to be worried about. (Many of us could be reincarnated dinosaurs, and perhaps this could explain almost every child’s fascination with dinosaurs? I dunno.) It’s Hel normies should be worried about, because this iteration of Hel resembles an apocalypse, with an extraordinary number of souls falling prey to it. The trouble with this version of Hel is that as always, Hel reflects the consciousness of those destined to go there via their lack of resistance. Our era has been materialistic to the extreme. Our ideals have been mired in stuff, stuff, and more stuff. We have people who claim to be holy men who live in mansions. The Dalai Lama, a man whom I firmly believe will go to Hel, is a child molester who enjoys foie gras. Men who regularly quote the Bible believe they need to become crypto millionaires to measure up. Yet Jesus said:

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”.



There are three aspects of spiritual work regardless of religion or lack thereof that are a Get Out of Hel card. They are differentiation, diligence, and humility. I will be discussing all three in future essays.

Differentiation is the process of extracting ourselves from the ocean that cannot resist compelling forces. In short, we must learn to think for ourselves and go against the grain when necessary. That is why I don’t believe Luigi Mangione or killers like him will go to Hel or hell. Luigi Mangione is not a Normie, at any rate. To differentiate is to see when the crowd is and to stand against it at great personal risk, including risk of death. Differentiation requires courage, and like a fruit that is carried far from the tree, it can culminate in a dead end or a new beginning.
Diligence is the daily, hourly, and often minutely commitment to our own convictions. We cannot just believe in our differentiation, we must constantly prove it by remaining true to it in our daily actions and thoughts. I believe everything is sentient, so I clean my floor and toilet everyday because spaces and things have consciousness and can talk. They enjoy being kept clean and and in ship shape. It is not enough for me to write a book called Sacred Homemaking, I must live as a sacred homemaker. A follower of Jesus is not worth his weight in poop unless he lives like Jesus — poor, generous, and forgiving.

Humility is the admittance we are not gods or demigods. When we think we are the smartest ones in the room, we quickly become insufferable. Gods are patient and they give us all the rope we need to hang ourselves, plus multiple lives so we can do it again and again. Humility is ironically a shortcut to the Divine, because by admitting we are not gods, we take the first steps towards improvement.

Anyone can choose to differentiate and follow up with diligence and humility. Vaccination status is irrelevant to this. Hidden choices abound, even in North Korea. In my next article in this series, I will be talking about a road not frequently taken. This road is the one I consider to be the best of the three. I call it the Alternative.

(But Mr. Ed Means "Wealth")

Aug. 26th, 2025 05:01 pm
sdi: Oil painting of the Heliconian Muse whispering inspiration to Hesiod. (Default)
[personal profile] sdi

Okay, okay, while I think that names matter, they don't all matter. Akhilleus's two divine horses were named Ξάνθος "Goldie" and Βαλίος "Spotty."

(Other horses in the Iliad include Πήδασος "Jumper," Ἀρείων "Better," and Πόδαργος "Swiftfoot.")

neptunesdolphins: dolphins leaping (Default)
[personal profile] neptunesdolphins
“Pagan Roots: Reclaiming Concepts of the Sacred” by Yvonne Aburrow. 2025. 1000voltpress.
 
In “Pagan Roots,” Yvonne Aburrow (Note 1) writes for modern Progressive people who are curious about Paganism or are Pagans (Note 2) themselves. Aburrow addresses issues important to these Pagans such as providing inclusive and non-gendered rituals. Because of their own experiences, Aburrow is concerned about people who have been harmed by the dominant religious structure. To them, Aburrow shows how to find a “better or more fitting spirituality.”
 
To that end, Aburrow divides the book into two parts. The first section entails the Pagan spiritual journey, and what the goals of that spirituality can be. They write, “Is it possible to identify spiritual practices or concepts that are not part of Paganism (because they are not in line with the goal of the Pagan quest), but which have been imported to Pagan discourse and traditions out of a misunderstanding of what ancient paganism was, or what contemporary Paganism could be?” In the conclusion of “Pagan Roots,” Aburrow writes, “I believe that the Pagan quest is unique and distinct, because it is not a pouring out of self in order to become filled with the divine, but the removal of accretions to uncover the authentic self, get closer to nature, and become divine ourselves.”
 
The first part of “Pagan Roots” covers various topics such as the Pagan psyche. Aburrow notes about that, “The integration of the psyche is achieved by the marriage of light and darkness, not the slaying of the dark shadow.” In later chapters, they discuss what they refer to as the “Old Gods.” Aburrow explains “I would say that something is ‘real’ if it has a real effort on existence. In this view, ideas are real because they affect people’s lives. However, ideas are not things, and they are not people. That’s why the ‘gods have agency’ (Note 3) part of contemporary polytheism is important, because gods are not just ideas or archetypes, but beings with will and agency. There are plenty of people who experience the gods as beings with will and agency but on the whole, that is a matter of faith.”
 
At the end of each chapter in the first section, Aburrow provides exercises to further understand this particular part of what they call “the Pagan Journey.” For example, for “Gender and Sexuality,” they suggest to “make a shrine for gender-variant, queer, and female spiritual ancestors.” There are also journal prompts to explore the journey of the self, faith, and Paganism. With each chapter, a ritual and meditation is included to experience that chapter’s main points.
 
The second part examines “the history and roots of both theological concepts and spiritual practices.” Aburrow’s aim is to “seek to recover their original Pagan meanings and contexts so that we can build them back into our collective quest for meaning.” I found the second part invaluable in untangling Pagan concepts from their Christian overlay or redefinition.
 
Because Pagan thought differs from Christian theology, Aburrow traces the meaning of each concept, how it changed, and what it could mean now for Pagans. For example, they explore the meanings of “holy” and “sacred” comparing and contrasting the two. (Pagans tend to use “sacred” more than “holy.”) They explain that “holy” now means “sanctified by the Christian God,” while Pagans see “sacred” as “everything is sacred without a divinity to sanctify it.” Aburrow suggests that “holy” can be reclaimed for “hallowed and whole and healthy.”
 
In the conclusion, Aburrow stresses “I hope it [this book] will encourage you to explore the true meanings, or find alternative meanings or words that have been used to hurt you. The best way to heal psychological wounds inflicted by others is to reclaim the words they used and give them your own meanings.” Beyond having people understanding the Pagan worldview, Yvonne Aburrow seeks for people to become whole again.
 
“Pagan Roots” does make inroads in reclaiming Pagan thought from Christianity. It also explains why modern Pagans believe what they do and how to change anything as needed. I would recommend the book for anyone who wants to understand modern Progressive Paganism.
 
Notes:
Note 1. Yvonne Aburrow refers to themselves as a non-binary devotional Polytheist.
Note 2. Aburrow refers to contemporary Neo-Pagans as “Pagans,” since Pagans identify themselves as such. They reserve the lower case for ancient pagans, who did not identify themselves in those terms.
Note 3. Aburrow does not capitalize “Gods” or “Polytheism.”

Unused video for Randy Rainbow post

Aug. 26th, 2025 08:23 am
neonvincent: For general posts about politics not covered by other icons (Uncle V wants you)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I decided I didn't want to do the work to make this the third video in Randy Rainbow sings 'He Just Can't Wait to Be King!'

Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 210

Aug. 26th, 2025 08:19 am
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
masqueradeWe are now into the fifth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary all these years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health remain anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; public health authorities government shills for the pharmaceutical industry are still trying to push through laws that will allow them to force vaccinations on anyone they want; public trust in science is collapsing; new revelations are leaking out about just how bad the Covid vaccines are for human health; and the story continues to unfold.

So it's time for another open post. The rules have been slightly expanded due to a recent discussion here:

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here. 
 
3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue. 

4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.


5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules. 

6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.

7. Please don't post LLM ("AI") generated text. This is a place for human beings to talk to other human beings, not for the regurgitation of machine-generated text. Also, please don't discuss large language models (the technology popularly and inaccurately called "artificial intelligence" these days) except as they bear directly on the Covid phenomenon. Here again, my finger is hovering over the delete button. 

Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.


With that said, the floor is open for discussion.  
neonvincent: For posts about geekery and general fandom (Shadow Play Girl)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I found another preview image for 'Arcane,' 'Love, Death + Robots,' and 'Octopus!' already Emmy Award winners that included Octopus!

Magic Monday

Aug. 24th, 2025 09:58 pm
ecosophia: (Default)
[personal profile] ecosophia
weekend plansIt's just past midnight, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after that point will not get an answer, and in fact will not be put through.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 341,928th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.3 of The Magic Monday FAQ here

Also:
 I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

(The image? I've finished the sequence of my published books; while I decide what I want to do next, I have some memes to share.)

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here
 
Bookshop logoI've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed, and new comments will not be put through. See you next week!***

good news

Aug. 25th, 2025 12:26 pm
kallianeira: (fiery sky)
[personal profile] kallianeira
 
Last week my mother bought me a lottery ticket.
It didn't win a prize. To make sure I had read the results on the website properly, I also took the ticket into the newsagency to have it checked.

"I am sorry, I don't have any good news for you," the lady said.

Not many people do these days.

No, I am not a stoic. 

Today's good news is having got home in time to listen to the Brahms piano trio which is playing on the radio.


Putting Things in Order

Aug. 24th, 2025 11:23 pm
[personal profile] milkyway1
Essay 16 in my series about Inner Work with the Planets went up today, and is now available over on The Hidden Things. This time, we're diving headfirst into the practical aspects of inner work based on the Hermetic concept of the planets:

Click here to get straight to the essay.

Unused image for live specials post

Aug. 24th, 2025 04:52 pm
neonvincent: Lust for  for posts about sex and women behaving badly. (Bad Girl Lust)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I made my own version for 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' leads nominees for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys. I didn't like the aspect ratio or the background color of this one.

Diary: Older Habits

Aug. 24th, 2025 03:32 pm
degringolade: (Default)
[personal profile] degringolade

When I first came over to Dreamwidth, I cast my I Ching every day for a couple of years. It was part of my morning wakeup along with coffee. I would put the Hexagram Down in the "Tags" to keep track of this kind of thing.

I never figured that it was some kind of canned prophecy like some folks did, I always just looked at it as something to think about for that day. Never did a lick of harm and I think that it sorta served as my meditation for the day. But all the time before, when I was shaking the three coins (no way I was going to deal with the yarrow stock nonsense, I am not a fucking priest!!) I always chanted inside of my brain "heads two tails three". About a year after I retired I was reading a book that told me it was actually "heads three tails two".

Well, that for some reason set me off and I quit doing it. Now, upon mature reflection, I think that I was being a big baby. I now doubt if it mattered anyway. I began the process of restarting the habit (granted, I do use the "heads three" now) and I am finding the habit to be soothing in my old age.

During the years when I was doing this, I actually created a spreadsheet where I connected the hexagram with chapters in the Tao Te Ching. I am thinking that the two of them provide a great set of "lenses" to look at the day.

Against Hyperborea

Aug. 23rd, 2025 05:08 pm
sdi: Oil painting of the Heliconian Muse whispering inspiration to Hesiod. (Default)
[personal profile] sdi

So, Tacitus says something odd about the Suebi, a Germanic tribe living in what is now Eastern Germany:

Some of the Suebi sacrifice also to Isis. I cannot determine the reason and origin of the foreign cult, but her emblem, fashioned in the form of a Liburnian ship, proves that her worship comes from abroad.

(Tacitus, Germania IX, as translated by J. B. Rives.)

Possibly this is simply interpretatio romana, and this is what most scholars seem to assume as a matter of course. But let's suppose it isn't? Diodoros claims, after all, that Leto (= Isis) and her children came to Greece from Hyperborea, so perhaps Isis really is from the north and it shouldn't be surprising to see her in Germany?

But I realized something just now. I have said that the Isis myth is astrological, and is written in the constellations; we even see the various parts of the myth in the rising and setting of these constellations. But the ship of Isis, which we call Argo Navis, is too far south to be seen even from Greece. (I've lived on the same latitude as Cythera, and only the very, very tip of the nose of the ship is visible from there!) I suppose that this is why the Greeks, when they imported the Isis-Horos myth as Danae-Perseus, found new constellations for it in the northern sky.

But Germany is much further north even than that, and Hyperborea further still. So if the myth originated in the north, why are the constellations for it found in the south?

So while none of this is conclusive, it's another datapoint in favor of, no, Leto being Egyptian after all.

Rejected video for cane toad post

Aug. 23rd, 2025 12:59 pm
neonvincent: For posts about food and cooking (All your bouillabaisse are belong to us)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I used a TierZoo video instead in PBS Terra examines 'Invasion of the Toxic Toads: Nature's Most Successful Failure'.

Diary: Didn't hit 40 after all

Aug. 23rd, 2025 03:09 pm
degringolade: (Default)
[personal profile] degringolade

It only made it to 39.8.

I do appreciate my little cave. It is a lower floor apartment, built kinda like a daylight basement. The rear of the apartment is well below the street level on that side and the front of the apartment is shaded until after two in the afternoon. So on hot days like yesterday, I monitor my spiffy little indoor/outdoor thermometer (barometer and humidity included) and when the outdoor temp equals the inside temp, I close all the windows and close the curtains. The indoor temp stays, at worst, in the low 80's and is at least twenty degrees below the temperature high for the day.

Yesterday, when the temp hit 104 F outside, my place was at 80 inside. I can assure you that when I got back inside, that differential was quite noticeable.

I think that you can live with this level of heat and even higher. You just have to change your lifestyle to deal with it. I remember hauling hay in August. I remember two a day football practices in August in Utah. I suppose that I act like an old geezer when I say "suck it up" but really, that is it.

Ogham Readings on Saturdays

Aug. 22nd, 2025 09:19 pm
kimberlysteele: (Default)
[personal profile] kimberlysteele



I am happy to read your Ogham free of charge -- that's how I hone my divination skills.  Please limit your reading request to four or fewer Ogham cards: though this can take many forms, here are some common ones (all of them are basically combos of 4 cards):
 
-a single three card reading for the week or month and a one-off, one card reading
-four questions about four separate items that require one answer (card) per item
-a one card reading to answer a specific question and a three card for a more nuanced question
-Two separate readings, two cards a piece exploring the positives and negatives of two different choices
 
I am happy to do Ogham readings confidentially via email -- just email me at k steele studio at gmail during the allotted time/before deadline.  I cannot answer health questions.  If you have a question about health or another sensitive, private matter, provide a bunch of non-identifying information and the Ogham will be able to figure it out even if I don't. I'm serious... the Ogham actually tend to "know" things without me being privy to what is going on.

Please note I take time off during Solstices and Equinoxes for Druid stuff and because sometimes I simply need a break

My next planned break is from October 23 - November 6.

I take reading requests from whenever this post goes up on Friday night until 8pm US Central Time Saturday.  

For a more in depth look into how I read and interpret the Ogham's symbols, please visit my website druidogham.wordpress.com.

I am currently trying to minimize my use of PayPal.  If you'd like to make a donation, I would be grateful if you did it here:

http://buymeacoffee.com/kimberlysteele

Your prayers of blessing to the deity/deities of your choice are welcome whether or not you can donate.

Diary: Measurements

Aug. 22nd, 2025 06:13 pm
degringolade: (Default)
[personal profile] degringolade

After a couple of weeks being a sluggard, I am back to moving this week but the pace of increase is slowing down noticably. The Chef commented yesterday that he shoots for 7,000 steps a day. Now, this is what I considered to be my basic when I was walking steadily, but truthfully, I am beginning to lean toward measuring in mileage (kilometers) as a measure rather than steps. Not that there is anything wrong with steps. It is all a matter of taste.

Steps makes it personal to you. An old geezer like me who has bum knees needs to take a shitload of steps to get a mile in. A younger me would have taken a lot fewer steps. But both the younger me and the older me would have covered the same distance.

So I thinking that I will need to turn in about 2.5 miles a day. That will give me the steps I need and will be a more concrete set of goals. I am actually considering making it four kilometers instead, just to be contrary. A unit of measure is a unit of measure, but metric does make more sense and it pisses people off when I talk in a foreign language.

Hell, maybe I'll switch to metric for tempeatures too!! That will really piss them off when I mention that today will maybe hit 40!

Otherwords on folk etymologies

Aug. 22nd, 2025 12:48 pm
neonvincent: For posts about Twilight and trolling (Twilight Fandom wank trolls you)
[personal profile] neonvincent

Feline Gods of the Egyptians

Aug. 22nd, 2025 09:44 am
neptunesdolphins: dolphins leaping (Default)
[personal profile] neptunesdolphins
 In Ancient Egypt, no Gods were more wildly feared and respected than the Cat Goddesses. Since many of Them were associated with the Sun, They were an aspect of the Eye of Ra. (Note 1) The Feline Goddesses of the Eye of Ra represented the Pharaoh’s power in its most destructive sense. These Goddesses struck down all the enemies of the Pharaoh.
 
The Cat Gods (Note 2) guard the Pharaoh, the people, their homes, and important places like oases. For example, Aker is the Double Lion of Protection. Meanwhile, Mahes, another Lion God, is shown with a knife in his hand. He helps Ra in his fight against Apophis, the Snake Dragon. The Lion Huntress, Pakhet is the Goddess at the Entrance of the Wadi.
 
Defender of the Pharaoh’s Chambers, Mafdet was the first of the Cat Gods. This Goddess is either depicted as a cheetah or a mongoose. Besides defending the Pharaoh, Mafdet is the Goddess of Legal Justice. As the Avenger of the Pharaoh, She helps to preserve Ma’at by ripping out the hearts of wrong doers. Her name, “She who runs Swiftly,” indicates Mafdet’s pursuit of justice.
 
Originally a lioness, Bastet is now depicted as a cat. She protects people against the darker forces that could harm them. Known as the “Cat of Ra,” She fights Apophis each evening. Besides being the Goddess of Cats, and the Goddess of Vengeance, Bastet is also the Goddess of Perfume. (Her name means “She of the Ointment Jar.”) Through the years, Bastet became softened to be a daily companion and helper of ordinary people. Now, people regard Her as a nurturer and healer.
 
The most important of the Lion Goddesses is Sekhmet. This Goddess is both dangerous and destructive, and protective and healing. Her name, “Powerful One,” indicates that Sekhmet is the vengeful manifestation of Ra’s power. More bloodthirsty than the Others, She is known also as the “Lady of Pestilence” and “Goddess of Vengeance.” However, Sekhmet maintains the balance of the Cosmos as the Goddess Who both started and stopped epidemics. Besides being a warrior Goddess, Sekhmet is also a healer.
 
Bastet and Sekhmet are related in various ways. As the Eye of Ra, They are both Ra’s Daughters and Consorts. Both are protective and destructive. Bastet protects Lower Egypt while Sekhmet protects Upper Egypt. The two Goddesses are the Wife of Ptah and the Mother of Mahes. Most people say that the difference between Bastet and Sekhmet is that Sekhmet is harsher while Bastet is milder.
 
Ruty, the Lion Twins, rule the Horizons of the East and West. (Note 3) They sit with their backs to each other, representing Yesterday and Tomorrow. As the Twin Gods, Ruty maintains balance and order. Acting as Ra’s Protectors, They offer safety to people who ask since Ruty are guardians and guides for the Dead.
 
To the Egyptians, the Feline Gods kept the Cosmic Order. Ancient symbols of royal power, Lion Gods and Goddesses protected the Pharaoh and the Sun God Ra. Meanwhile, four Lion Goddesses guarded the body of Osiris. Other Feline Gods delivered swift justice to wrong doers.
 
Notes:
Note 1. The Eye of Atum is the creative aspect of the Wedjat Eye, while the Eye of Ra is the destructive aspect. The Eye of Ra is Ra’s Daughter and Protector. (The Eye is a Goddess, in Her own right.)
 
Note 2. Most are lions. The Others are cats, cheetahs, leopards, and mongooses. (The Egyptians included the mongoose among felines.)
 
Note 3. By the time of the New Kingdom, Ruty were identified with the First Couple, Shu and Tefnut.
 
Suggested Reading:
Geraldine Pinch, “Egyptian Mythology.”
Richard Wilknson, “The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt.”
 

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