Playground of the Gods

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[hermeticimp]

Hello everyone! I promise I will get back to posting on this blog. I've just been busy first with grad school and now with getting my Twitch set up. Come follow me at twitch.tv/ hermeticimp! I'll be streaming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at about 9 or 10 am EST with a mix of cozy games, tarot and astrology, pop culture, and discussing spiritual topics. Hope to see you there! 😊

[kyotoprotocols]

[plasticroachearrings]

hi i never thought id have to make a post like this before but i am facing a medical emergency and do not have sufficient funds to even feed myself majority of the time let alone go to the doctor. i have no health insurance, no consistent source of income, and no family i can rely on for support.

if you can't donate, please share. read more under the cut.

i have been applied and waiting to be accepted for ssi and medicaid for over 4 years and have gone through multiple lawyers dropping my case from one to another, i have been paying out of pocket for all my medical appointments since i turned 18, and have no health insurance. i work as a tattoo apprentice and that occasionally brings in money but im looking for a second job.

i am diagnosed with hypermobile ehlers-danlos syndrome, autism, gerd, unspecified seizures, chronic pain, migraines and fatigue, and am looking into POTS. in 2022, an xray revealed degenerating discs in my lower back, specially L4 and L5. this causes sharp pain and limits my range of motion in general.

in July of this year, I had a seizure and fell down an entire flight of stairs. my roommates found me twitching and unconscious, but this was one of the multiple times ive had a seizure this year and i have already been to the er this year 4 times for seizures at work, anaphylaxis from an allergic reaction, uterine cysts rupturing, fainting multiple times and having a bpm of 180, and then some. needless to say i am tired of going to the er, so i didn't go after my fall.

unfortunately, this time something went really wrong and i hurt my back. i don't know what i did, but a month later, i can no longer turn to the right, lean forward, crouch, squat, or even SIT on a chair without excruciating pain in the lower right side of my back that radiates up and down my spine and right leg + buttocks, and it is getting worse every day.

i do not like asking for help but my friends have encouraged me to make this post while I figure something out. I am going to try and go to the charity clinic near me soon or I'm going to the ER again, and hopefully from there, get a referall to a doctor who can run some tests to figure out whats wrong and figure out a treatment plan.

I am requesting donations to help me pay for some medical visits out of pocket to help me fix my back. I genuinely have no idea what to expect and I don't know how these posts work usually, but even 1 dollar helps. If you can't donate, please share.

Additionally I can do services in exchange for money, like so:

I offer discount tarot readings for $20 for up to 8 card spreads. I also do specialized art commissions called spirit portraits, where as I medium, I draw the spirits I sense around people. This is for a flat price of $44 for lineart and shading (examples of my art below)

I am open to other types of commissions and inqueries regarding art and tarot, please message me here if interested or on my discord @ tousatruce . cashapp and venmo are also both under @ tousatruce but links are below .

cashapp: https://cash.app/$tousatruce

venmo: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3270952938897408517&created=1755925934

Venmo is a digital wallet that lets you make and share payments with friends. You can easily split the bill, cab fare, or much more. Downloa

[behaviornerdwithahat]

In case anyone finds it helpful because mobility aids are horrifically expensive and inaccessible…

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

He also is working on cheap, open source, accessible designs for beach chairs, off road chairs, motorized attachments (think smart drive), and so on. Plus he skateboards in his wheelchair. Cool dude, helpful info, pass it on.

[sumi-sprite]

It's incredibly sad people have to resort to this, but it's a damn good resource. Use it. Spread awareness. Maybe one day people with physical disabilities won't need DIYs like this. But until then, reblog and share.

[slfcare]

I hope you find the type of love in life that makes you feel at ease. I hope birdsong will sound like music to you again. I hope your home is warm during the winter and cool in the summer. I hope people smile at you enough. I hope you wake up curious for what's to come. I hope you listen to your body's aches as signals instead of mere hindrances. I hope that when you reach out, there's a hand to grasp onto. I hope that when you laugh, bursts of happiness accompany the sound. I hope you live a life where today is just as exciting as tomorrow. I hope you don't feel guilt over moving on from the things that were your fault. I hope you rest well. I hope you eat enough. I hope you hold your hopes tightly. I hope you allow them to transform into dreams. I hope your dreams come true.

[bluebeardsfinalgirl]

when internet people are like “i love gothic literature but i hate anything that discusses incest, sexual violence, oppression, misogyny, abuse, torture, gore, murder, or death”

[bluebeardsfinalgirl]

no actually me and everyone else who’s ever watched crimson peak were brainwashed by guillermo del toro into believing that incest and violence are cool and awesome. sorry

[maidenvault]

Horrifying that this pearl-clutching over horror actually being dark is unironically becoming A Thing…

[the-lunar-warrior]

(tags via @waterandsilver, id in alt)

[violetmoondaughter]

Many are the faces of the Hellenic God Dionysus, but the duality of his nature is sometimes connected with two specific plants associated to the god. Dionysus relates to many plants such as Fig, Oak, Pine, Vine and Ivy, these two are specifically connected with two opposite faces of the god. 

Grapevine starts its annual growth cycle in spring with bud break. During spring and summer, the plant grows and after flowering the vine sets the fruits that are usually harvested in early autumn. Following the first frost the leaves begin to fall as the vine starts to enter its winter dormancy period. The following spring, the cycle begins again. Following the same annual cycle Dionysus is seen as a god that is reborn every spring, bringing during the hot season prosperity and abundance before disappearing in winter. Grapevine grows thanks to the hot weather and humidity and so it represents the warm fertilizing humidity power of the god. Grape is used to create wine which is the drink sacred to Dionysus because of its ability to release mental faculties.  

Ivy on the other hand, blossoms in the autumn when the vines are harvested and bears fruit in the spring. As an evergreen plant, ivy needs cold weather and humidity to grow and flower.  Ivy vines crawl as snakes and in the myth, ivy appeared soon after the birth of Dionysus to shelter the child from the flames that burned the mother's body. To its freshness was attributed the virtue of dispelling the ardor of wine, so Dionysus was believed to have commanded his worshippers to crown themselves with it. Ivy, in contrast to the vine that bore fruit bearing vitality and exaltation, produced a poison that sterilized and had medicinal virtues that were refreshingly depurative and narcotic. The plant is also connected with thunder and lightning and was believed to have the power to protect from lightning and cure sore throat and cough. 

Thus these two plants sacred to Dionysus are contrasted with each other in an eloquent contrast: the vine, drunk with light, is a child of heat and returns the rays of the sun by warming, with its libation, bodies and souls, while the ivy shows itself to be cold in nature; indeed the sterility and uselessness of its first sprouts recall night and death. 

Their affinity is rooted in the very essence of the dual-figured god, whose nature is expressed from the earth by means of them: light and darkness, warmth and coldness, intoxication of life and breath of death that withers everything; the multiplicity of the Dionysian aspects struggling with each other and yet conjoined with each other is manifested here in vegetal form, stands in struggle with itself and prodigiously transitions from one form into the other. 

Dionysus rules over all moist and hot creatures whose symbol would also be wine, as a hot and moist substance. In wine, heat is made ardor drink of fire that overwhelms everything, that ignites the soul and the body. But the moist heat is contrasted with the moist cold that as a Dionysian element, is manifested in ivy, a plant that greens even in winter when the Dionysian festivals take place.

[drchucktingle]

the string

something happens when you join any artform where you connect to the past in invisible string . there is a tradition behind you and the second you pick up that pen or paintbrush or guitar you are connected to the thread and THAT alone is enough. every other success is a bonus

sometimes that thread is late nights on a tour bus cross country. sometimes it is a sold old galley opening. sometimes it is a book deal. but they are just the ones that get the most attention they are far from the most important

that thread also connects to the first garage band practice, to buying a paint set on a whim, to the novel in your head that refuses to trot out. these moments connect you to your heroes and your villains. to the way of legends.

and these quiet moments are SO IMPORTANT. never believe the bumps in the road have severed your tether. buckaroo that IS THE TETHER. you are part of a beautiful tradition and that alone bends timelines. congrats bud. its great to be here with you along the string

[hiddenhearthwitch]

🌾 You are allowed to unlearn parts of you that do not align with who you are now 🌾

💌 You are allowed to re-evaluate your beliefs

🍃 You are allowed to change your mind

🦋 You are allowed to redefine your identity

☀️ You are allowed to let go of behaviors and habits that hinder your growth

[windvexer]

Not every post about witchcraft needs to be tailored to the comfort of beginners.

[stagkingswife]

Sometimes those of us who have been at this for a while what to talk about the weird stuff.

[breelandwalker]

And for the record, the correct response to seeing such things is not, "Hey, dumb this discussion down so EVERYONE gets it."

The correct response is, "I'm gonna go look this up myself like reasonable person." And maybe a separate message requesting a resource recommendation.

Or just sit back and observe. That's a learning experience too.

[orchidvioletindigo]

It should 100% be illegal for companies to make you give them your payment information when you sign up for a free trial version of their product. It is not necessary and there is no good fucking reason for them to do it. It’s blatantly just so they can steal forgetful customers’ money.

[saint-batrick]

oh hey, thanks for reminding me to cancel a free trial i had going on.

[tattooedzombigirl]

Reblog to save an unnecessary charge cause it also reminded me to cancel a trial lol

[stormwaterwitch]

Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

Reblog this on the first of the month for good luck all month long!

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]

[spooksier]

young artist posting your work online, heed my warning. im holding your face so gently in my hands, you have to stop caring about numbers right now and start caring about making the weirdest and most self-indulgent art you possibly can

[spooksier]

STOP listening to the demon of capitalism and START listening to the angel of hedonism, i love you i believe in you keep making what you love forever ok?

[thelatestkate]

[beardedmrbean]

[theman]

I GOT A FUCKING RAISE THE POTATO WORKED WTF

[tattooedzombigirl]

This potato works. Every. Fucking. Time.

[secondlina]

Reblogging because it’s a damn potato and I want to encourage people to assume potatoes are magical.

[fishparasite]

you will live and you will say the wrong things and make mistakes and people will love you anyways.

[fishparasite]

i made this post because i've got so many friends that think saying something wrong in a conversation is the end of the world. it isn't. you'll be okay. you don't have to be embarrassed about every little thing. you are alive and doing things and speaking to people. you will make mistakes and you will live.

[adapembroke]

Astrology as Brain Candy

One of the wonderful things about being a fiction writer is that you don’t have to worry about being right. Telling lies is the name of the game, so you have a license to follow interesting people down the most bizarre rabbit holes imaginable. All that matters is that their mistakes are interesting enough to weave a story around.

I came to astrology as an adult with little exposure to the discipline beyond newspaper horoscopes. There were whispers in my high school science classes about astrology. I knew that some famous astronomers in the past were also astrologers–Kepler, Regiomontanus, Tycho Brahe–but my teachers were baffled by their interest, and they taught me to raise an eyebrow, as well. At best, I was led to believe that their interest in astrology was an eccentric affectation. At worst, there were whispers about madness and genius, the inseparable twins. 

When I was in my late-20s, I became fascinated by astronomy’s embarrassing estranged twin. Clutching my license to follow absurd ideas to their illogical conclusions, I threw myself down the astrological rabbit hole in search of a story. 

I had always been told that astrology was fundamentally based on fantasy. Night sky as Rorschach test: Humanity looked at the stars and told stories about the shapes we found there. This story is true, but it isn’t the whole story. Encoded in the strange occult symbols are philosophical arguments dating back to the Presocratic Greeks. What is the fundamental nature of reality? How does existence come into being? What was the primordial substance air, fire, or water? In what positions were the planets at the first moment of creation? What is the nature of the lifecycle? Is it possible for matter to die? 

Astrology doesn’t provide answers to those questions. It inhabits the questions themselves. In astrology, the universe is a clock. Viewed outside of time, the hands point to every possible number. The only answer to, “What time is it?” is, “Yes. As the planets cycle through the zodiac, they adopt different sides of every argument. Observe through enough cycles, and you’ll see what reality is like when each of the possible answers to these questions is true. Meet enough people, and you will meet each of these answers embodied as a living soul.

A chart is not a single answer but many. Every chart is a map of the universe in dialogue with itself. Within the thought-experiment of the chart, the answers talk with each other, argue with each other. The sun thinks the fundamental nature of reality is fire. The moon thinks it’s water. Together, they make steam, and from the steam, Neptune is born.  

Taken all at once, the system of astrology is tremendously complicated, but it is the complexity of fractals, an endlessly complicated system built on simple rules. Just like complicated molecules can be broken down into simple elements, a chart can be broken down into planets, signs, houses, and the relationships between them. Signs can be broken down into elements, modes, polarities, and the relationships between them. Polarity is binary. Ones and zeroes.

There are people who could happily spend eternity contemplating elegant abstraction. You may be one of them. I’m not a mathematician, scientist, or technical person. I am a poet. When I explore the abstract complexity of astrology’s roots, I’m a diver, wearing specialized equipment, living on bottled air. I dive for the same reason pearl divers dive. I am looking for treasure in the depths. Imagery and metaphor. 

Astrology is the difference engine of poetry: Like an organ grinder monkey, you can make music by turning a crank.

An example: Astrology says that Scorpio is the sign of “fixed water.” What, exactly, does that mean? 

Fixity is one of the three modalities. Modalities map the lifecycle. Fixed signs are right in the middle between cardinal and mutable. They live like Vitruvian Man, arms stretched equally on both sides between infancy and old age. 

Water is an element we are intimately familiar with. We need water, or else we’re dead. It nourishes us and cleanses us. It is the source and substance of life. Your brain is 95% water.

What does it mean to bring these two simple ideas together? In nature, what does fixed water look like? 

When I was a young astrologer, I thought the answer to this answer was easy: ice. “Ice” came to me easily because it is unmoving and represents the stubborn unmovingness of middle age. (My sun sign Taurus embodies this quality most of all the fixed signs, so it’s not difficult to see why I chose this quality to emphasize.) Ice can be powerful. I was born on glacier-scoured land. The gently rolling hills are the bones of mountains that were once taller than the Himalayas. The ruins of a mountain range conquered by ice, the land of New England is a testament to just how powerful ice can be. Ice becomes powerful with time and movement, but these qualities are not essential (or even common) to its nature. With encouragement and pressure, ice can do extraordinary things. Without it, ice doesn’t do much at all.

The closer I’ve gotten to the midpoint of middle age myself, the more I’ve come to realize (or hope or wish) there is more to middle age than stubbornness. Middle age should be at the top of a big bell curve between beginning and ending. Under ideal circumstances, life at middle age reigns at the height of its power. It knows who it is, what it is capable of, what its domain is. It knows its limits, as well, and, within those limits, it doesn’t hesitate to act.

In nature, rivers embody fixed water most clearly. Rivers have the powerful earth-carving power of glaciers, but they are water at its most alive, most itself. Water that is unmoving–either because it is frozen or because it is stuck and has nowhere to go–is dead water. Middle age can be like a barren icefield or a swamp, but that is what happens when middle age has gone wrong. A living death at middle age isn’t the way things should be.

Springs, rivers, and oceans are living waters. This is the water of astrology, beginning, living, and returning to the source. 

I speak with the confidence of a middle aged astrologer, but the answer to the question, “What is fixed water?” is far from settled. Like rivers, symbols are living, moving things. Attempting to settle a final answer on them is as foolish as building a city on a flood plain. Even within a single person, the answers change. Ten years ago, I ran the question of Scorpio through my natal chart and churned out ice. Today, I returned to the same place and found a river. 

I would never claim to have a mind like Kepler’s, but it is no longer a mystery to me why geniuses of his calibur have been fascinated by astrology. It isn’t the answers that astrology can potentially give about the future that makes it so fascinating, it’s the questions it raises, the potential foci for rumination. 

Like a child peering into a kaleidoscope, the mind is transfixed, staring into the starry heavens, enchanted.