Me: Norse mythology has no real canon. It was shared verbally and so severely fucked with when it was finally written down. Really there is no right or wrong and all versions and interpretations are mostly valid. The myths we have now might be bs, we don't know, so fuck it!
Also me when there's a slight variation or something is off in an adaptation: no, that's not right. This feels like a crime to read, fix it now.
Now, unlike Michael Newton’s book of hope, I appreciate the clarity of this book’s title: Encyclopedia of Things that Never Where (1985). Stating that definitively really gets all that belief malarkey out of the way and lets us appreciate these things on their own imaginary terms (as Georgess McHargue encouraged us to do on Monday).
This book is more like a collection of several small topical encyclopedias, each discrete from the others and in their own alphabetical order. Nor do they necessarily make a perfect or intuitive sense all the way through. Things of the Cosmos is mostly gods of major mythologies, but also King Arthur and his knights. Things of the Ground and Underground collects faeries and tree spirits, but also the manticore, Minotaur and Sphinx. Things of Wonderland seems to imply things from literature, but really it collects all manner of fantastical places, from fiction, but also from legend. Things of Magic, Science and Invention could just as well have been called Things and left it at that; it collects notable items, from Thor’s hammer to Jekyll’s potion to the many unusual uses for nails. Things of Water, Sky and Air covers all the creatures not detailed in Earth chapter — Grendel is here, griffins, too, and all the sea serpents. Finally, Things of the Night details the undead and other creatures who hide from the sun, whether they go bump or not.
Robert Ingpen’s art throughout is a pure joy. There are so many illustrations, the book is awash in them, and they’re all amazing, often subverting expectation but also remaining recognizable. There’s a warmth to it, like sitting by a fire, and he has a real talent for collaging together different elements that feels less museum-like and more evokes the crowded study of an eccentric scholar. I can’t imagine the amount of time it took to put together this portfolio, but it was well worth it. It’s a treasure.
Robert Ingpen's illustration of that Aztec god felt very familar to me, so I looked it up - it seems likely he swiped the mask from this 1976 Dean Ellis cover for To Live Forever by Jack Vance. But perhaps they were both using the same reference material?
pick the pile you are most drawn to and scroll to see your reading.
if you felt seen by your pile, that is not a coincidence.
the cards already told you something. the question is whether you want to know the rest.
The Red Thread reads the full emotional and karmic bond between you and your person. The Mirror reflects back exactly what your situation needs you to know.
both are on my Ko-fi store
Picture 1
The message for this pile was too honest and clear. This is someone who desires connection deeply, but has learned to move carefully because of what love has cost them before. There is real emotional history here, the kind that doesn't disappear overnight, the kind that changes how you enter rooms and how much you reveal of yourself before you feel certain it's safe.
With you specifically, something feels different to them. You carry a quiet magnetism that draws them in without demanding anything from them, and that actually matters to someone who has felt pressured or let down before. They notice you. They think about the dynamic. They're asking themselves whether what they feel is worth the risk of being seen again.
What they want most is reciprocity, not grand gestures, but the simple and profound experience of choosing and being chosen back. They want to give without fear of that giving going unmet. They want to know that if they show up honestly, you won't disappear.
The energy underneath everything is patient and observant. They're not rushing, not pulling away permanently, they're watching to see whether this connection has the kind of foundation that holds. And quietly, beneath all that caution, there is something tender and hopeful growing. They are not closed off. They are just being careful with something they already sense could matter deeply.
If this resonates, the message for you is this: they are closer to you emotionally than they appear on the surface. The stillness is not absence. It's someone hoping you'll stay long enough for them to feel safe enough to let you in.
Picture 2
The energy in this pile is warm, genuinely warm, but it's also carrying more weight than it shows on the surface. This person has real feelings for you, the kind that make them imagine things quietly, picture shared moments, wonder what something more between you could actually feel like. There is joy in how they think about you. You represent something light in a season of their life that has felt heavy.
And that's the thing, they are carrying a lot right now. Responsibilities, internal pressures, the kind of stress that doesn't always have a face but sits on your shoulders anyway. You feel like relief to them. Not in a way that makes the connection shallow, but in the most sincere way possible: you are one of the places their mind goes when they need to remember that softness exists.
They feel genuine admiration for you. There is something about your presence, the way you carry yourself, the depth they sense in you, that makes them want to be around you. The attraction isn't just surface level. It goes somewhere quieter and more meaningful than that.
But they are restraining themselves, consciously. Not because the feelings aren't there, but because the feelings are strong enough that they don't want to mishandle them. They're moving slowly with intention, hoping that when they finally do let you see their softer side, it will be received rather than dismissed.
If this resonates, know that what this person feels for you is sincere and layered. They want something that feels like home. They want to laugh with you, be honest with you, build something with you that feels worth celebrating. They just need to feel that the door is open before they walk through it.
Picture 3
This pile carries the heaviest emotional weight of the three, and if you chose it, you likely already feel that there is something unresolved sitting between you and the person on your mind. This is not a casual connection for them. You live in their thoughts more than they have probably ever told you, late at night, in quiet moments, in the spaces where the mind goes when it stops performing and starts feeling.
There is nostalgia here. Something about you, or about what existed between you, takes them back to a time or a feeling that was simpler, warmer, more innocent. You represent emotional familiarity in a world that has felt sharp and complicated. That means something significant to a person who has been through real pain.
But alongside that warmth, there is anxiety. They overthink the dynamic. They replay things. They wonder whether they said or did the wrong thing, whether the distance between you now is their fault, whether there is still something there worth reaching toward. The uncertainty around where they stand with you weighs on them in ways they probably don't voice out loud.
Beneath all of that is hope, and it is genuine. They see something luminous in you, something rare. You feel like a source of light or healing to them, even if the connection has had its complications. Part of what they secretly want is to experience a version of closeness with you that doesn't end in hurt. They have known painful endings, and they don't want you to become another one.
More than anything, they want clarity and truth between you. They want the unspoken things to finally be spoken. They want to know what this is, what it could be, and whether there is still room for something real to grow.
If this is your resonates, the message is that this person holds you in a very particular place in their heart. You are not forgotten. You are, in many ways, still very much present in their inner world, and they are quietly hoping that you feel some version of that too.
scorpio venus or venus in the 8th house
you look like a total soul merger that comes with a very high price tag. you don't do the light version of love and your charm is dangerous because it requires a psychological autopsy of anyone who wants to stay near you. you walk into their basement and you find the jewels they were too afraid to look for. people are addicted to your intensity because they realize that being loved by you is a total transformation that will leave them unrecognizable. you ruin every shallow connection for them forever.
neptune sitting right on the ascendant or pisces rising
you move through reality like a dream that someone is finally having with their eyes wide open. your charm is dangerous because your edges are made of smoke and music making you a perfect mirror for everyone else’s highest longings and deepest fantasies. people don't see the actual person; they see the version of you they’ve been searching for their whole life. they stay fixated on you because they are trying to figure out if you are a sanctuary or just a very beautiful hallucination.
aries mars or mars in the 1st house
your charm is a literal jolt of adrenaline. you move with a raw hunger and a zero hesitation policy that makes everyone else look like they are moving in slow motion. it is dangerous because you don't ask for permission to take up space and your fire is catching. people find you addictive because you represent the nerve they’ve been hiding behind their social masks. you are the spark that reminds them that normal is just a lack of guts and they want to be the target of your heat even if it burns them.
pluto aspecting the sun or moon
intensity is your natural state and your presence feels like a permanent high stakes moment. whether it is a square or a conjunction you carry a level of power that acts like a high voltage current. your charm is dangerous because you have looked into the abyss and decided to stay there until you found the truth. people feel naked when you look at them and they assume you are reading the fine print of their soul. they stay obsessed because your honesty is the only real thing they’ve ever encountered.
aquarius moon or uranus in the 1st house
you look so happy on your own isolated island that people are terrified of being the noise that ruins your silence. your charm is dangerous because of your detached clarity and your total need for freedom. you don't follow the social rules and you have zero desire to fit into the standard box. others are addicted to your original logic and they stay quiet because they don't want to be the person who makes you bored enough to change the channel. you are the brilliant glitch they can't stop watching.
saturn sitting on the ascendant or capricorn sun
you carry the authority of a mountain peak and an internal judge that nobody wants to disappoint. your charm is dangerous because it looks earned and undeniably real. you don't trust quick wins and your weight makes everyone else feel a bit shallow and disorganized. they want your approval because it is the only one that actually has a backbone and they stay up at night wondering if they are real enough to ever truly be part of your legacy. you are the adult in the building and they realize that a lie would never survive your gaze.
taurus venus or a heavy earth presence in the 1st house
you provide a physical certainty that most people are starving for in this burnout culture. sitting near you makes the world stop spinning so fast because you carry the rhythm of the earth in your marrow. your charm is dangerous because it is possessive and immovable. you show them that the best things in life are the ones they can actually touch and hold and they feel safe in the high quality silence you create. they realize too late that they have become part of your sanctuary and they don't know how to walk away from your grounding energy.
mercury in scorpio or mercury aspecting pluto
your words sound like a late night confession even when you are just asking about the weather. you don't just share data and you perform a surgery on every conversation. your charm is dangerous because you hear the things people choose not to say and you notice the motives they are trying to hide from themselves. people are terrified and fascinated by your voice because they realize you have the keys to their basement. you are the detective they want to be caught by.
sun in the 12th house or moon in the 12th house
you are your own greatest secret and your presence is a bridge to a dimension that hasn't been named yet. you only feel like your real self when the door is locked and the world is quiet. your charm is dangerous because you look like a spirit that will vanish if things get too loud. people perceive you as unreachable and they stay obsessed because they want to be the one person you finally decide to trust with your truth. you are the treasure they are dying to find in the dark.
leo sun conjunct the midheaven
you carry the hearth of the world in your bones and your attention feels like a spotlight. when you notice someone they feel like they have finally been cast in the lead role. your charm is dangerous because your warmth is a powerful medicine and people become addicted to the way you make them feel seen. they don't reach out first because they are intimidated by your radiance and they think you probably have a thousand other people fighting for your gaze. they want to be the one you pick for no reason other than pure heart.
personal planets at the 29th degree
you carry the weary wisdom of a veteran who has already finished the game lifetimes ago. you have seen every lie and every mask and nothing about the social dance feels exciting to you anymore. your charm is dangerous because you don't feel the need to prove your worth or to match the crowd. your presence suggests a mastery of the heart that makes everyone else look like they are still learning the basics. you know the end of the story before the first chapter is even finished and people stay near you because they want to know the truth you found.
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