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Forest Fox | ♀| 21 | Studying Herpetology | intermediate witch

[the-witchyforest]

HOW TO WRITE SIGILS

WHAT IS A SIGIL?

A broad definition of a sigil is a two-dimensional design that has particular magical effects.

A sigil can be compared to an encrypted message.

The idea that a sigil is designed to represent is its magical purpose.

Every sigil is a visual manifestation of an intention that it works to fufill.

Sigils might also be referred to as seals.

HOW TO MAKE A SIGIL

To start the process of designing a sigil，think of a current dilemma or goal you are facing.

Imagine how the situation might be if everything were perfect.

Your sigil can not make that happen on its own. Instead of trying to make a sigil to tackle a giant concept, think about one obstacle that is keeping your current situation from being your ideal one.

By choosing a single element for your sigil to target，you have given it a better chance of actually doing something to help you.

TYPES OF SIGILS

Once you've finished your design，consider these ways you can use your sigil.

There are three forms that sigils can take:

Permanent Sigils are made to last for a long time, so that it is constantly working. Permanent sigils should to be recharged if need be. Best for spells that work on a subconscious level，like protection spells.

Destructible Sigils, this sigil is destroyed in some way in order to activate it. The destruction is the burst of energy the spell needs to work. Best for spells that call for a certain event to take place，with energy and action.

Temporary Sigils are created in a form that will naturally wear away over time or a form that is removable. Best for spells that are time based，like a temporary increase of luck or a surge of creativity.

[catchymemes]

[amorphousturtle]

*ACDC’s Back In Black starts playing*

[eregyrn-falls]

Aargh. This kind of thing drives me nuts, because it gets posted, it gets made into a simple image with text, it gets spread all over the fucking internet (twitter, facebook, you name it), and it’s just one more piece of misinformation out there.

Coyotes are not “invasive” to the Yellowstone National Park region. They are native.

The issue is that wolves were exterminated from the region, until they were reintroduced in 1995. With the wolves gone from the ecosystem, the coyotes there over-populated. (But did not completely fill the wolf niche; coyotes were not a major predator of elk/wapiti, or any kind of predator of bison.) Wolves being reintroduced caused a steep drop in coyote population immediately after the reintroduction (wolves will often regard coyotes as competition, and go after them). But in the end, they really just brought the coyote population down to what it should have been.

How does misinformation spread? By people being too clever.

The title here comes from a reddit thread 2 years ago. Some person found the image and slapped a “clever” title on it.

Within the thread (but not by the OP), the source of the photo was posted as AmWestPhoto.wordpress.com – a Wordpress page unfortunately now deleted. But from the Wayback Machine, you can still see the article (from 2018):

“A Thousand Words: The Wolves of Yellowstone”

Guess what? The original article, by the photographer (whose credit the poster cropped out of the image), never calls the coyotes invasive. (Because they aren’t.) The photo is from 2005 – not “coyotes first encountering reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone”, because they were reintroduced 10 years before that.

And, despite what the photo may imply story-wise, in fact these two coyotes (and 4 more of their friends) drove this black wolf and a pregnant female off of an elk kill the wolves had made. (Even for the biggest, baddest predator, things don’t always go their way.)

(Actually, to do the reddit poster some credit – they might not have been the person to crop out the photographer credit. They might have happened across the image already cropped. They ARE the person who put the misleading title on the photo, though, which has followed it ever since, mis-educating more and more people.)

The real story is dramatic enough, and interesting enough, without embellishing it, let alone just making up something completely new and inaccurate. But even though I’ve written up a correction post here, and maybe others have back through the reblogs of this, that won’t really help correct the thousands of shared and reblogged instances of the wrong info that are floating around out there. My corrections are unlikely to make it as far as the original. Most people will just see it and share it; if you aren’t especially interested in wolves and coyotes, and in the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction, then you won’t know off the bat that this title is wrong.

Anyway, the photographer is Brent Paull, and his website is now here. He has tons of beautiful photos of wolves and other wildlife. I can’t tell whether the write-ups he did on that old Wordpress were ever archived elsewhere. His site has a section for archived newsletters, but that begins in 2019, and the article linked above is from 2018. A pity to lose all those good write-ups he undoubtedly had on the Wordpress page.

[is-the-fox-video-cute]

Where did it come from that Fake Fur is bad for the environment? Everything I am finding says that it is better in almost every way than real fur. This is a genuine question.

Faux fur is made of plastic. There is nothing environmentally friendly about plastic. As I motioned before, it also constantly sheds microplastics into the environment. Microplastics not only harm wildlife but also us. They’ve been found in human blood and foetuses. Faux fur also takes thousands of years to break down. Since it’s often used in cheap fast fashion it tends not to last very long and ends up sitting in landfill.

Real fur is a natural material that can biodegrade and doesn’t cause any of the problems that plastic does. Some processes for preserving fur aren’t always the best with the use of certain chemicals, but even then it’s really a very minor issue and still a far better option than plastic. The production of faux fur also uses some pretty nasty chemicals in it’s production which are carcinogenic to humans. People also tend to take better care of real fur garments and keep them for a long time as they’re very durable and long-lasting.

Anything saying faux fur is good for the environment is likely from animal rights groups who have an agenda against fur and will twist facts (or just make stuff up) to push their narrative that real fur is bad.

[blackbackedjackal]

So as someone who actually tans leather I can tell you all the chemicals required for tanning (depending on the technique you use). My method includes citric acid, salt, tanning powders (mostly potassium alum), degreasers, and oils are all biodegradable. I can tan a hide and leave it outside and eventually it would decay with no harm done to the environment. They used to use formaldehyde and other more caustic chemicals for tanning, but that is no longer standard practice even among most commercial tanneries. So no, it’s not worse than anything you can do to the environment and definitely not worse than the process of creating faux fur. Faux fur is plastic, made from refined petroleum products. It has xylene in it which is caustic and can shed off the faux fur and get into your respiratory system or irritate your skin. A real fur coat isn’t going to slowly poison you or the environment, but faux fur absolutely will 🤷‍♀️

[earthly--truth]

@blackbackedjackal

@is-the-fox-video-cute

Why do y’all do this? Why do you pick and choose when the environment is relevant to a conversation? People could point to countless different studies showing how destructive for the environment raising billions upon billions of animals to be killed and used as products is, but you’ll find one aspect that may or may not be more environmentally friendly (we could talk about people creating mango skin leather if we’re just ignoring common big industry practice, which is obviously going to be environmentally destructive weather we’re talking faux or real leather).

Common faux leather and faux fur is plastic. Glad you nailed that down. So is everything. It’s the cheapest thing to produce, that’s why industries are using it. It’s not because of animal rights activists.

It’s just very convenient that the one industry you’ll focus on to say we must stop plastic at all costs, is the one that requires sacrificing billions of animals and the environmental destruction that brings. You can change the faux leather/faux fur industry to be more environmentally sustainable because it’s just a matter of the products you’re using to make it, you cannot change the animal agriculture industry to not require the deaths billions of animals, and you can not change the industry substantially enough (given our demand for these “products”) to mitigate it’s environmental devastation.

[is-the-fox-video-cute]

Literally no one is advocating for that. Way to completely miss the point. 

We should be reducing out consumption and buying less clothes. If you can, invest in good quality winter coat or leather jacket that should last for decades. Better yet, buy one second hand (it’s usually cheaper that way, too). Everything is made so poorly and cheaply these days you’re lucky to get a few years out of it. And that’s the idea! Force consumers to keep buying more and more. It might be cheaper in the short term but not the long term. Capitalism at it’s finest. 

Less consumption means less animals needing to be killed, and those that are being raised for fur can be done so on a smaller scale where welfare can be better regulated. I’m against large scale industrial farming as much as anyone, but not all farming is bad. It can be done in ways that doesn’t harm the environment or compromise animal welfare. That’s if we get rid of the current capitalist system that pushes profit and consumption over everything. There are also other option for fur. Regulated and sustainable hunting and trapping, culling of invasive species and using their fur, more use of dual-purpose animals (like rabbits) that can be raised for both meat and fur, or just buying existing vintage furs. There’s tons of cheap vintage fur out there! 

Even if faux fur isn’t the worst plastic offender, the point is that it constantly sheds microplastics into the environment and that IS a huge issue. Disposable plastics (such as food packaging) is just one issue. Often there’s no other choice but to buy food wrapped in plastic. Microplastics are a ticking time bomb we can’t ignore when there are already good alternatives available. 

[blackbackedjackal]

120% in agreement with Onyx. We’re not arguing that the commercial fur industry is automatically better because the creation of plastics used to make faux fur is marginally worse. It’s about finding alternative ways to create, recycle, and utilize fur products in sustainable ways. It’s about promoting better animal welfare practices for the animals that are used for fur. It’s about opening up the conversation and not making it such a black & white issue. 

I will also take this opportunity to correct myself and clarify when I mentioned the use of formaldehyde and the commercial industry. I don’t personally know of any modern commercial tanneries geared towards the taxidermy industry that use it, which was what I meant when I said “that is no longer standard practice even among most commercial tanneries.” However it IS used in other parts of animal agriculture, though I’m not sure to what extent. I try to avoid using commercially produced fur and leather due to my disagreements with that industry.

Still, faux fur (and the plastics used to create it) is worse for the environment than using responsibly sourced fur and leather no matter how you go about it. Fur and leather is a natural product that can be harvested, refined, and used sustainably. It was done that way for thousands of years using natural methods before modern the industry took over and started implementing bad practices. As Onyx said, it can be done in ways that doesn’t harm the environment or compromise animal welfare.

[smarmykemetic]

the occult implications of large parts of modern society being okay with "pleather" and "vegan leather" (plastics and micro plastics existing everywhere from placentas to the bottom of the ocean), rather than using the skins of animals who will ultimately die no matter what we do

[smarmykemetic]

a sizable amount of people are so unable to cope with the process of life and death, even that of a cow, that they'd knowingly poison their bodies and help poison the earth with fuckin' Forever Trash so they can feel like their hands are clean. wack

[wisconsinnaturals]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to talk a bit about Chronic Wasting Disease, AKA “zombie deer disease”

Some people have expressed concern and I want to assure everyone that I am extremely aware of how detrimental this disease is.

-For those of you who don’t know, CWD is a prion that infects the nervous system of whitetail deer. It is very contagious and very fatal. It has been becoming more of an issue in many states as the deer populations are increasing. Also, it doesn’t make it better when people bait deer, as it normally spreads through the saliva and when there’s lots of food in one area the chance of infection increases.

-As many of my followers know, I post a lot of content about whitetail deer and cleaning deer skulls. I want to clarify that all carcasses are disposed of properly at dump stations provided by the dnr and I always make sure to clean my tools after each head.

-Something else I do to help the dnr is remove the lymph nodes of each deer and bring them to a CWD kiosk to be collected and tested for the prion. I strongly recommend anyone who cleans deer skulls to do this as it helps counties get a more accurate estimation of deer infected with CWD, while also helping the dnr implement techniques to slow the spread.

-More information should be available on your local dnr’s website and again, I strongly encourage anyone to check this out and get involved!

-Please keep in mind that to bring in your deer’s lymph nodes you’ll need to have an authorization number for the animal!

[fangnominous-deactivated2025101]

That cryptid post is still bothering me, so I just want to make a quick PSA for all of my followers: If you live in North America or parts of Northern Europe, and you see a "weird" deer (or elk, or moose, or reindeer), it is extremely likely that particular animal has Chronic Wasting Disease.

I see panic posts all the time on this website about how creepy CWD is (and it is creepy), but what I never see included in those posts are accurate prevalence estimates. We think that somewhere around 40-50% of all cervids are affected in highly endemic regions, and even outside of endemic regions, prevalence estimates still hover around 10%. That's 1 to 5 out of every 10 deer in North America!

If you see a "weird deer", or a solitary deer that's just acting oddly (lowered head, poor coordination, seems confused), do not approach it, even just to get a better picture! Stay away! Document where you last saw the deer, and contact your fisheries and wildlife department.

Also, don't mess with vehicle-killed cervids! I know vulture culture is a whole thing, but seriously, if you do not have proper equipment to be handling biohazardous materials, and you don't know which animal part you would immediately need to excise for testing (this is a pop quiz--and if you didn't immediately know the answer then you have no business harvesting roadkill), and you don't know where to take the tissues to be tested, don't fucking touch it! CWD-afflicted animals often lose their sensitivity to normal stimuli (like the lights and noises from a busy highway), and the chances that an deer that wandered into traffic and died might have latent CWD infection is....very high.

Also: CWD can persist in the environment for years, as it is very resistant to heat, radiation, and chemical disinfectants. In fact, even if the animal you want to harvest looks "totally fine", it might not be. CWD has an incubation period of about 3-5 years in most cervidae, and guess what? It's still infectious during this time period (especially if you want to, say, harvest the bones, antlers, or other specific parts or the carcass).

If you see a "weird deer", please leave it the fuck alone and contact your fisheries and wildlife department or your local public health authority. If you see a dead deer on the side of the road, call the animal control department and for the love of all that is holy, do not touch it.

Love from,

Your friendly neighborhood infectious disease epidemiologist and cryptid lover who just wants all of their followers to be safe

[thegreenwolf]

Really important for my vulture culture folks.

[deerypoof]

The most beautiful moose in all the land! This rare piebald was spotted near Falher, Alberta in Canada. Check out those eyes!

[nabsthevulture]

"Sir please control your stinky, I'm going to run out of citrus spray :("

Coyote head:......

Also coyote head: i will emit the worst smell your fragile mortal sensory system can handle. I will use my brain as a double hit, both in my superior intellect and through a pure ammonia, burnt cheese, sour milk, and rot. You will suffer. Your soul will suffer. If your sanity has not broken, it will now. Die.

[western-witch]

My stinky boy coyote stayed outside and attracted my Husky to eat him. 😭 I dug him a grave so I could excavate later and the Husker-Pup said “that’s a challenge I accept mom” then tore apart the fence and dug him up over night.

[bigcatawareness]

i don't really understand why you would be pro-zoo. like i understand nature reserves and sanctuaries where people can observe from afar, but it doesn't seem right to me when they're locked up in generally small confined areas for people to watch them do nothing all day. idk maybe i'm getting this wrong, and i still really respect you, i just don't understand this. like i interned at a zoo and felt uncomfortable with how small their living areas were and how they had no stimulation

Zoos don’t look like this anymore.

They look like this:

Good zoos do not keep their animals in “tiny spaces” with no enrichment.  I’m not pro-roadside zoo.  I’m pro-accredited zoo.  Zoos are incredibly important for conservation and education.

Are Zoos Necessary?

The Importance of Zoos: Resource Post

Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter: Assessing the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium

Why I Want to be a Keeper

Why I Believe in Zoos

[useless-zoofacts]

There should be way more pictures of modern zoos so i just add some more

[merp-a-derp69-deactivated201808]

Seriously zoos do so much important conservation work as well I hate when people shit all over zoos as if the animals are locked up and not looked after

[nyxetoile]

The SF Zoo has two sea lions. Now, if you know SF, you know that sea lions are a Thing. They’re all over Pier 39 and various other beaches in N California. In fact, the zoo is near the ocean, so there are sea lions not 200 yards from the zoo entrance. So having sea lions in the zoo seems sort of superfluous.

Except the sea lions are blind. One was found as an adult after suffering a gun shot wound to the face that destroyed his eyes. The other was found as an adolescent, weak and starving because it had been blinded and unable to hunt. So they were rescued and introduced and the zoo built them a nice pool where they can swim and sunbathe and people toss them fish. It’s not the biggest exhibit, or the fanciest. But it’s a home for them, where they’re safe and well fed. Sea lions aren’t the most romantic of animals, but they’re a part of SF culture and a lot of us have a soft spot for the loud, bulbous things. And because of zoos, these two get to live long, happy lives.

Whenever anyone complains about zoos, I think about Silent Knight and Henry. 

[zoogeek327]

I think it’s St. Louis zoo that is saving big cats in Africa. Scientists couldn’t figure out what was killing off the local lion population. They were dying off from Canine Distemper. The local unvaccinated dogs of the towns would spread the disease to other animals or have it themselves. When the lions ate the infected animals they would catch it as well. You know what that Zoo is doing to stop this disease? They are going over to those towns and vaccinating the dogs for free. The community loves it and people from other villages comes for miles to get their dogs vaccinated as well.

They also do work with camel populations because the local human population use the camels for food sources the zoos help monitor the camels health.

Another zoo, I want to say it’s the Oregon zoo but don’t quote me on that, is helping female inmates. The zoo works with the female prisons by encouraging the inmates to assist in the breeding and raising of endangered species of butterflies. They plant the specific plants that the butterflies and catapillars need, raise them, and release them. These inmates get noted in any scientific journals that get published. They are giving these inmates a sense of accomplishment and validation.

Zoos not only save species but bring together and assist communities in an effort to save the environment. Zoos, good zoos, are essential to the future and I will fight anyone who tries to say otherwise.

PS you don’t see PETA doing any of this.

[oscarwetnwilde]

One of the local zoos in my area at one point rescued a bald eagle that had been shot and kept it in the zoo to let it recuperate until they freed it again. Some of the zoos in my state will keep injured animals there until they heal again.

[elenilote]

Helsinki Zoo is the world leader in snow leopard and Amur leopard conservation, in their care these endangered species have managed to breed more than anywhere else in captivity and this in turn has enabled the re-introduction of these animals back to their native habitats. https://www.korkeasaari.fi/helsinki-zoo/

[thekgalaxy]

I work at a zoo that is instrumental in the California Condor recovery program (among dozens of other conservation projects). We went from 42 surviving individuals left to over 400, over 200 of whom are in the wild. We’re part of the amur leopard species survival plan with two young animals who are eagerly attempting to make babies. We host one of North America’s only bachelor troops of western lowland gorillas, preserving the social structure of wild gorillas. All of our bald eagles are rescues who would not survive in the wild. All our keepers participate in field research and conservation work in addition to a full time team of conservationists. We host the most genetically valuable male Masai giraffe in North America, who has sired 5 offspring with 1 on the way, increasing the genetic diversity of his entire species. If you’re against zoos, you don’t know what zoos do.

[nazrigar]

Super, SUPER important thread.

[vet-and-wild]

Also zoos tend to do a lot of breeding and conservation work with smaller, less charismatic species like invertebrates and amphibians. Those species are extremely important in the ecosystem but don’t get the same notoriety as the charismatic megafauna.

[strangebiology]

Every Skull Tells a Story

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

BTW, the “X” is actually the Greek letter “chi” (like the first half of the word “kite”), which refers to “Christ.” Stop manufacturing offence out of your ignorance.

[thecorefather]

i have a tooth kingdom to build

[graveyardharmony]

i crave the mouth bones ~ they go jingle jingle in my hands ~

[western-witch]

My kitten recently lost a tooth while I was playing with him. It’s in a Christmas ornament I made for him now. I feel so blessed to have been given a tooth.

[dysfunctionaltomfoolery]

Reminder:

Witchcraft is beautiful but please be aware of the origin of your practices and respect the culture, history, and people behind it. 

[diaryofabadwitch]

whew. it isn’t even 8am here, and I have already told people to go fuck straight off with their close minded bull shit. this was posted in a horror group and the comments were W I L D and all, you guessed it, Christian denominations downing any other religion but theirs. Everyone is all for history until it’s learning the real history 😂 so today, I’m linking a “what is a pentacle / pentagram “ down below just in case anyone’s wondering what they’re actually for or represent.

“So...the pentagram was a symbol carried by the Legio V Macedonica, a Roman Legion that fought in the Holy Lands.”

what does a pentacle represent

[oliviarampaige]

“Her cries echoed an eternity.” ❦

Inktober Day 24 - Dig

[western-witch]

Míga did end up getting a girlfriend. Her name is Masa.

[western-witch]

I recently Rescued a “Swainson Thrush” her Wing was broken and I drove 3 hours to get her the help she needed. She is now on antibiotics and has a fractured wrist, a broken and swollen elbow, and small needle marks down her back. Most likely a cat got ahold of her. And I was thankfully able to catch her before I had to leave for work. She’s now being rehabilitated by professionals (since I know nothing about birds) but I did give her some water and mealworms which she seemed to enjoy.