She Wolf Night

The Snow and Moon

2012-02-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

Both snow and the moon are blazing and cold white. There is a moon god named Mani in Germanic mythology but no actual knowned moon goddess. Or is there one and She's obscured by different stories and clashes of myth and time? I want to investigate this for one, and see if there is a hidden lunar goddess, or White Goddess, in Germanic myth.

In Germanic myths as told in the Eddas, there is a solar goddess, a powerful divinity queen named Sunna. She has a brother named Mani, a lesser known male god. I don't think enough has been written about sun goddesses and even moon gods, as this removes the solar and lunar from male and female by dividing this in tight catagories. For instance in Wicca, the great god and goddess are partitioned and the female goddess is moon/night/winter/water and the male god is considered sunlight/day/summer/fire. This view places too much value on male and female without looking into the deeper source. Fire and water is just fire and water. A male can be considered a story rough sea, while female water is calm. A male fire is angry and blazing, while the female fire is a hot dancing flame.

The lunar goddess is a major power. She features in other Indo-Aryan myths from the Greeks to the Celts and the Vedic Indians. She appears also in other cultural myths. Yet the male lunar god is vastly popular, sometimes unknown depending on whereabouts the myth comes from, and also just as significant as the sun gods and goddesses. For instance, besides Mani of Germanic myth, there are well known moon gods who are Manno (from the Finnish Sami), Jarilo (Slavic), Men (Phrygian Greek), Kaskuh (Hittite), and others.

Moon gods are also established fact, and these moon worshipping people focus primarily on one aspect of themselves. They avoid the solar and the lights. This is probably why the sun goddess is little known, or why the moon god isn't talked about because the sun goddess - gentle sun. The moon god - aggression and influence. Many people don't think of the three main world religions as lunar because of the hypnotic influence delving too much into the wrong side of the brain.

Now what of the Germanic moon goddess? There should be one, but there isn't a mention of one in the Eddas. However, I can locate different clues.

Most obvious is the Goddess of Night, named Natt. She rides two horses, and one is brilliant white as the moon. Yes she's a cosmic goddess of darkness.

As in many myths, there are different types of gods. Some of the earlier gods, the first ones were giants or titans. This includes the sun and the moon. Mani is a brother. To the solar male god Apollo of the Greeks, he has a lunar sister Artemis. The Germanic myths have the twins in reverse, the girl is the sun and boy is the moon. Yet there were many lunar dieties in Greek and Roman myths, Apollo and Artemis the humanlike gods and children of gods, but the Great Sun and Great Moon symbolised more powerful beings.

There is a female aspect of the moon. There is a widely accepted moon goddess and she has many names but not so in Germanic myth. For instance these myths were passed down orally. They were written down during the Middle Ages by Christians and monks. They would've had a say-so in what to extract and also whatever to write down, and I'm suggesting censorship took place when they wrote it down.

Among the gods and goddesses were giants. I can think of a goddess that is a White Goddess of winter, and winter is linked with snow and the moon. Could Skadi, the frost giantess be a moon goddess also? Skadi has been associated with hunting, sport and being a maiden. Although gods and goddesses have their special animals, many are with animals, Skadi has been artistically portrayed as a wolf goddess. The frost giantess of beauty might have been attributed to the full moon, or winter moon. Maidens and moonlight and snow are often interwined, as Nordic and Celtic brides wear white gowns on their wedding days. Snow White princess of the fairytale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" by Brothers Grimm, was a different aspect of Skadi and possibly so was "The Snow Queen." Skadi the Northern huntress goddess living in the palace mountains of Thrymheim or lunar lit landscape, night shaded place, cold and frigid. I know she's the northern White Goddess of Germanic myths. She has to be. I suspect she's a hidden moon goddess. She's a northern version of cold huntress goddess Artemis / Diana.

In the cold chill of northern Europe, the moon and winter was seen as masculine due to its severity. The sun was considered feminine and blissful. However in southern Europe where the temperature is less harsh and the days are more golden, the sun is considered male because of the burning raging light, when the moon was thought of as purely female and serene. It seems whereever people go and live, they associate anger and strength with men and quietness and gentleness with women. It isn't so much that there isn't a lunar goddess in Norse myth (perhaps Mani has a daughter) but the conditions influenced people's story telling.

(The image at the top of the page features the goddess Skadi. The artist is unknown.)

Time of the Water Dragon

2012-01-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

It is 2012 and the Year of the Dragon.

The year of the Water Dragon. This is a year cycle from now until 9th February 2013.

In Chinese tradition, the dragon symbolises positivity. However, in the West, the dragon is considered a force of badness and all that is destructive but many establishments use dragons as a powerful emblem.

Some believe that dragon myths are linked to ancient people discovering dinosaur bones. Some argue that dragons are invented and imagined beings. Others have reported "seeing" dragons during deep meditations, vision quests, drug-induced hallucinations, dreams and other mental trips. Many people do try to guess what the Dragon was, physically, and not what the dragon is.

There are dragon energies, knowned as ley lines, the electromagnetic grid of geometric patterns. Some use this form of physics as a type of holistic medicine.

The Enhanced Dragon Force

There are different elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. These are combinations of elements that produce life and being. This is the time of the Water Dragon. What does it mean?

Nouishment, movement, flowing, cleansing, holding, carrying, drifting, and in reflection of that, exploration. These are strong moving currents that carry ones wishes. These dragons work and operate spiritually, although there is far more to it than I can put here. This would make a vast post simply discussing the Chinese dragon of element Water.

Have dragons always been considered evil in the West?

Historically, dragons have a long tradition of being fearsome and dangerous. Stories of dragon slayers, heroes rescueing princesses from being sacrificed to dragons, dragons burning villages, fire breathing dragons, dragons guarding secret hoardes of treasure, only to be slain by warriors. Dragons related to sea serpents, horned beasts and monsters. Dragons resembling dinosaurs. Dinosaurs portrayed as vicious giant predators. All this psychologically plays on people's fear of dragons. Dragons are different in the East where they are considered a part of life, and fulfillers of dreams, carryers of health and wisdom, makers of magic, wonderful and respectful beings.

I view the dragon as this. A being that exists in a different level, but equally part of the Earth, and where it lives, the Laws of Physics influence where we are. Dragons hold treasure. Symbolically, the treasure is the vital essense of the planet, the soil, rocks, minerals and waters.

In Norse mythology, the world is embraced by a water dragon named Jormungandr. When the story of the god Thor (a powerful warrior god of thunder and lightening), fights with Jormungandr at the final battle "Ragnarok", the forces of nature are in collision. This is a message of chaos, a warning for the future generations. Thor, a symbol of the power of strong men, has come so far in might as to try and overthrow the forces of nature but Thor is also a protector of the folk on Midgard. This isn't to topple the balance of nature or end the dragons but to compete and by doing so we tamper with the environment.

In myths, the gods and goddesses in stories are both stories about people (represented by gods and goddesses because myth gets twisted over the ages), and of nature. The true gods and goddesses are a part of nature too. Unlike the Western view of light/dark, good/bad, there is just earth, wind, storm, ice, fire! As the Earth, Air, Fire and Water go through period of CALM and then unrest and BATTLES.

This Chinese celebration ought to be a good lesson to the West because many people in our countries/cultures have forgotten the meaning of the dragon force. Respect the Dragons.

The picture above is by Anne Stokes. Visit the artists' site here.

A crooked star crash lands

2012-01-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

Hello.
This is a S.W. N. report.
The Russian space probe, Phobos-Grunt, has fallen today.
Phobos-Grunt was originally launched from Kazakhstan on 9th November 2011. It's mission was to journey towards Mars. The plan was to be an exploration of the Martian surface. However, the probe's technical system failed and it never made its way onto that vital orbit.
Instead, the probe became giddy and hurtled back to Earth.
On the morning of 15th January 2012 the probe landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Now related to this subject, my view is that with the space debris surrounding the planet, if there is so much of it as they tell us, then we could have our own planetary ring.
Mars missions have a history of failures. The Mars Climate Orbiter, Beagle 2, Nazomi, Mars Polar Lander, Mars 1, 2 , 3 and 4, Deep Space 2, Zond 2, Phobos 1, Mars Observer and Mars 6. With this there were very successful Mars missions too. One of those is the Mars Exploration Rover. These robots named Spirit and Opportunity were fixed with a camera, wheeled across the Martian landscape filming it. What was incredible about that was it's long life from 2004 to 2011.
With the success stories are the failures.

Hidden Lore of Magic - Runes

2012-01-13T05:38:00.000-08:00

There are in total 25 runes in the Elder Futhark set. The 25th rune is a later added rune, which is a blank rune. All runes are divided into three called "Aetts" or Houses. The first is the Freyr's Aett, or Freyr's House, contains the runic symbols: Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raido, Kanaz, Gebo and Wunjo. The second House is Heimdall's Aett and they consist of the runes Hagalaz, Nauthiz, Isa, Jera, Eihwaz, Perthro, Algiz and Siwulo,. The third House is Tyr's Aett. The runes in the third Aett are Tiwaz, Berkanaz, Ewaz, Mannaz, Laguz, Ingwaz, Dagaz, Othala and the Blank Rune.

Now some of these runes have a long tradition of being non-inverted and inverted or positive and negative. Some of the shapes of the runes would be regarded as inverted if upside-down. But also there are runes that are not reversable because they look the same the other way up. Okay now I have a different way of looking at them. I got this from meditation, dreams and spiritual reading. I'm not in any way trying to break tradition but to write about my interpretation of them.

I will share with you a little secret that I've discovered about the runes.

This is the main teaching of the runes generally. Now the runes Gebo, Hagalaz, Isa, Jera, Sowilo, Ingwaz and Dagaz all cannot be reversed. However though I believe that yes they can be reversed. I will explain how...

First of all let's take a look at Gebo rune. Gebo (means "gift") is shaped like the letter X and therefore will look the same any way up. Yet, that X becomes a tilted T shape with a lopsided centre bar. The mirror image of that shape makes it look entirely different and opposing. Now the others turned at certain angles all appear to be different shapes. The Ingwaz rune resembles a diamond shape or an O with four angles. I've changed it's angle so that the shape alters into a box or a square. The shape of a square is a diamond the other way!

Here is an example of what I've done to actually turn these so-called non-reversable runes on their sides to make them reversed.

The reverse of these runes are shown in this graphic. I've also started to view the "inverted" meanings of the runes as being an alternative meaning, the same meaning but a reflection of its rune message. It's like to others, they regard the reversed meaning as negative and bad. I think it's more complex and less simple. It doesn't have to mean anything unfortunate either. It's like the night time meaning of a rune. I see it as Light and Dark, or Night and Day, as opposed to Nice and Nasty. The other runes which are reversable have the shapes that tilt them North and South, while the "non-reversable" runes are actaully inverted at East and West.

Runes are ancient symbols. Both alphabetic and used also for divination. Runes mean "mystery" or "secret".

Now rune shapes are found in nature, as well as signs and symbols and even in numerals and our own alphabets. My opinion about each rune of the Elder Futhark has a resemblance to the following modern and geographic symbols and icons, which is all my own take on it really:

Fehu "wealth" - A vase of two flowers in full bloom.
Uruz "aurochs" - Mountain
Thurisaz "protection" - Sword
Ansuz "messenger" - A ship's helm or wheel.
Raido "travel" - Boat with oars
Kanaz "torch" - Lantern
Gebo"gift" - Parcels or presents
Wunjo "joy" - Eclipse
Hagalaz "hail" - Barbed wire
Nauthiz "necessity" - window with beautiful view
Isa "ice" - Traffic light
Jera "harvest" - Acorns
Eihwaz "yew tree" - Umbrella
Perthro "dice cup" - Gambling
Algiz "elk" - Helmet
Siwulo "sun" - Disc sun
Tiwaz "motivation" - Sparkler
Berkanaz "birch" - Heart
Ewaz "horse" - Horse shoe
Mannaz "mankind" - Town
Laguz "water" - Fountain
Ingwaz "new" - Eggs
Dagaz "day" - Crystals
Othala "homeland" - shield

There are runic mimes, singing and chanting. These are done during cermonies and meditation.It's very ritualistic and magical. In the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, the giant says: "Fee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive. Or be he dead. I'l grind his bones to make my bread." The FEE FI FO FUM is a type of Galdor (the ancient spelling is Galdr) and it's a spell chanting.

For further info about the Elder Futhark runes:
Ancient Scripts runes

2012 - Wolf Age

2012-01-05T02:17:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to the year 2012. The time of the supposed end of the ages. We might be at the start of the new death age and Age of the Wolf / Wolf Age, as prior to Ragnarok, or the Kali Yuga, Apocalypse, or basically what people call Doomsday. Many say that 2012 would be the end of the world, and others think it's a major time shift such as an opening for a renewal.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, the year 2012 is predicted by the Mayan calendar to be the end of time itself. The Mayan calendar has a cycle period covering about five thousand and one hundred and twentyfive years. Cataclysms before the time within December 2012 should occur to build up to this prediction end.

Clearly, all calendars throughout the world are arbitrary man-made constructions. Generally, they are based on alignment with particular celestial phenomena such as the solar or lunar year. Mayan calendars are no exception and currently the Mayan calendar tradition calls attention to the day we call December 21 , 2012. The Maya have been aware for hundreds of years that on that Winter solstice day, a unique astronomical event will occur: a very rare conjunction of the Sun with the ecliptic of the Milky Way galaxy.... Mayan end times

Here is a web page with clear diagrams of the galactic alignment for 2012 prediction and the significance it has.
2012 Mayan Calendar

Perhaps this is scare mongering? According to NASA, this is all just a date on the calendar with "nothing" to worry about. Read that page "2012: Beginning of the End?".

However, is there a galactic alignment in 2012? Look at "What is the Galactic Alignment?" by John Major Jenkins on this site shows. The page includes detailed drawings and diagrams, plus a very simple explanation about the 2012 alignment in the Nuclear Bulge at the galactic centre. (Just thought I would mention that these giant star clouds look like turning sacred wheels, symbols of ancient cultures on Earth. These sacred wheels are found across the world on jewellery, art, rocks, carved or painted in mystical places, decourating friezes, relics, objects, treasure and even embedded outdoors on stones, walls, grass and shells. For more information on these sacred wheels, the Swastika, look at this site "Swastika from origins to the present day").
An image showing two different views of the galactic nuclear bulge.

Apart from the Mayan 2012 prophecy and the galactic alignment, what of Ragnarok and Doomsday? Well it's also got the mythical sories of the end times pointing to like now! (maybe). The Germanic myths tell of the three winters leading to Ragnarok, a time when the gods will perish, and Thor battles with the world serpent, and the sun and the moon are swallowed by giant wolves of doom. Fenris, the monstrous wolf, would be released from his chains. We also have the Kali Yuga a time of degeneracy and darkness, although this doesn't mean the end of time. Here is a very good site full of texts from the website about the Kali Yuga. In the Book of Revelation goes the eerie star called "wormwood" that falls from the sky and poisons the water.

Ragnarok is part of the ancient Germanic saga that means "Twilight of the Gods". It's set at an end time when people do thus, as written in the Vala:

Brœðr muno beriaz

ok at bǫnom verða[z]

muno systrungar

sifiom spilla.

Hart er í heimi,

hórdómr mikill

—skeggǫld, skálmǫld

—skildir ro klofnir—

vindǫld, vargǫld—

áðr verǫld steypiz.

Mun engi maðr

ǫðrom þyrma

Translated into English means:

Brothers will fight
and kill each other,
sisters' children
will defile kinship.
It is harsh in the world,
whoredom rife
—an axe age, a sword age
—shields are riven—
a wind age, a wolf age—
before the world goes headlong.
No man will have
mercy on another.

So what does all this mean?
First of all let's look at the Germanic myth of Ragnarok. The world serpent, or Midgarg Serpent called Jormungand circles the planet. Thor, god of thunder, attempts to destroy the serpent at Ragnarok and according to the myth, He's poisononed by the giant serpent. Also the All-Father god, Odin, is killed by Fenris the giant wolf. Most of the other gods and goddesses are killed. The wolves Skoll and Hati chase the sun and the moon, and destroys them. All the mortal people are killed as the earth is set on fire. There would be few survivors, and according to the myth they include children of the fallen gods and two mortals, a man and a woman.

In one of his books,Varg Vikernes writes that Jormungand (the world serpent) is the equator. To locate his writings and books, visit: Burzum Library.

Now the rest I cannot speculate on. I will say it may be symbolic of the climate changes, the magnetic pole shift and the galactic alignment, which can cause an event. I will guess that the myth of the wolves swallowing the sun and moon sounds like (in reality) a vast ash cloud. What else covers the sun and moon and appears to have eaten them? It may be a cloud churned up from a volcanic eruption or some other disaster, an asteroid impact or even from a nuclear winter! The surviving gods are the boy children and little mention of girl children except the daughter of the sun goddess. This might be to do with legacy, male inheritance, Y-chromosome DNA and father's namesake? It might be a continued culture and wisdom, or a masculine phase, a new patriarchy dawn refreshed and new. The mortals, a man and a woman, whatever is left of the people, retreat into a forest and live off dew.

No other goddess apart from the sun's daughter survives Ragnarok, just all gods? Well this is someone else's view: The Post Ragnarok Gods but little elsewhere is said of them.

The story of the star called wormwood might also be Phobos-Grunt! This is a failed Russian satellite, hurtling downwards and is due to come to earth at any time in January, this month actually, no known time or whereabouts. No one knows where it will fall. Yet this particular satellite is poisonous and like most space debris, from old satellites, it falls into the sea. Have a look at this news related article about Phobos-Grunt. We'll see anyway.

More celebrating

2011-12-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

The year 2012 is approaching. Let us try to move on and not think of the dark stuff. It may be interesting times. All the best.

I've been having a holiday off from blogging.

The animated graphic was made by me.

Holiday Wishes

2011-12-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

Magic of the snow

2011-12-14T02:59:00.000-08:00

The most fascinating sight in winter over a winter night with snow is the vision of the aurora lights. These lights are IMHO the Rainbows of Night Time. They appear to dance, wave and ripple in a variety of colours, like a sheet of multi coloured silk. It looks like a curtain of colours. They spread across the skies near the furthest north near the Arctic. And you can look at them in the furthest south too, near Antarctica.

Wolves have been witnessed to howl during the appearance of these aurora lights. They howl musically to the aurora.

The aurora borealis are a beautiful sight to see. You have to venture to places like Norway and Alaska to see them. They have been known to appear elsewhere if there is a particular event in space, i.e. a major solar flare. These lights can and have been seen over the United Kingdom. They are not always visible from the UK but check out the links below for aurora and space weather predictions and forecasting.

More details (with nice pictures) on the Aurora:
Aurora info - Wiki

Forecasting the Aurora lights:
Aurora Watch UK
Space Weather
Net Weather UK Weather Forecast

Secrets of Winter

2011-12-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

When you think of the winter solstice, whether or not you call it something else like Yule, Jul, midwinter, christmas time, ect you mainly imagine Santa Claus. The image of Santa, a fatherly symbol, has been ingrained into our psyches for so many long generations. There is a powerful message and a reason for this, because that is part of the magic we make. This topic isn't about Santa Claus, or really about the traditions of the midwinter itself. This post is about some of the most obscure patterns of winter folklore and myth that goes unnoticed. There are girls who symbolise the winter solstice, who are what makes this time just as wonderful as the idea of Santa and his reindeer. In any particular lore and myth about midwinter, it's full of mythical and significant female characters and goddesses.

Midwinter is a celebration of the sun. The sun is, in many cultures around the world, regarded as a female force and recognised for Her light in Midwinter. The sun is a goddess, and this Lady of the Sky, or Lady of Light, is much cherished by people who respect Her for the warmth and creating fertility of the landscape. She is looked upon as a powerful queen and mother figure in ancient cultures. For instance, the Northern Germanics called Her by the name Sunna. In Finland, She is named Beiwe who rides in a chariot with her daughter and the chariot is pulled by reindeer! The Japanese know this important sun goddess and call Her Amaterasu. This powerful goddess appears in most Midwinter festivals and stories.

Besides the sun goddess are other important roles of girls and women during Yule/Midwinter. The Anglo Saxons had "Mothers Night" in December. In ancient Greece, particularly with the Aegeans, this important time was regarded as the Festival of Wild Women or Lenaia. In Sweden, maidens are selected to play Saint Lucia by wearing crowns and giving gifts. The Moari of New Zealand noted the midwinter soltice as a journey involving the "winter bride" Takurua of the stars. For the Germans, there is a gentler goddess of light called Hertha who creates a feast and guides people to warmth and the home. The Russians have Rozhnitsa, the maternal goddess of fertility and mother of winter. The story of the birth of Jesus at Christmas has his mother Mary or Madonna as the significant character in the story.

When people decourate their homes what they are doing is ancient and in harmony with the cosmic energies. The fairies and angels on top of the tree are girls! Always in winter celebrations, angel dolls look like girls in pretty outfits. Using these dolls are subconsious. It is very similar to ancient ancestors decourating the home and the trees, to symbolise the spirit world and possibly the galaxy as well. Fairies and angels appear mostly during modern winter celebrations but these come in the forms of females. This might be another subconsious link to celebrating the sun goddess and female spirits. (Oh and yes the elves of Santa's winter wonderland are often portrayed as boys though).

In fairy tales, the mother of winter, sun goddess, winter sun goddess, winter goddess appears as the mysterious and cold "Snow Queen". What is also really potent about that tale is how a girl travels the world on a reindeer (more miwinter themes), going on a heroic voyage in search of her missing boyfriend, who disappeared. Now at the beginning of the story, the boy was infected by glass from a broken magical mirror. This is when the Snow Queen took him on her sleigh. She kept the boy in a frozen ice castle and wouldn't let him go until he fulfilled a puzzle. Then he was rescued by the girlfriend, who found him there, and the spell was broken. This is very much like ancient myths to do with the winter sun (goddess) and the heroine (daughter of the sun) who saves the boy (reclaiming warmth). It's like a story of the earth in relation to the sun during the darkest time of year. The boy, obviously a symbol of man, or men, captured and barren by the frosty queen. The queen is the power here but in Winter she's wanting to catch a male, but in retrospect, the winter sun celebrations and girls bringing back fertility to the land gain with a new sun. In the Norse world, Sunna the queen sun goddess has a daughter. The "Snow Queen" features many seasonal characteristics and shapes that are identical to the myths and science of nature.

Another striking winter feature are the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis, which the Valkyries have also been viewed as. The Valkyries are beautiful maidens who ride across the sky on horseback.

Ancient Winter Solstice stories of reindeer and flying chariots sweep over the chilled starry skies. The visions I've had since my teens of the Winter Solstice for me has been the white stag. During meditation and dreams I get, at winter and December, visions of the white stag come. I wonder if it's to do with the antlers and the meanings behind that?

Now also interesting in what I was talking about, the reindeer of the soltice myths and even those who belonged to Santa were all females!!! Check out info on female reindeer and antlers here. The Celtic goddess Elen is a reindeer goddess and a horned goddess. The symbol of antlers, deer, stag, elk, ect is often associated with astral travel. They reappear in the midwinter psyche when it comes to remembering those stories from childhood. This is what is so cool about it. Winter has a vast female influence as well as horns, antlers, the sun, pathways and even stars.

Source and reading:

Stag - Deer and meanings
Winter Solstice - Wikipedia

The above picture is "Lady of Lights" from Briar.

Turquoise - Wolf of December

2011-12-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

The birthstone of December is the TURQUOISE. It's considered lucky to wear a turquoise gemstone if you were born in this month.

For those who were born in the month of December the Turquoise is the traditional birthstone. The December birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Turquoise is associated - prosperity, success, happiness and good fortune. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the December Birthstone Turquoise are open communication, protection against all diseases, regeneration, and strengthening. The healing properties of the December birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the throat, lungs, asthma, teeth, depression. and infection. The Turquoise is also used to enhance creativity, serenity and spiritual bonding.
This is from "Birthstones" and check them out. Link.

December is the time of Winter, when snow begins to fall, or should begin to fall. It's considered one of the darkest months of the year. Not the coldest btw but certainly the nights grow very long. People recognise that it's the Midwinter season and it's celebrated as the winter solstice period, called Yule (named after a rite associated with the yule log branch) and has many names. People link the symbol of rebirth with the winter solstice. Pagan solar gods and goddesses were born around the Midwinter festival, and religious cermonies placed certain days on that. The birth of Jesus was on 25th December and Yule became better knowned as Christmas.

It isn't just within the northern hemisphere, particularly Europe with it's chillier climate that was affected so much by the dark period. The idea of the midwinter celebration is more astronomical than seasonal. Some cultures from warmer climates understood the winter solstice. Then it shows us how important the stars meant for the ancient peoples. Modern celebrations of Yule and midwinter is an echo of ancestral wisdom of the cosmos. In December, we all turn into a collective of Yule-mad people but don't know what it means or where it comes from...

The concept of buying presents, decourating trees, telling our children about Santa, all comes from one thing. It isn't because we were told that but because we feel it. As a species, we know that we're a part of the divine life force of nature. The decourative features we put out this time of year represent the stars in the sky. The presents that we get is a spiritual wave of giving gifts, extending our inner love, even if we don't really see much of that person! Or to not do that anyway but treat the consumerism as something to avoid. That comes from a need to be part of our community, intuitively, such as rekindling the memory and folk memory we have of the past. The significance of Santa is interesting, for he is like a god of modern creation with roots as a pagan divinity. For example, the image of Santa on a sleigh riding through the air, pulled by a team of reindeer, is from the legends of the All Father god Odin, riding over the landscape in a sleigh pulled by flying horses. He even throws gifts down to the people on Midgard! Then Santa is actually a symbol of this great, unseen, fatherly divine power. So in a sense, yes he does exist!

How apt for the December gemstone being a turquoise: "In many cultures of the Old and New Worlds, this gemstone has been esteemed for thousands of years as a holy stone, a bringer of good fortune or a talisman." Source.

The "Turquoise Wolf" is the special December person who was born this month. Whether is is those born under Sagittarius (23 November - 21 December) or Capricorn (22 December - 19 January), you may have the following traits:

December born Sagittarius people are loving but beastly.

December born Capricorn people are clever but tricky.

These are just my own observations of people I knew born under these starsigns. Also it's combined with reading materials. This is not an assumption on each individual.

Links:

Birthstones
Winter Solstice
Yule
Turquoise

Cool as silk

2011-11-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

This is one of the more unusual type of shapeshifters in folklore. The "Silkies", who are better known as Selkies or Seal People.

Selkies are a mysterious shapeshfting people who come from the sea, transforming into human shapes once they have removed their seal outfits. It is said that seals along the shores and islands would somehow turn into attractive women, and men. They've been appearing in legends throughout time and have many characteristics. Most of all these Selkies are usually women that human men capture and take as wives. Once Selkies become married to men, they can never return to their homes, the sea. Yet the Selkies can become loving wives and mothers to their children. Often the Selkies have been able to return to the sea again once their husbands went away, leaving them and their children behind. Men who've been married to a Selky would never see their wives again.

Selky women have been known for their beauty and gentle manner. At times they've been considered quiet and distant, gazing out at sea, trying to return there and get away from their new homes. These Selkies, married to men, have been there against their will, kidnapped and possessed.

It's also said that Selkies have been responsible for rescueing people drowning at sea, or they've lured fishermen into the depths. This obviously links very well with the mermaid legends. The tales are the same, if not parallel but mermads tend to be portrayed as a little bit more sinister.

Selkie men have been considered to be extremely handsome.

Should such a mortal woman wish to make contact with a selkie-man, there was a specific rite she had to follow. At high tide, she should make her way to the shore, where she had to shed seven tears into the sea.

Also Selkie men have a darker side, for they can cause sea storms:

"The male Selkies are responsible for storms and also for the sinking of ships, which is their way of avenging the hunting of seals." This was found at Encyclopedia Mythica

Often the Selkie shapeshifters are called Seal women and Seal men. Selkie is another word meaning "seal". For more info:

The Selkie Folk

Taking a Selkie woman's sealskin would ensure that she would not be able to return to the sea. The seal skin has it's magical quality. These people of the sea would have a seal skin that would act like a shapeshifting robe or talisman, and to help them return to the sea again. To hide the seal skin from a Selkie would be considered a loss for the Selkie, for they would not have anymore abilities to return to their seal shape and go home. Even though the Selkie female has been stolen as a wife (in legends and stories), she is often unhappy.

The Selkie/Selky legends also appear in tales from Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Denmark.

A Home for Selkies
Selkie - pantheon.org

A book related to the Selkie legend is "The People of the Sea: A Journey in Search of the Seal People" by David Thomson.

Silkies - Mysterious Britain and Ireland
Selkie - Wikipedia
Selchies - Legends
The Selkie Bride - Tel Me a Story

The picture is "Selkie" by Matt Dixon. Visit the artist's homepage.

Magic fairy dust and dirt

2011-11-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

The image that we have of Fairytales is built over time. All looks so enchanting and magical. It looks beautiful. We aspire to live some of that, or some of us have done. Girls would like to step into the shoes of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Aurora, Belle, Ariel and Tiana. When you think of fairytales, either you recollect the stories read to you from childhood, looking at the various illustrations. Or you think of Disney's retelling of classic fairytales and historical romances. Apart from the latter (the animated adaptions based on history), the fairytales are often set in dreamlike worlds that parallel Medieval and Renaissance eras. So if we were to be realistic, and true to the fairytales, regardless of the fact they couldn't have happened, what would the real princesses and princes and places have been like? What would the real Cinderella have looked like? This isn't going to be a boggy scholarly approach but a viewpoint. Here is an idea.

I meditated and went back in time to the Middle Ages. What I visualised gave me some basis on what the fairytale worlds might've been like. I will point out the fairy tales and its glamour, then add the harshness of it's own that was never told about! It also makes clear the difference between how we regard beauty and how people from long ago saw beauty. Here goes:

In the fairy tales, the stories began in glistening castles with pretty gardens but just around the corner were swinging corpses and heads on spikes.

Princesses were externally beautiful and kind, but they smelled, had yellow teeth and were malnourished.

Rapunzel, the princess in a tower with flowing long hair that was also matted and washed in filthy water.

Sleeping Beauty (also called Briar Rose) was a delicate and frail princess who slept for one hundred years but she was perhaps a version of a Valkyrie who appeared to the war dead. The Sleeping Beauty is also a story that echoes the bubonic plague. When she fell asleep, the entire kingdom fell asleep or was it that they were all succumbed by death? It reminds me of this nursery rhyme:

"Ring a ring a roses
A pocket full of posies
A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down."

The rhyme comes from the plague era.

Snow-White was a delicate and innocent princess, with lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow, hair as black as ebony wood. However, she was also diseased and possibly caught the plague.

The handsome princes came to wake up the Brair Rose and Snow White from death (necromancy?). Yet these princes both had months growth of beards, bad breath and scars too.

When the princesses were saved and married to the princes at the "happily ever after" weddings, at court in the banquet halls, dogs pooed, kids screamed and were sick, people got drunk and urinated, some fell asleep and others got too naughty.

When Goldilocks encountered the three bears, she ran away because she'd stumbled into a dwelling of fierce Berserkers!

Jack climbed the beanstalk and stole the giant's gold. However, Jack was tried for theft and robbery then executed later on. The judge boomed the hearing in court, but what we have is "...I smell the blood..."

With pretty scenes of castles, magic kingdoms, ideal villages, dwarves, giants, fairies, princesses, unicorns, there are even darker secrets.

The unicorn mystery is based upon death, possession or ownership/claiming (raping) and sacrifice. Fairies have an even richer origin as they are considered to be echoes of the old gods and nature spirits. The fairies of Sleeping Beauty who grant wishes are possibly about the Norns. The same might be said about the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella too. Also the Berserkers, werewolves, trolls, demonic entities, witches, sorcerers and cannibalism filled these stories. This wasn't so much intended to be stories for children at bedtime. Now the dwarves are perhaps symbolic of two things: Peasants (with minimal freedom) and benign paranormal spirits. However, not all dwarves are friendly. In the tale "Snow White and Rose Red", the two sisters meet an unfriendly dwarf but were rescued by a berserker warrior. In "Rumpelstiltskin", the dwarf was a menace here. Were these magical dark dwarves perhaps dark elves, goblins and imps? Giants are perhaps a symbol of something magnified that whatever frightened people.

History is full of plagues, warfare, pillaging, excecutions, famine, poverty. Out of that emerged fairytales, which the Brothers Grimm, Anderson, Disney and others have all sanitised and sugar coated. So now we have this civilised version of a pretty, healthy, colourful, gleaming dreamy fairytale stories, which were immunised from it's occult origins.

The picture above is "Once was innocent" by Selina Fenech.

Out of synch

2011-11-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

This is a post expressing my random thoughts such as this. I think there could be a more sinister reason behind changing GMT to lighter evenings.The British government have sort of considered the idea of changing GMT time. This is to make evenings lighter, and for whatever reason. It would be moved two hours ahead to make SDST (single/double summertime). At the moment we've got GMT (Greenwich Meantime) from March to October. In March the clocks are moved forward one hour and then in October, clocks are set back one hour. The recent plan is to make it different by having the clocks in March set two hours ahead. For more on this go to:

Lighter Later

Some argue that this would make mornings dark. Also this has happened before. It was done during World War Two to prevent bombings from air raids. In the Seventies, this was brief and turned into a disaster because of road accidents.

Well personally I'm not interested in supporting this campaign. One reason is that, as a mother, I'm going to find it difficult at bedtime. Children won't go to bed easily in Summer when the evenings are bright and sunny. Winter's are very dark, moonlit and it's clearly no problem then. So for a child who refuses to go to bed, thinking that the sunlight means it's daytime, will just not want to go to sleep. Imagine if there's to be extra hours of sunshine at night in Summer then, the kids will never go to bed. This will cause stress in the home. Secondly the mornings would be a lot darker and that wouldn't feel nice during the school runs.

Now it's obvious that people are interested in this for personal reasons, not thinking of anyone else. The whole idea has been considered before, done also and failed, then reconsidered. It's to keep in line with the rest of Europe, as mainland Europe is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. So if we're set at SDST in the UK, the Republic of Ireland will be at the GMT. Cross the border from Northern Ireland to Eire and you'll be one hour different!

I also have a theory too about why the SDST idea has come about recently. Being two hours different would also change the way people will be used to observing the sunrise and sunset. If the earth tilts on its axis, a sudden polar shift, the first thing you would notice would be the way in which the sun moves. It would appear on the horizon each morning at a much earlier time. Some say that we already have tilted and another about tilted axis site but it's gradual (and people have seen the sunrise earlier). Observed in other countries, such as Greenland. Well whatever it is, IF that is the reason, no one in the UK would now see the unusual behaviour of the sun. The SDST change will simply blindfold British people into looking too hard at the sky to keep us in the dark, for a while. We have experienced very cold Arctic like Winters, and this is how the UK looked last year in Winter:
Satellite image of snow covered UK.

Of that note, the pole shift may cause the UK and Ireland to move northwards, possibly turning towards the North Pole! There will also be other countries that would turn upwards, and others will move south. Having the hours moved to SDST is perhaps their way of stopping any panic.

This is just my opinion. I could be wrong and hope that it isn't this at all but one wonders the actual motive behind anything.

Links on the earth's tilt:

Greatdreams Pole Shift
British Geological Survey Magnetic Flip

Topaz - Wolf of November

2011-11-07T02:09:00.000-08:00

The birthstone of November is the TOPAZ. It's considered lucky to wear a topaz gemstone if you were born in this month.

For those who were born in the month of November the Topaz is the traditional birthstone. The November birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Topaz is associated - constancy, loyalty, faithfulness and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the November Birthstone Topaz are strength, releasing tension and balancing emotions. The healing properties of the November birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to sanity, asthma, gout, blood disorders, tuberculosis and insomnia. The Topaz is also used to enhance spiritual rejuvenation and feelings of happiness.

The month of November is a shift between Autumn and Winter. The fading leaves become crisp and cold. Mist and frost arrive, sometimes snow. The fallen leaves turn red and brown and yellow, finishing their time on trees and bushes. The bonfires are lit to burn those fallen leaves. It's a time to chop wood for the coming winter, and clear away gardens and streets of foliage. Avoid the bright berries on the hedges and branches (they're poisonous). Only be very sure and get help if you don't know what exatly is edible or not. This is when Guy Fawkes is celebrated in the UK with fireworks and bonfires - an echo of a pre-Christian fire ritual with burning effigies. Some Halloween themed holidays overlap in the beginning of November, such as Day of the Dead. Also the Remembrance Day (Poppy Day) celebrations coincide with other ancient rites of honouring the dead, war dead, fallen heroes and hailing to long gone ancestors.

The "Topaz Wolf" is the special November person who was born this month in November. Whether is is those born under Scorpio (23 October - 22 November) and Sagittarius (23 November - 21 December).

November born Scorpio people are sparkly but haughty.

November born Sagittarius people are homely but angry.

These are just my own observations of people I knew born under these starsigns. Also it's combined with reading materials. This is not an assumption on each individual.

Links:

Birthstones
November

A personal message

2011-10-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

Fairy Rings

2011-10-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I was journeying to school and decided to quickly visit the library on the way. As I walked over some grass, I noticed that I'd gone straight through the centre of a Fairy Ring. It was a perfectly formed ring of mushrooms.

(This is also scientifically called "Marasmius oreades" when fungus developes under the wet soil and the ground needs nurtients. For more info, click on Fairy Rings at the Mushroom Expert site.)

In folklore, these fairy rings are said to contain magical powers. They were created by fairies, pixies, elves or witches. It was caused by fairies and pixies dancing over the ground, forming a ring of mushrooms. In Scandinavia, the elves were responsible. In Germany, witches made spells on the earth to cause the rings. As I have done walked into a circle of mushrooms, "Others tell tales of these rings transporting people who mistakenly walk into their circle, taking them to far off places or strange lands." Page source. However, some said that it was "bad luck" to enter a fairy ring!

Entering a fairy ring, according to European folklore was extremely bad luck. They were guarded by huge toads that would curse anyone who entered the circle. Other superstitions were that, if one entered a fairy ring, soon they would lose one of their eyes. Other stories warned young girls against touching the dew inside a fairy ring; if it got on your skin, it would develop into skin problems. Almost all European folklore has a warning against entering a fairy ring because the fairies could kidnap you as soon as you stepped into one. Or the fairies might wait until you were in bed asleep, and slip a changeling into your place. Many tales also tell of people who have stepped inside fairy rings and were never seen again, or of others, who have gone inside one only to be driven insane by the music of the elves that they could hear once inside. Several other legends say that stepping into a fairy ring would allow one to see fairies and elves, but would also make the person prone to their deceptive illusions as well. (Author - FairyLore)

Strange. On the day that I entered the ring of mushrooms, my friend had to finish work early for a failed eye and needed to see a doctor. At the weekend I also discovered some pretty unpleasant things had been happening in the past. I also fell out with people and almost got bitten by a dog! Is any of this true or am I reading too much into the folklore myths?

There is more folklore about Fairy Rings here:

Fairy Rings: Nature's Magical Mushroom Circles from Environmental Graffiti.

Fairy Ring - Wikipedia

Poisonous berries and things

2011-10-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

(Sorry but this might be a case of Lycanthropy, given that I was affected by the full moon last night in a bad way. I kept falling out with other people over subjects on food!)

It's that time of year also when we move closer to the darker season. The days shorten. It feels colder and it's getting colder and colder. There are also many colours in the gloom that look pretty in the woodlands, forests and gardens. However, some is totally poisonous and must be avoided.

Now here is a few of those Autumn plants and fruits that should not be eaten.

Wild mushrooms = Some look edible, and some look juicy and rich. However DON'T eat them! Please do not eat them even if you feel tempted by looking at them. Carefully, using gloves, pick off and chuck away any wild mushroom that you find growing in your garden or wherever children are playing (playgrounds, parks, lanes, walkways and even the yard). Once you pick these wild mushrooms, get rid of them so these are out of anyone's reach.

Roses and fallen stff from trees = Prune the rose bushes otherwise it would give off a dirty look and make the sourrounding soil a bit nasty. Clear away fallen leaves, berries, sticks and other foliage from trees that land around your house for some of these could be, or would get, quite toxic.

Wild berries = Some are unedible and quite toxic even though some are used in herbal remedies, medicines, food conserves and ingrediants. Yet there are those berries which cannot and shouldn't be eaten raw. Now here is a list of these colourful and pretty poisonous wild berries:

1. (Hawthorn) These tiny red berries are used in making wine and jam but they're not pleasant to eat raw. Some of them have a bitter taste and others may cause pain. Not to be eaten, and those with a heart disorder should not really consider touching them as raw berries.

2. (Honeysuckle) Avoid eating the seeds of these red berries.

3. (Yew berries) These berries are lethal and highly poisonous.

4. (Black Bryony) These pretty clusters of bright red berries are extremely poisonous and should not be consumed at all.

5. (Bittersweet) Grown in groups of oval shaped berries, these are also called "Woody Nightshade" and they are really poisonous.

6. (Spindle) The Autumn grows such cute pink berries that are really very poisonous and deadly.

7. (Holly) The luscious looking rubylike berries with the prickly leaves are poisonous and must not be eaten.

8. (Butcher's Broom) Red berries grown among a stabbing prickly plant mustn't be eaten. These are poisonous to humans.

9. (Ivy) A bunch of small black berries are very bad and must not be eaten by anyone.

10. (Tutsan) Part of the St John's Wort family genus, these berries are used in medicines but they're not edible and mustn't be eaten.

11. (Lilly Of The Valley) Red berries grown from this plant are very poisonous.

12. (Black Nightshade) This changes from green and black, and they shouldn't be consumed.

13. (Deadly Nightshade) Extremely toxic black berries.

14. (Dogwood) These black berries are unpleasant tasting and it's advisable not to eat them.

15. (Herb Paris) Poisonous black berries.

Thanks to the helpful information out there. There is more to be found here:
Safe Gardening
Berries - Food School
Wiki list of poisonous plants

Also Potatoes "also produce berries after flowering.These berries contain a very deadly alkaloid poison and have been in the past responsible for a number of fatalities.The berries appear after flowering in clusters on a short stalk. Each cluster contains an average of six berries.Small, shiny, and green, the berries have a five lobed calyx and are topped by a short stalk." Source.

In my garden there is a sprig of orange berries that fell from a climbing tree next door. These orange berries might be Rowan. I still make sure that no one eats them because they're wild and raw, containing toxins (regardless of the fact these berries are used in food and medicine). I pass a lot of brightly coloured berries and they look like sweets... be warned.

Books on this subject : "Poisonous Plants in Great Britain" by Fred Gillam. "Poisonous Plants: A Guide for Parents and Childcare Providers" by Elizabeth A. Dauncey. "Wicked Plants" by Amy Stewart.

Ancestry and Persian women

2011-10-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hello,

This is the owner of the blog "She Wolf Night". I'm called "Princess Rayne". My name "Rayne" is pronounced Riana. There are variations of it's spelling: Reanne, Ragina and Rhianna. My name means "Queen". I think my mum had other ideas though, to do with rainfall. It wasn't until I researched that I found the ancient meanings of my name. It's a Medieval girl's name used in France and England - source and I hope this clears up any doubts?

So who am I? Well I'm in my 30's and born under the sign of Aries. The Aries woman is (according to this website):

"The Aries woman is governed under her ruling planet of Mars, the god of war and, with the daring and bravado of that sign she is always preparing for or, setting forth into life in the search for new worlds to conquer. She is forever seeking to establish herself as both a separate and absolute individual, and one who has a unique and original perspective on life."
From here.

My father's ancestry are rooted in Britain and have much connections with Saxons and Normans. Now I looked into my mother's ancestry and found that my maternal ancestors (and I had my mtdna tested also) comes from Persia. Since then I've become very interested in Persia, and modern Iran. This prompted me to do this post.

Gems of Persia - Women,

(This is going to be a along the lines of myth and symbolism rather than facts, figures, historic and politics.)

"The complete philosophy, doctrine and base for Christianity has been borrowed from the ancient Persian Philosophy of Mitraism (Mithraism.) According to Persian Mythology, Goddess Anahita is the Immaculate Virgin Mother of Goddess Mitra."

Also the Goddess Mitra was born on 25th December (that most sacred time around the Winter Soltice).

"Cow is not only sacred to Hindus! There is also a Zoroasztrian Sacred Cow! Why you ask? There is a logic behind it. The Sacred Cow of Zoroastrians feeds milk to the Aryans, labors their farms and assists them with their agriculture."

Cows, or an aspect of the Earth Goddess, recognised as such. The Greek Goddess Aphrodite (her Roman equivalent was Diana) might've been connected to previous myths from Persia. As the Aryan people's spread (much of this coincided with the melt of the last Ice Age, as if the original peoples from a very pre-historic Europe moved away and lived/thrived in the East and South, returned back when the temperatures warmed.) Also on this movement of peoples, many broke off and retold their stories of heroism and wisdom. Here, I believe, the same gods and goddesses stayed with the peoples as some left, and others stayed. Diana appears as the many - breasted goddess (figure). In Persia, She's "Daena", who interacts with the dead.

As the Norse and Germanic peoples recognised the great Sun Goddess "Sunna", the Persians saw Her too. She was named "Mitra". I personally believe in our sun being an incredible feminine force, a Goddess, who gives light and power. She was so honoured by the Northern tribes of Europe that She was represented as a symbol. Today the sunwheel and sun disk are Her signs. Also amongst many of the Indo-Europeans (Aryans) are water, earth and Moon Goddesses.

(The above quotes are from IPC Library. Mmuch more on Persian mythology, including pictures, can be found here on these pages):
IPC Library - Persian mythology

And...

What is even fascinating about Persian myths are the sagas with their warrior women!

Young modern Persian women

Today in modern Persia (now Iran) women have been fighting against suppression. Since the country became an Islamic state in 1979, women have been forced to wear strict codes of dress (such as the hijab). It seems that, according to history, Persian women have been veiled in times past. Persian women were, centuries ago, considered prizes for wealthy men from other countries such as China. Persian women were favoured as wanted in palaces as exotic dancers: "Some of these blue-eyed and blond-haired Persian and Greek girls danced in bars and clubs in China". From Women in Iran - Wiki.

Women in Iran have had to push for any recognition and they've succeeded in getting into politics, education and even sport. (If you look at Persian history it's filled with powerful and strong women).

Opal - Wolf of October

2011-10-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of October is an OPAL. It's considered lucky to wear an opal if you were born in this month.

For those who were born in the month of October the Opal is the traditional birthstone. The October birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Opal is associated - hope, innocence and purity. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the October Birthstone Opal are happiness, faithfulness, loyalty and confidence. The healing properties of the October birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the eyes and eye infections. The Opal is also used to enhance visualization, imagination, dreams and healing.

For more about the birthstone.

And "Combined with modern techniques of polishing, doublet opal produces similar effect of black or boulder opals at a mere fraction of the price. Doublet opal also has the added benefit of having genuine opal as the top visible and touchable layer, unlike triplet opals."

"In the Middle Ages, opal was considered a stone that could provide great luck because it was believed to possess all the virtues of each gemstone whose color was represented in the color spectrum of the opal. It was also said to confer the power of invisibility if wrapped in a fresh bay leaf and held in the hand."

Opal information

The Opal is a gift also.

Opal Gemstone

Opal Healing and Magic -
"Opal talisman boosts foresight. According to some legends Opal's wearer can telepathically influence other people - if not for his own profit."

You can also find other October birthstones - "here"

October is a very interesting time, when the gates of this world are open to spirit realms and other dimensions, as they say. The threshold of the spirit realm comes down and this is a time when people are more sensitive to magic and visualising entities or experiencing supernatural forces. I'm going by the general view here. I personally think this isn't the only time of year but during the Autumn season, October is filled with celebration and feasting of the dead, in honour of ancestors, in recognition of the psyche and psychic abilities. Halloween comes by the end of the month, when the season is nearing the darker period of the year and Winter gets closer. Halloween is followed by other rites and rituals of the dead (not to mention the dressing up!)

The "Opal Wolf" is the special October birthday person of the month of October, whether is is those born under Libra (23 September- 22 October) and Scorpio ( 23 October - 21 November).

October born Libra people are balanced but scatty.
October born Scorpio people are loyal but frosty.

(These are just my own observations of people I knew born under these starsigns. Also it's combined with reading materials. This is not an assumption on each individual.)

A Fall in Autumn

2011-09-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

The time of Winter Finding, the autumnal equinox and harvest festivals, celebrated now. It's also here that the celebrations and rituals of Fall (another name for Autumn) comes at a time during the estimated crash from UARS.

The UARS is a dead satellite that has been tracked across the skies. It's expected to fall somewhere on Earth today (23rd September 2011), but NASA say they don't know where the UARS is going to land. Much of it has already broken up in the atmosphere but there is still a concern. So if you happen to be outside celebrating Fall / Autumn please watch out!

Some satellite tracking sites are unavailable. This may be because of intensity of traffic? Well I managed to locate some other tracker site called "Heavens Above" and you can go and see where UARS is now:

To locate where UARS is
(I refresh the page every so often as the falling satellite keeps moving, spiralling downwards.)

For more information on UARS:
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite - Wiki
UARS main page

Down memory lane and Werewolf Village

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The subject of early gaming cropped up during a forum discussion. I was reminded of the games I used to play, both on PC and on consoles. One particular game, using both graphics and real people, was "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland."

The most fascinating place in the game "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland" was Werewolf Village. I wanted to move there! It looked so nice and quaint in an eerie way.

There's always something fairytalish about these earlier computer games. They were quite magical enough and they inspired me, so I became computer literate and studied I.T. (To be honest, if it wasn't for video games, I wouldn't have got interested in computers in the first place!).

Video of the werewolf in "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland":

A clip showing Werewolf Village:

Goosebumps official site.

Harvest of Sorrows

2011-09-12T04:37:00.000-07:00

This is when people collect apples, and vegetables, crops, wheat, corn, conkers, acorns, berries, nuts, almonds, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes... and now drugs!!!!

The UK has (quietly through the backdoor) grown fields of OPIUM! This is because of shady dealings and the wars in the Middle East. Such poppies are farmed for "medicine" use.

Scarecrows are everywhere and they'r enot in these fields. Check this out.

British soldiers sent to Afghanistan and places, many returning with no limbs, or in body bags, to fight this War Against Drugs, while poppy fields over there are burned. However, there are homemade opium fields now ready to grow full opiums! It's going to attract the most ambitious drug barons, then criminals, thugs, dealers, addicts and those who want to be spaced out will hang out in those fields! It's quite worrying.

It's not just Opium then. Mushrooms, magic mushrooms, or psilocybe (banned in the UK for it's psychedelic after effects) picked and sold? Likely but it's illegal. People have been found growing illegal plants, mainly cannibis, selling them and buying them. Often people turn out to be cannibis smokers.

I actually view such stuff as harmful and never of any benefit to people except for very restricted medicinal purposes, if need be and prescribed or given by a doctor. People who smoke cannibis, take drugs like LSD and use opium and other so-called "mind expanding" drugs do so in the privacy of their houses but they don't admit it. These drug takers are interested in legalising drugs, and they say it's less severe than alcohol and tobacco. Hmm, I don't think so! Some think it's a "natural herb" but it's also regarded as a toxin like Belladonna.

"There is growing evidence that people with serious mental illness, including depression and psychosis, are more likely to use cannabis or have used it for long periods of time in the past. Regular use of the drug has appeared to double the risk of developing a psychotic episode or long-term schizophrenia". To read more about the effects cannibis has on people go to this site. Cannibis also creates depression and paranoia in those who keep using it. The cannibis plant cannot be "a gift for us from Mother Earth" because its a flowering toxin that comes only from tropical climates and wasn't widely distributed until after Imperialism more than 200 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arguments_for_and_against_drug_prohibition

Often when harvest fails, something dark is going to happen. It's followed by starvation. In times past, a failed harvest meant total doom. This echoes down through history and has appeared in works of fiction, including cinema.

Make sure your garde has a scarecrow. Place a scarecrow in your backyard to protect your home grown vegetables and fruits. Use sunflower scarecrows to decourate and prettify your patio. If you can't find one, they're easy to make. Or find scary ones to frighten off nuisance birds.

The picture at the top is by Cris Ortega and its called "Field of the Scarecrow"

My ex-boss going to the moon?!

2011-09-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Domino's Pizza is planning to set up business on the moon. For more information go here.

Keen to make the most of local resources, Domino's said it will keep costs down by using mineral deposits on the moon to make the concrete, which is likely to cost around Y194 billion (£1.5 billion).
An artist's impression of the restaurant anticipates a two-storey dome with a diameter of around 26 metres and a basement level constructed of steel plating and an area to prepare pizzas. Staff would be required to live on the premises.

Here are some pictures from a gallery showing an artistic impression of a Domino's Pizza lunar branch:
Gallery: A Domino's Pizza on the Moon

Is this idea going to benefit the planet Earth and it's population or the climate change? Is it going to help resolve all the world's problems or give us spiritual enlightenment? I'm not sure if it will to be honest. However though, I think such a move could stimulate people's imaginations and open doors to a new level of technology and experience. Interesting if it will create a few jobs!

I don't want to be cynical because this may not work and it all seems like a very far-fetched plan. I'm not against the idea of exploring space but due to the fact this world's got enough to sort out, why should the money be spent on taking our habits to other worlds? Doesn't really make sense.

People say: "Life is all about having fun and enjoying yourself. You gotta have a laugh!"My view is that it's best to laugh at them and not with them. Who'll have the last laugh here? The moon has just ordered a pizza, or has it driven people insane?

I'm not sure exactly who thought this one up. NASA say that pizza isn't very good for an astronaut working in space! "" Source.

The above image comes from the cartoon series "Futurama".

Sapphire - Wolf of September

2011-09-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of September is a "Sapphire" and it's considered lucky to wear a sapphire stone if you were born in this month. September birthstone

The stone Sapphire is a very beautiful blue coloured gemstone but there are other sapphires in different hues. It is often used in technology and industries. Sapphire stone source

The sapphire is, for September-born people, a potent and personal gift.

Blue sapphire healing

Blue Sapphire can help you gain self-mastery—that is, mastery of your mind, emotions, and physical body. To understand how Blue Sapphire does this, it’s necessary to understand certain aspects of the mind. The mind is complex and comprised of many levels, or areas. Thoughts are formed at the highest level of the mind—that which is closest to your purely spiritual aspect. There, thoughts are generated continually; indeed, a new thought is born every moment. Ultimately, you have the power to discriminate and choose which thoughts you wish to have. This is an important choice, because your thoughts feed and otherwise profoundly affect your emotions and physical body.

Blue sapphires help in certain alternative medicines and even some actual science.

For more about sapphires and other gems go here:
All about gems - ICA

The "Sapphire Wolf" might as well be the wolf for this month, whoever was born in September, whether is is those born under Virgo (23 August- 22 September) and Libra ( 23 September - 22 October).

September born Virgo people are flowery but ornery.
September born Libra people are fruity but grabby.

Maybe wear a sapphire for many purposes other than when you were born.

....

Plight of the Swedish wolves

2011-08-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

This post is a cry for help and even an understanding. Why? That is what I want to know. Wolves have been hunted for aons by people. Wolves are hunted for many reasons, for the pelts to keep someone warm, for ritualism, teeth and to get rid of this fear. Also wolves are still looked upon with suspicion and this is probably because they are considered a rival. This is a primitive reason that people kill wolves, unless it's to protect themselves from danger. I know that farmers have a problem with wolves attacking their livestock.

In Sweden, wolves are in trouble.

The researchers predict that without the last decade of poaching, wolves would have numbered around a thousand by 2009, four times the number reported that year.

These large carnivores went extinct in Sweden in the 1970s, and the population has since re-established itself after a handful of migratory Finnish wolves took over the empty territories.

For details of the full article, go here.

Mysterious beasts of gold

2011-08-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

Beside an Aztec pyramid called the Templo Mayor, Mexico City, was discovered the remains of a wolf, or a dog. It had been buried 8ft deep in the ground there for centuries, within the confines of stone. The canine's body was wearing a fine set of jewels, precious metal and gems that sparkled:
Turquoise stones, gold and a jade collar!

The archeological team unearthed this quite wonderful dog/wolf in 2008 that was covered in jewels. The jewelled wolf or dog was named "Aristo-Canine". For more about this archeological team who discovered the Aristo Canine and other findings at the same pyramid site, click here. There are other creatures who were covered in jewels.

It isn't just the Aztec pyramids or animals found there buried in jewels.

From the sky, when flying across the Nazca region of Peru by airplane, cast your eyes to the landscape and see the awesome giant carvings of animals! Or instead look at websites with photos of Nazca Lines, and also perhaps visit Google Earth that would help you to locate it. For some images of these shapes, visit here.

The subject of animal find in the early Americas is huge but I shall only leave this open with my questions.

About the Aristo-Canine, why was this dog, or wolf, buried in such finery? Was it a royal pet? Was this particular animal considered special and if so why? Was it a sacrificial animal of some kind? Could this animal have been regarded as something spiritual or to do with magic? Well here is a clue as to who the Aristo Canine might've been:

"They had a great respect for the quality of faithfulness in dogs: when a nobleman died, a dog was often killed and buried with him to guide him on the long journey across rivers and mountains to the next world. In the case of a commoner a pottery model of a dog was often used instead". Source

Of the Nasca Lines and it's animals, everyone else is asking who made them and why? What were they used for? These mysterious shapes feature in the imagination. I refer you to the books by Erich von Daniken who covered this subject of the ancient Americas and includes many photographs.

Regards to other animal mysteries of the Americas, there are some golden artifacts in the form of "birds". Some don't know why these were regarded as birds for they resemble nothing in the animal kingdom at all but they look like modern aircraft. Look at this for an example. My question is if these artifacts are meant to be birds, what kind of birds are they? In the ancient American myths there are some incredible birdlike beings.

Place your eyes on these beautiful golden and gemmed animals from the ancient American era:
Precolumbian Zoo Artifacts

For other details with images and stories:

Nazca Animal Geoglyphs

The above picture is a photograph of one of the Nazca Line animals, the "condor".

(As a kid of the 80's, I loved to watch the cartoon series "Mysterious Cities of Gold". [This is where I get the idea for the title of this entry from]. That cartoon was a long series, about exploring the ancient Americas in search for the lost city of gold. It had a giant flying aircraft in the shape of a golden condor! The Nazca Lines were also in this. I was introduced to the topic of the Nazca Lines after watching this cartoon.)

Bad weather, bad hair day

2011-08-08T04:11:00.001-07:00

In the wake of freak storms, there is a reason why that is. I have no abundance of time or research to go into details but using my observations. People often moan about the weather and also it's one of the country's favourite topics. In recent times, the weather has turned upside down and become extreme.

It started a long time ago. Early people living in the British Isles left traces behind. One of those was the magnificent structures called megaliths, found all over. Yet Bronze Age people here shaved the landscape of prehistoric forests to build dwellings, boats, make tools and weapons. The removal of these ancient trees left the soil barren, and only grass grows in place.

Rain falls because the signature of the land requires it, to nourish forests and vegetation. When forests have been chopped down, it continues to rain, and this creates damp fields and floods. In Summer, no one can be shaded from the harmful rays or the intense heat. Trees, that covered the islands once, have long since gone but these would've protected us from the harsher elements. The trees that no longer exist would've absorbed all the rain and overflows. They would've been a barrier against bad weather. Shielded us also from cold winters, and kept us a little more safer from the blizzards and ice.

The forests and trees of the country now are set apart from villages, towns and cities. There aren't any villages living within a full forest. Most villages are set by farmland, open fields, shores and hills. Modern people are scared of trees and woodlands, and they hate individual trees because it stops them from getting a suntan when they bathe in their gardens. Also they're afraid of trees full stop.

There is a broken down food chain. Animals that were native to the islands (red squirrels, British wolves, ect) made up the landscape once upon a time and created the landscape. Without certain animals, there has been an overpopulation of other wildlife and an increase in newer problems. The fox and vermin situation is there because the wolf isn't there. If the British wolf still roamed the countryside, there wouldn't be an overpopulation of deer or hare, and less vermin, foxes would not be able to invade farms, and so on. There is an increase in wasps, and an increase in bugs, as there is something missing. Someone interfered with the natural organic process of things.

Peridot - Wolf of August

2011-08-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of August is the Peridot. August is a time of harvest and holidays (especially here). For those who were born in August, the Peridot is considered a "lucky charm" to wear peridots and the peridot represents their birth month. Some realise that birthstones themselves are not always the same as the zodiac, which are seperate. There are zodiacal stones as well as birthstones. More on the stone

For those who were born in the month of August the Peridot is the traditional birthstone. The August birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Peridot is associated - love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the August Birthstone Peridot are fame, dignity, and protection. The healing properties of the August birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the lungs, lymph, breast and sinuses. The Peridot is also used to enhance prosperity, growth, and openness. Go here

The "Peridot Wolf" might as well be the totem for this month, whoever was born in August, whether is is those born under Leo (23 July - 22 August) and Virgo (23 August - September 22) as both starsigns are found in the month of August and share the same birthstone.

August born Leo people are vibrant but snooty.
August born Virgo people are down-to-earth but finicky.

For the birthstone: Bernadine jewellery - August
August birthstone - Peridot
Beautiful Birthstones

"The color of the peridot stone is directly related to parts of the body that it can be of aid to. Because of it’s yellowish green color, peridot has been believed to cure diseases of the liver and difficulties with digestion. It aids in physical detoxification and helps problems with the kidneys, bladder, gall bladder, and the stomach. Peridot heals such illnesses as ulcers, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. It is also useful in helping to heal insect bites." Source - Mystical Properties of Peridot

Two suns in our sky

2011-07-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

Do we have two suns now? We haven't got a binary system as we have only one sun. However, recently a lot of people all over the world are witnessing, and filming, the unusual phenomena of two suns in the sky. This is mostly seen during sunset and sunrise as there are two sunsets now and two sunrises also.

This event has appeared on television such as this news broadcast from China:

What could be the cause of two suns in our sky? Mainly it's to do with another star collapsing. There is is a giant red star called Betalgeuse that is about to go supernova. This has been explained as to why there are two suns being observed and filmed.

About Betalguese the star.

On the subject of a supernova.

Is this true? Some say that Betalguese won't supernova yet and possibly won't do for a thousand years. Others say it could happen anytime. Also it's said that just before a star goes supernova, we'll see the light.

Being among wolves

2011-07-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

What is it like to experience life with real wild wolves?
How is it like to be close to nature and listen to the sound of true wolves howling?
Is it easy to befriend wild animals and wolves?
What about adventures close to the wilderness?

I've got to say that Shaun Ellis has been an inspiration to many. He's a naturalist and a researcher into wolves, who made very good personal documentaries on TV about wolves, and he's written books on the subject. Have a look at some of his wolf companionships: Meet the Pack

Now I think it's human nature to be protective of the wild, even though yes humans are responsible for the environmental damage. This is not actually human nature but the system and it's machine. Human beings love to be close to nature.

Women love baby animals, and women love wolf pups. This one bright example is shown here by the actress Hayden Panettiere. I love children and I also love baby animals. I can't resist cuddling cats and puppies.

So how did human beings start domesticating the wild wolf? My theory is that people found some abandoned wolf pups and they adopted them. Perhaps there was more to it than this but I'm sure someone couldn't resist looking after the small pups. This probably started the domestication process, from something simple. Later these house wolves grew to depend on humans.

According to Facts About Wolves the wolf is "Highly intelligent" and this is interesting. Wolf packs consist of hierarchies dominated by two alphas, the male and female (king and queen). The alpha female produces young for the pack. Hunting is commanded by the alpha male. Even so the wolves themselves are incredible, and there are amazing stories about them.

Look at Living with Wolves and this page featuring books.

Lupin flavoured ice cream

2011-07-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Ice cream is the food we love in Summer. It's cool, refreshing, tasty and creamy. It's traditionally made from dairy produce and turns milky when it melts. An ice cream resembles a soft fluffy white cloud (some in a variety of colours) often in a wafer cone. Ice creams presented in many ways and forms. Ice cream in a cone or in glass is nice. An ice cream dollop in a fizzy drink is just one of my favourites. Lovely.

Now brilliant scientists at Fraunhofer have discovered a new ice cream formula. A type of ice cream made from flowers. It's dairy-free. These new ice creams are made from lupin plants. The lupin flower is a rich source of protein and is a special ingredient. This lupin flowered ice cream is called "Lupinesse".

For Lupinesse details read:
Healthy Ice Cream made from flowers instead of milk

For more info on the plant Lupins click Lupinus at Wikipedia.

"From Rome to the Andes, lupin bean pods have long been cultivated for food." Source

The Lupin flower has a link with lycanthropy and wild wolves. From Teen Witch: "The name of this plant is a reference to ancient worship of the wild wolf as a wolf-god."

Delicious!

My view of the prostitute

2011-07-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Prostitution, it goes back since the dawn of history and regarded as the oldest profession in the world.

Today it has a grim reputation. There are many poor girls and women who are in this profession out of desperation and need. Also there are other types of prostitutes that are there for other reasons. One thing to remember is that all prostitutes are taking a risk by entering a type of job which carries a lot of danger. For this I have a lot of respect for prostitutes as they are in at the deep end, meeting all kinds of people, some of who don't have their interests at heart.

My view is that a professional prostitute, a career minded prostitute, someone who takes it very seriously and knows what they're doing and is in control (meaning she decides to quit if she wants), should be considered no different to a businesswoman because that is what she is really. Are they much different to, say for example, an acrobat or a fire eater?

Women who become prostitutes do so for a variety of reasons. I'm not one and I don't know any prostitutes, but I have read about them.

Prostitution should be regulated more and it needs some proper reorganisation and a sense of community amongst it. They ought to have a tier system with some looking after the vulnerable, and there needs to be amongst them a firm global union that cares about it's prostitutes. It could be, in an ideal world, a type of nice business instead of something sleazy. Each person in the sex industry must always be healthy. They could develope external skills in medicine, accountancy, counselling and academia so that they grow as an established people and use those skills to help one another. Each prostitute must never be left open to just about anyone who comes along to see them. Future prospective clients should also be tested.

There is far too much danger and wrongs riddled throughout the sex industry and women (sadly some very young women too) have been exploited. There should be system within the sex industry that protects these women from harm so that they feel safer with their clients.Could the sex industry become regulated and have its own doctors and policing one day? Prostitution should divorce itself from crime and create a new respectability. These women should be looked upon as equals in our society as they're brave women. They are in a similar league to other types of workers and they have a rich history that teaches us about human nature.

Interesting sites:

International Prostitutes Collective
IUSW

Painting above is "Carp Fairies" by Hiliuyun

Dark Queen of Light

2011-07-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Circe - The beautiful sorceress and goddess of shapeshifting!!!

This post "Dark Queen of Light" is my own invented title to describe the enchantress Circe. Circe is considered to be either a witch queen, nymph or a goddess. She hails from Greek mythology, that was set in an unknown undated era called the Golden Age, hence Circe being "dark queen" from the time of "light".

According to myth, Circe has divine parents but different family trees. In one version, her father is Helios the sun god and her mother is Perse the oceanid. Of her siblings, Circe's brother is Aeetes, king of Colchis and her sister is Pasiphae, mother of the minotaur. She also has a famous niece, Medea, princess of Colchis. Following in her aunt's footsteps, Medea is a sorceress and enchantress. Medea later married Jason of the Argonauts. Her family have been long protectors of the magical and sacred golden fleece. In another family tree, Circe is the daughter of Hecate, the dark goddess and Hermes, messenger of the gods.

Circe lived alone in a magical island called Aeaea. She was in company with her servants and maids (most of them were nymphs). She had many animals around her. There were also lions and wolves roaming her palace grounds.

She captured the heart of Odysseus, and he lived with her during his long adventure. Circe turned men into beasts. She transformed the sailors of Odyssues into swine. Her magic involved herbs and potions, healing, weaving, creating the power of visionary, necromancy and shapeshifting.

Circe is also spelled as "Kirke" :"Kirke's name was derived from the Greek verb kirkoô meaning "to secure with rings" or "hoop around"--a reference to her magical powers."

Her children were Latinos Agrios, Telegonos and Nausithous fathered by Odysseus and Latinos, fathered by Telemakhos, Phaunos (Faunus the horned goat god) fathered by Poseidon.

"...when Odysseus on his wanderings came to her island, Circe, after having changed several of his companions into pigs, became so much attached to the unfortunate hero, that he was induced to remain a whole year with her. At length, when he wished to leave her, she prevailed upon him to descend into the lower world to consult the seer Teiresias. After his return from thence, she explained to him the dangers which he would yet have to encounter, and then dismissed him."

She appears in the Odyssey as well as the story of Jason and the Argonauts.

"Medea, daughter of Aeetes the black-hearted king, answered all her aunt’s questions, speaking quietly in the Kokhian tongue. She told her of the quest and voyage of the Argonauts, of their stern ordeal, and how she herself had been induced to sin by her unhappy sister and had fled from her father’s tyranny with Phrixos’ sons; but she said nothing of the murder of Apsyrtos. Not that Kirke was deceived. Nevertheless she felt some pity for her weeping niece."

Also Glaucus and Scylla:

"Scylla, daughter of the River Crataeis, is said to have been a most beautiful maiden. Glaucus loved her, but Circe, daughter of Sol [Helios], loved Glaucus. Since Scylla was accustomed to bathe in the sea, Circe, daughter of Sol, out of jealousy poisoned the water with drugs, and when Scylla went down into it, dogs sprang from her thighs, and she was made a monster. She avenged her injuries, for as Ulysses sailed by, she robbed him of his companions."

These are short snippets taken from a variety of literature found on Theoi site.

She also had a fondness for men Calchus and Picus.

The goddess Circe is also a representive of the secret powers of women and the earth. She was able to turn others into snakes, serpents, fish and other animals to imprison them. This is symbolic of how strong women capture the hearts and minds of people at large, by using trickery and psychology to control destiny. Such famous women who have used magical qualities that captivated people and made them see things that were not there include a variety of film starlets, artists, writers, musicians and even female politicians. These women are also able to transform the thoughts of feelings of people with just a few clever words. Some of it, although not deliberately, was necessary and done out of the pureness of healing, and to encourage others to listen, and to perhaps even sway opinion. Women such as this are considered powerful women. They are found throughout history. On a smaller level, an individual woman, particularly someone who feels she has not done much to show for it, has done. Circe is not merely a dark figure of a powerful woman. She's also a guardian of nature's secrets. She can love, bring fruit, cure, heal, mother and protect just as most women can.

Read more about Circe:
CIRCE at Theoi
Circe at Myth Encyclopedia
Greek Gods and Goddesses - Circe
Coven of the Goddess
Circe - Tales of Greek Myth

Classic literature of Circe:
Hesiod's "Theogony" and "Odyssey" by Homer.

The picture above is "Circe" by Cemac

Check out my other blog entry "Light Queen of Dark"

Ruby - Wolf of July

2011-07-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of July is the Ruby. For those who were born in July, it's considered a "lucky charm" to wear rubies and the ruby represents their birth month. Some realise that birthstones themselves are not always the same as the zodiac, which are seperate. There are zodiacal stones as well as birthstones.

Zodiac stones

Now some information on July birthstones...
For those who were born in the month of July the Ruby is the traditional birthstone. The July birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Ruby is associated - devotion, integrity, courage and happiness. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the July Birthstone Ruby are vitality, confidence and strength. The healing properties of the July birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the blood and infection and increasing positive thought patterns. The Ruby is also used to enhance energy, generosity and to bring prosperity and success. Source

The "Ruby Wolf" might as well be the totem for this month, whoever was born in July, whether is is those born under Cancer (21 June - 22 July) and Leo (23 July - 22 August ) as both starsigns are found in the month of July and share the same birthstone.

July born Cancer people are imaginative but haughty.
July born Leo people are warm but bossy.

For any other general views on the starsigns go here.

Ruby is the main July stone, as well as others.

Aggression time: Food

2011-06-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

Mmm nice but it's even much nicer when it's cooked!

I often enjoy watching cookery shows on TV sometimes when I get the time. It amazes me how many people actually like eating rare steak! Even medium rare is fine by them. They treat someone differently who wants their meat cooked well done, or cooked proper all the way. Is this because they find it childlike to eat fully cooked?

People who want to eat rare meat obviously like it for many different reasons. I'm not going to argue about that except mention how some people who have eaten rare steak do so in order to look tough. Is this a sign of people not overcoming their savage instincts?

I prefer meats that are well done, as it tastes nicer.

I know how to hold my knife and fork, and usually it's polite not to lower your head down to the fork. It's polite to keep still and bring the fork to your mouth.I always thought drinking from a bottle at the table was rude. I really haven't got any interest in wine, and I'm not a fan of expensive drinks. Call me a peasant but I prefer simple beer and soft drink. Most people look down their noses at people who don't drink alcohol anyway. Here are the things I don't like eating or drinking:

Wine
Coffee
Rare steak
Fresh fruit
Tomatoes
Cheese
Bread
Custard
Rhubarb
Garlic
Salmon
Coleslaw
Humus
Salad
Beetroot
Radish
Beansprouts
Noodles
Taragon
Yoghurt
Gateau
Raw carrot
Pies
Kidney
Liver
Oysters
Jelly
Eggs
Most milk
Mushy peas
Roasted peanuts
Salted peanuts
Crisps
Pizza
Burgers (I only have the meat and don't touch the rest)
Cake or sponge
Spirits (alcohol)

Most people would say that I don't like anything. This isn't true. I do like the following foods and drinks:

Tea
Chocolate
Biscuits
Cooked meats
Fruit juice drink
Soup
Breadrolls
Almond croissant
Ginger beer
Beer and ale
Honey
Mashed potatoes and cooked veg
Fresh milk
Milkshake
Curries
Tuna
Haddock
Fishfingers
Yorkshire pudding
Cornish pasty
Mustard
Ginger
Candy
Icecream

Most people think werewolves like raw meat. I don't. I don't even like medium rare, let alone rare meat.It's a myth that therianthropes all like chewing bloodied meat. Not all of us are like that.

The Sun of Midsummer

2011-06-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Midummer Solstice -

Here the time has come for the Midsummer solstice, a much celebrated period of time, during the longest day of the year. It's very scientific and astronomical. Many people celebrate it, particularly us pagans who worship the earth and the sky. It's a time for making rites and honour the life force of the sun, the powerful goddess of the sky. The sky mother. Sunna, as I call Her.

So what really is the Summer Solstice? Without going into details about myths and legends, I could point out that the sun itself has a position or we on the planet are positioned, around facing the sun full on. It's regarded as being the arc of the sun positioned around us, like a glowing ribbon. For some information on this, and to see graphics, visit the sites here:
Solstice
Summer Solstice

Midsummer's Eve is a much recognised holiday in parts of Europe. William Shakespeare wrote the famous play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" about the marriage of a man and woman, with lovers and fairies around the main figures. In "Lord of the Rings" the hero weds the elf princess on Midsummer. It's considered the time of the Oak King, the light one, in Celtic lore. Feast of Epona, the horse goddess, and the celebration of Vesta, goddess of fire, with many other fire festivals across Europe. The Scandinavians once used trees to decourate and dance around for fertility rites during the Summer Solstice. Not forgetting the most famous symbols of the solstices: the megaliths! Stonehenge always attracts visitors during the solstice.

For some information: The Summer Solstice holiday 2011

Picture is "Midsummer Eve" by Edward Hughes

From a daughter to all fathers

2011-06-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

On the third Sunday in June (for 2011 this is the 19th June) is the celebrated Father's Day.

A special blessing to all fathers, including my dad who passed away in 2005. I also send a Father's Day card to my grandad, and gifts to my partner who fathered my young. I also want to give a prayer/ritual to the fatherly gods who I most admire: Odin (the All Father) and Thunor (god of thunder).

Magical jewels

2011-06-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Wearing metals can be hazardous for your health and safety. Metallic jewels that most people favour are platinum, silver, gold, pewter and bronze. Such metals are soft and cold, as well as easily absorbing, and attracting intense magnetism. It has benefits, as well as risks. Gold jewellery can sparkle and looks really flattering but it may cause a rash on some sensitive skin. Metals against the skin have a tendancy to burn the flesh and create a redness and a sore, perhaps even discolouration.

A cousin of mine wore bangles and necklaces that were gifts to her, and she couldn't wear it anymore. Silver is the lesser of the skin-irritants but it's got some properties that may disarray concentraion and weariness. She ended up wearing only silver. I don't like wearing metals but occasionally pewter or silver.

Not only that but metals have a conductive affect that may intensify the attraction of electrics and lightening bolts. Non-conductive jewels, like stones, are favoured amongst females than males. Gemstones and other minerals like rock crystals, opals, amber and jade.

Diamonds are the most desired mineral jewellery for women, and this is because diamonds look so shimmering. Physically, the diamond is a hard rock that's so difficult to break, and it's often used in technology. Spiritually the diamond is tough and acts like a shield so women adorn it unconsiously for their psyche protection. Different stones have different qualities. Some people experience negativity after wearing rose quarzt and amethyst for some time.

Other types of jewellery with different qualities are ivory, wood (and different types of wood have their own traits too, especially wearing something made from oak, apple tree and mahogany), shells and pearls.

Further links:

Gems and their Magical properties
Alchemical magic

Pearl - Wolf of June

2011-06-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of June is the Pearl. For those who were born in June, it's considered a "lucky charm" to wear pearls or the pearl to represent their birth month. Some realise that birthstones themselves are not always the same as the zodiac, which are seperate. There are zodiacal stones as well as birthstones.

Zodiacal stones

For those who were born in the month of June the Pearl is the traditional birthstone. The June birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Pearl is associated - loyalty, faithfulness and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the June Birthstone Pearl are modesty, chastity and purity. The healing properties of the June birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the heart, spleen, stomach, intestine & ulcer problems. The Pearl is also used to enhance personal integrity.

This information comes from this site: June Birthstones from Birthstones

The "Pearl Wolf" might as well be the totem for this month, whoever was born in June, whether is is those born under Gemini (21 May - 21 June) or those born under Cancer (22 June - 22 July). Now this is my interpretation.

June born Gemini people are fun but phony.
June born Cancer people are loving but heavy.

June is the time of the Summer solstice and other celebrations, including modern ones like Father's Day. June has the longest daylight hours of the year. The month "June" was named after the Roman goddess Juno, and Her Greek counterpart Hera.

Another gemstone for June is the Moonstone.

June Birthstones from Bernadine

The above picture is "Wolf's Cry" by artist Manthos Lappas.

A whimsy reading from me

2011-05-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

Here is something I posted on another website:

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is back again. The first one Eyjafjallajjokull, or the "Glacier of Icy Mountains", erupted in March 2010. A year later in May 2011 the volcano Grimsvotn erupted.

Some people see it as a spiritual event instead of a natural disaster. There has been a lot of tectonic movements lately. A lot of religious people are inclined to view it as a punishment. Others think it is part of global warming.

Whatever it is will cause disruption anyway.

Here is a rune I've drawn about this:

Two rune divinations about the subject twice came up with Perthro rune. This is a fate rune. The first attempt using a single rune on my board showed an inverted Perthro in North position.

In the light of the situation, I don't think the rune can tell us the answer. Nature happens. There's a purpose for everything and what will come will anyway. Take it. Ride the storm. Go with the flow. Get umbrellas. Acceptance. Chance.

There are those extremely worried about what will happen in the future. Recently people freaked out thinking the end of the world was coming. Now some are looking at 2012. Even pagans are wondering if something drastic will happen. My answer, as well as the runic answer is:
What will happen is going to anyway. The seasons change. We get old. We have to go to bed when we're tired. Someone's going to lose that contest but someone else will win. Someone could get ill. Someone could win the lottery. In the future, the solar system is going to alter when the sun supernovas. Look at it this way, another star will be born. Does it matter? No it doesn't. Next century another volcano should erupt. Next week, there might be a lot of rain. The point I'm making is what the rune position was at the time and this is my interpretation of it.

Oh and another thing. I did the second rune reading a different way that's unconventional and not traditional. The result was the same almost.

Three pups

2011-05-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

There were three of them,
Three children,
Playing around three trees.
Three birds sang,
Three stones
Three mushrooms,
Three beds of flowers,

Three pots of jasmine, clematis and rose.
Three apples,
Three types of laughter,
Three clouds in the sky.

Three houses on the horizon.
Three ships at sea.
Three figues: young, middle and old.
Three names, three houses, three flowers, three children.
Three darling sunsets as the children kept playing for
Three days.
Three nights.
Three.

Far away Three great rivers.
In the distance,
Three of mountain, ice and fire.
Three fairies
Three maidens,
Three cats,
Three calves,
Three bottles of water.

Three roots of the Great Tree.
Three crowns,
In the Undeworld there are the
Three headed hounds
and three howls.
Before Ragnarok are Three severe Winters.
Then in Summer Three trees with three times apples.

Out of this, three young wolves play and dance in the meadow. Innocent of the world, they share the sacred value.

Mystical Numbers

War Against Terra

2011-05-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

At a time when earthquakes, floods and other kinds of havoc (natural and human) is going on all over the world, heathland fires blaze like whirling red patterns appeared across the British Isles.

It was the dryest April in historic record (according to the news articles) resulting in an outbreak of fires in the countryside. Link to images Some have been deliberately started by vandals.

During this period as Spring's flaming wheels bring Summer, as well as migrant animals, birds and fish appear too. We're bombarded by massive stories that rock the world at the same time.

Over the weekend during the season of Beltane was also the calm of the royal wedding. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, married Catherine Middleton, now the Dutchess of Cambridge. It's been like a fairytale romance between Cinderella and the prince by the way everyone went on about it.

Everyone wondered what dress she would be wearing. The wedding dress turned out to be a disappointment to many people because it looked too old fashioned and Victorian style. The way she seemed in that dress reminded me of both the Stepford Wives and Gothic Lolita. It was eerie in a way.

Everyone forgot about everything going wrong in the world and tuned into this royal wedding on TV. The globe watched England, as England was quietly burning in the landscape. As all this chaos in the world happened a lot so far, there was this wedding and that bride in an innocent lace white dress.

Around that time, we had stories of war and mayhem. Earthquakes, floods, firestorms, tornadoes, warfare, rebellion...and a royal wedding. Some blame it on humanity and pollution. Is it nature altering or going through a cycle? Or is this a human manmade war against the Earth, a.k.a Terra?

The element of Fire is associated with Summer. As Summer is here now, marked by the storms and anger of nature, with fiery dances in the British Isles' wilderness. May the land be blessed with rain at once and put an end to these angry flames.

Emerald - Wolf of May

2011-05-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of May is Emerald.

For those born in May, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing the Emerald to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

"For those who were born in the month of May the Emerald is the traditional birthstone. The May birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Emerald is associated - loyalty, faithfulness and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the May Birthstone Emerald are memory, clairvoyance and faith. The healing properties of the May birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the eyes, fertility, the spine and headaches. The Emerald is also used to enhance mental capabilities."

Source for this here.

Read more about the special qualities of this birthstone here.

The "Emerald Wolf" is a birth totem for people who were born in the month of May, whether they are Taurus (20 April - 20 May) or Gemini (21 May - 21 June).

May born Taurus people are strong but unruly.
May born Gemini people are warm but flimsy.

The beginning of the month of May starts with the very ancient pagan tradition. It's got different names, mostly called May Day and Beltane. The May Queen is usually a legendary figure who has been said to fight with the snow queen of Winter. She's a symbol of the fullest Spring and many girls are selected to represent the May Queen, dressed in flower crowns. It is also well considered that the May Queen is the beautiful love goddess Freya. The Maypole dance is a fertility rite and it symbolises both phallus and the sacred tree of life, also called the World Tree.

Interesting links:

May Birthstones
May Day traiditions

The above painting is "Wolf in Spring Blooms" by Frankie Paquin

Super warning

2011-04-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

Recently the planet has been bombarded. We've just been given news insight that there is a "super volcano" situated in the U.S. region of Yellowstone. Info on Super Volcano
This is a wildlife conserve park, one of the biggest, home to many forms of animals and plants. Wolves have made this place their own in the past few years, and thanks to them the land itself is able to breath and grow after a century of barren fields. That was caused by constant grazing from overpopulated stags.
If this super volcano is going to react soon, it could be the most devastating natural disasters to come.
Also around the recent times of that highlight, we had a string of vicious tornadoes across the U.S. states, a violent earthquake and tsunami in Japan (resulting in widespread radiation leaks from it's nuclear power plant), floods and fires in Australia, and human uprisings.
We also had the Super Moon recently.
Super Moon
The werewolf senses that with every full moon there is a supernatural power. Some psychologists believe the full moon is potential for many to feel driven by impulses. The therianthrope feels a sense of inner strength, power an dspirituality linked to the moon at it's fullest. When there is a supermoon, the therianthrope is given a gift of magic, depending on the sensitivity and well-being of the individual.

The above image is artwork by Brian D. White

Rune game

2011-04-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's now ten years since the game "Rune" first appeared.

Rune starts off as a young man called Ragnar, training to be a warrior like his father, in order to protect the runestones. The runestones are symbolic of his homeland and his people. Anyone can play this, as you learn to pick up different weapons. For women players, it's fun to see the aesthetics and beauty of the landscapes, towns and eye catching domains. The game is sharp and softly coloured, with a background of eerie noises, atmospheric sounds and barbarian style music. It's best played in Winter or Spring.

The game has a chill that makes you feel cold at times, as in finding yourself in the snowier mountains and ice crystal caves. Of all the characters there is only one female character, one of the baddies, a goddess named Hel, who resembles a giant statue of a partially disfigured demoness. Her sinister voice echoes when Ragnar (you) arrives at her doors. She is probably more scary than her father Loki who appears much later on in the game.

The game is enjoyable to all, and it's purely Viking themed.

A whole decade of this. The game still continues now. Let's celebrate!

Rune - An Epic Battle

Diamond - Wolf of April

2011-04-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

The birthstone of April is Diamond.

For those born in April, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing the Diamond to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

For those who were born in the month of April the Diamond is the traditional birthstone. The April birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Diamond is associated - enhancing relationships and increasing inner strength. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the April Birthstone Diamond are balance, clarity and abundance. The healing properties of the April birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to brain diseases, pituitary glands. The Diamond is also used to draw out toxins and therefore was used as a remedy for poison.

Read source here

More about April Birthstone

For those born in April, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing a Diamond to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

The "Diamond Wolf" is a birth totem for people who were born in the month of April, whether they are Aries (March 21 - April 20) or Taurus (April 21- May 21).

April born Aries people are funny but angry.
April born Taurus people are safe but huffy.

In April there is April Fool's Day that is about playing jokes on others. It has no record of where it originated from but has been going on for centuries. The season of Ostara continues in April, the celebration of Spring and the new light. The sunlight gets brighter and more golden as warmth happens all around. Blossoms show on trees, and new flowers grow. Sometimes there are blossom that shed from trees, giving pink rainfall. It's considered a month of "April showers" or gentle rainfall. Also in April is the day of St. George (England) or it's regarded as Sigurd's Day, the celebration of the dragon slayer.

April Birthstone
Diamond

Transformation

2011-03-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've experienced the phenomena of transformation, or shape-shifitng. It isn't what you think. It doesn't involve pain or agony. It doesn't have to happen during a full moon. It doesn't need to be physical change from human to wolf. Yet what I've undergone is a shape-shift. That is what I call it - dunno about you.

REAL SHAPE SHIFTING doesn't simply happen overnight or within an hour, or as you see in horror films, minutes. It takes years. I'm not the same as I used to be before my transformation. I'm not even sure if I've completed full transformation yet. Shape shifting at it's truest sense can't be reversed. Once you've altered, you will never be the person you once were.

Basically I regardless of the shift, I look like a woman and not like a wolf but I'm not the same inside. What caused this wasn't the full moon. It was motherhood. Becoming a mother can do something to any woman's hormones, creating an imbalance, change of mood, and even different traits. I had this during pregnancy, from mood swings, weepiness, my belly swelling, hair changing colour, fuller breasts and the dreaded Pica habits. I used to eat lots of ice and mushrooms. I went off my usual favourite foods and drinks. It made me sick. I felt ill and couldn't wait for pregnancy to be done with. I looked forward to giving birth. When I gave birth I must've been screaming like a woman transforming into a werewolf.

I had my baby and then I changed again. I became paranoid and depressed. I was unsociable. I didn't want others near me or the baby. I was aggressive, like a She-Wolf mother, protective of her new pups.

A year later, it had been calm and subtle. Then I experienced a severe form of post natal illness called Puerperal Psychosis. I went through an emotional and physical ordeal but eventually, one year later, I recovered from this.

Other weird emotions happened, then passed. During these times, I was in communication with the dead and I could channel and do magic. I suddenly had a burst of artistic inspiration and expressed myself through art. Looking at the material now shows how ill or mad I was then. Then I became different again.People found me freaky and avoided me. I know that there is more stuff, really personal that I won't mention here but I understand that if others encountered me, they would've found me scary, mad or weird. Others told me they felt that I was "poorly" instead of being mad or anything else .

Success!

2011-03-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

Here is the result of the forests campaign, the Government have decided not to go ahead with selling off our sacred forests. I'm really pleased about this. I want to thank those who've campaigned as well as thank the MP's for listening to us, especially my local MP who contacted me directly about this.

Predators in Your Backyard

2011-03-09T05:10:00.000-08:00

"Predators in Your Backyard" is a TV documentary made by "Horizon" from the BBC. It features wolves in Yellowstone Park, panthers in Florida and bears in Italy. I understand the reintroduction of predators into the wilderness, as this programme outlines why. Yellowstone Park was turning barren because a large increased population of elk was stripping the land of plants and trees. They had to be culled somehow, but their natural predator, the wolf, was killed off by people 100 years ago. In the 1990's wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park and now trees and forests are growing back. Certain other species of animal returned also and this landscape was transformed into a jewel of beauty. Wild predators make the land what it is.
Near end of the show, I would like to disagree on something and allow my voice to be read.
It was about a certain breed of wild horses, starving in North America because there are too many of them. Their natural predator, the smilodon or sabre-toothed cat, no longer exists. They suggested that they could introduce the African lion into this North American landscape to cull the horses because lions hunt zebras!
I really disagree with this idea because I think it's wrong of us to play with nature like that. These horses are dying as a breed because of nature and it isn't the fault of human as it was about wolves, panthers and bears. Nature is deciding that these horse will soon fade. By humans placing a new animal (the Saharan lion) into a different continent means that humans are not thinking of the consequences doing this. It may cause problems for the wilderness. People are surely interfering with nature again by doing that?
Make your own mind up and watch this show here: Predators in Your Backyard

Aquamarine - Wolf of March

2011-03-01T01:15:00.000-08:00

The birthstone of March is Aquamarine. Also there are two birthstones of March because one is modern, the Aquamarine and the Bloodstone is a traditional March birthstone.

For those who were born in the month of March the Aquamarine is the traditional birthstone. The March birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Aquamarine is associated - faithfulness, courage and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the March Birthstone Aquamarine are awareness, quick response and easing communication problems. The healing properties of the March birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to throat problems and stress-related illness.

Sources from here

Also information that March stone was a Bloodstone.

For those born in March, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing Aquamarine or Bloodstone to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

The "Aquamarine Wolf" and "Bloodstone Wolf" is a birth totem for people who were born in the month of March, whether they are Pisces (February 19 - March 20) or Aries (March 20 - April 20).

March born Pisces people are lucid but edgy.

March born Aries people are passionate but fluffy.

March is a period of Winter's end and the arrival of Spring. It's a time of the Spring equinox when daylight hours change, and the sunlight grows bigger and longer in the day.

The month "March" was named after the Roman god of war, Mars yet it was once called Martius by the Romans as it was considered the first month of the year. In the Gregorian calendar it's the third month of the year, when Spring begins, and more flowers appear in abundance.

Hibernating animals wake up. The Spring begins in March and flowers start to appear. This is when the sun lingers and days start to get longer. It's the month of celebrating the ancient tradition we now know called Ostara a feast of the goddess Ostara.

March birthstone
The meaning of Aquamarine
The meaning of Bloodstone

Red Riding Hood

2011-02-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to watching this.

Based on the classic fairy tale, this new werewolf film stars Amanda Seyfried as Valerie, the heroine of the film.

For more information on it, and to see the trailer visit these pages:

Red Riding Hood (2011) IMD
Official "Red Riding Hood" movie site

Wolf Goddess - Luperca

2011-02-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

The Goddess Lupa or Luperca is an Etruscan goddess.

She is depicted in wolf form but also appears as a lady.

She is also called Luperca and Acca Larentia.

Acca Larentia was the wife of Faustulus.

Some stories suggest that Lupa is Artemis in wolf shape.

The story goes that Goddess Lupa is the wolf mother who adopted and nursed two baby boys, Romulus (the founder of Rome) and Remus.

Lupa or Lupea is a Latin name for "She Wolf" but interestingly it's also a title of a common prostitute in ancient Rome.

The celebration of Lupercalia Day is a Roman festival to honour the goddess wolf mother.
Lupercalia Day was held on the 15th February but it's the origin of modern Valentine's Day, held on the 14th February.

Links:
Acca Larentia
Romulus and Remus
Roman Prostitutes
Inner Goddess - Lupa/Acca Larentia
Lupa
The Mysterious Etruscans
Lupercalia

Yeti

2011-02-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

There are few accounts of these entities, or rather, legendary monsters seen in the snowy drifts of the mountains of Tibet and Nepal.

They go by many names famously called "Yeti" and "Abominable Snowman". They are a form of cryptid, a mythical and maybe a fantastic creature not known or possibly imaginative. It is said these beasts are half men and half bears although some consider them to be apelike. They are usually large and white but some have written about these unsual beings brown in appearance. Strange footpints have been found in snow by teams of explorers.

Whatever these creatures are, they have many names and have many sightings all around the world.

The snow beast has been sighted from across the globe in areas of Asia, the Americas, Europe (even in Scotland) and Australia. Some have explained them off as being animals such as a blue bear.

Sources:
Yeti Wikipedia
Archive for Abominable Snowman
Yeti - with photos of footprints
The Cryptid Zoo
The Museum of Unnatural History

The world is full of stories about such large, ferocious beasts. They manifest in human works of fiction, especially in cinema and gaming. For example, the Yetilike creature appears in "Beast Quest," "Final Fantasy", "Quake" and "Rune".The Yeti has appeared in many films including "Yeti (2009)", "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" and "Monsters Inc".

Apart from this, many people have fears of the snow, and they imagine seeing monstrous shapes, hearing noises and even visualising horror. Every Winter when there is a heavy snowfall, children like to build snowmen. It is often considered an act of artistry and skill, especially if you build a large snowman. Some children may even fear their own snowmen, at night when these white figures are outside looking like spectres. People have been building snowmen since the Middle Ages. Some may even find that snowmen are often "creepy" in appearance, and reminds others of horror films and nightmares.

Video of a mysterious creature

Amethyst - Wolf of February

2011-02-01T02:47:00.000-08:00

The birthstone of the month is Amethyst.

For those who were born in the month of February the Amethyst is the traditional birthstone. The February birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the Amethyst is associated - stability, peace, balance, courage, inner strength, sincerity and a calm disposition. The healing properties of the February birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the withdrawal symptoms of any sort of addiction, headaches, insomnia, arthritis, pain relief, circulatory system issues and general healing. The Amethyst is also referred to as the the "sobriety stone" as it was once believed to prevent drunkenness and used to treat alcoholism and other types of addictions.

This is taken from Here

For those born in February, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing Amethyst to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

The "Amethyst Wolf" is a birth totem for people who were born in the month of February, whether they are Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) or Pisces (February 19 - March 20).

February born Aquarius people are glittering but stormy.

February born Pisces people are colourful but moody.

February is part of the winter season, but it is a time of fading winter and gathering light. It's also the season of romantic love and fertility or as in it's earlier traditional form, a banishing of evil spirits.

Valentine's Day is a big season of the month and it has origins linked to an ancient tradition called Lupercalia. This was a Roman festival that celebrated the wolf mother goddess, who fostered children.

This month could also be considered the "month of the wolf", called Faoilleach.

The February Wolf is about love and fertility, mating rituals and companionships.

February is considered the time of Imbolc, the Celtic festival as part of the Wheel of the Year, to honour the goddess Brigid, bright goddess of flames. February is when the time of Winter fades and Spring is born.

More links about Amethysts:

February Birthstone
Meanings of stones - Amethyst

About the February traditions:

Lupercalia
Lupa or Acca Larentia
Pagan Origins of Valentine's Day
Imbolc
Brgid's Cross

A request please - Save England's Forests

2011-01-25T04:26:00.000-08:00

Hello again. Please could you sign this petition to save our forests? The government plans to sell off natural ancient woodlands of England, and it would be much appreciated if people could add their name and help protect our forests. This would help in our campaign to atleast bring to attention the support for keeping our forests and not have them sold away.

Save England's Ancient Forests

I hope that you would spare a little moment to sign it. I have done this already.
Thanks.

Boy fends off wolves

2011-01-24T00:30:00.000-08:00

Breaking News!

A schoolboy, Walter Eikrem, aged 13, was on his way home from school. Then he was surrounded by a pack of wolves. Instead of screaming or running away, he put on some loud music using his mp3 player and started shouting. The wolves lost interest in him and they went away.

The incident happened in Norway. It's not so much that the boy scared off the wolves. He said they didn't appear to look frightened. I think the wolves simply realised he wasn't to be messed with or perhaps they felt respect for him. Wolves take down anyone that shows fear, and this boy simply wasn't afraid of them. Perhaps he was very worried but he displayed bravery and the wolves didn't pick up on fear. Wolves can sense fear.

For more on this story, go HERE

Dark Forests

2011-01-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

This is really one of my favourite subjects. I love looking at photographs and paintings of dark forests, especially forests at night time. Forests in black and white photographs. Forests darkened by winter gloom. Forests with damp wet darkened trees and mist. Forests with plenty of shadow and not enough sunlight. Forests that look spooky. Forests with dead trees. Forests with trees that appear menacing. Forests with eyes peering between bushes and leaves. Forests full of ghostly shapes. Forests that contain predatory animals such as wolves and bears that anyone will avoid camping in.

There is not enough websites featurng galleries of such magnificence of nature: darkest forests.

To me, the dark forest conjurs up spectral things like the subconsious, inner fears, a feel of danger lurking and an atmosphere like broken romance.

I cannot emphasise how much this appeals to me.

The dark forest is tremendously beautiful in a chilling way. It causes me to imagine things that are either supernatural or artistic, making me want to live there just as the wild wolfhead woman Maid Marion. To hide in trees, erect wooden shelter and be one with the elements. It seems pretty cheesy but it's nature!

I would simply love to spend a week all by myself in a wooden log cabin bang in the centre of a forest with ghosts, wolves, bears and complete darkness from the thick density of trees all around. I would feel as vulnerable as Little Red Riding Hood or Snow White. Any woman would feel scared. Most people get a thrill out of bunjee jumping, sky diving, mountain climbing or racing. I would get a thrill out of spending a night on my own in a dark forest. That would freak people surely unless they're used to it. People choose anything but isolation and being just cut off from humanity but with unfamiliar animals of the forest is scary.

Whenever you watch a horror film, be it gothic, chiller, psychological thriller, paranormal, even historical fiction with a grim storyline, the dark forest sets it off. The forests frighten people. I've heard people say this and they even dislike trees in gardens.

Browsing at images of "dark forests" is a kind of therapy. What stands out is the elegance of the pictures, whether or not they're painted or photographic. Any picture of a dark forest without anyone in it, not a single creature, gives the forest a very imposing look. I can almost sense being there. The forest appears threatening just as it's own.

Black metal album covers often feature dark forests.

Garnet birthstone - Wolf of January

2011-01-06T02:53:00.000-08:00

Garnet birthstone - Wolf of January

(Note: I would've posted this by the 1st January but couldn't get around to it. I started writing this the other day, and with everyone home for the holidays, this made it impossible for me to spend much time on the computer. Finally I'm able to post this today.)

The birthstone of the month of January is Garnet.

For those who were born in the month of January the garnet is the traditional birthstone. The January birthstone poem reflects some of the properties with which the garnet is associated - purity, truth, faithfulness and friendship. The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for the January Birthstone Garnet are awareness, commitment, regeneration, insight and removing negativity. The healing properties of the January birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the blood, heart, lungs and infection. The garnet is also used to enhance sensuality and sexuality.

This is from: Gemstone of January

For those born in January, it is often considered a lucky charm if wearing a garnet to represent their birth month. Some would consider that the birthstone doesn't fall into place with the zodiac. The birthstone is a seperate element and has different meanings, while the zodiac is shaped by the stars.

Now I intend to make posts based on each of the month about my birthstone wolves and I will describe what they mean for those who have a birth connection with them.

The "Garnet Wolf" is a birth totem for people who were born in the month of January, whether they are Capricorn (December 22 - January 19) or Aquarius (January 20 - February 18).

The wolf often associated with Winter is the Arctic wolf. As January is part of the winter season, it was once considered an After Yule time period. So the Garnet Wolf would be a white wolf surrounded by snow.

Other garnet birthstone animals, or January animals are associated with the cold and snow such as the polar bear, arctic fox and penguins.

The January born Capricorn people are sparkling but icy.
January born Aquarius people are calm but overbearing.

More links about Garnets:

January Birthstone
Meanings of Stones - Garnet

The above image comes from Acaciacat

Midwinter

2010-12-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

I give thanks to the Yule Log:
for seeing us through another year.

I also give thanks to the gods,
for helping me recover.

As the sun dims and lowers in the cold sky.
Winter is at it's darkest and shortest.

Tonight there is going to be a ritual.
I will be present at the rite of Midwinter.

Winter Solstice

Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001)

2010-12-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

A review of mine. This rather modern version of the Grimm's fairytale film was made by Hallmark in 2001. Not like the Disney animation with musicals and following the story to the book, this TV version has another slant to the tale.

It's all illusion and nothing is real, as the theme goes. First of all, the parents of Snow White are poor instead of royalty. A woman hopes for a child at the beginning of the film, and her wish results in a daughter being born. However, it also meant paying the price for her own life, and so the mother dies. The father of Snow White falls on hard times and he carries her off into a blizzard, where he wakens a magician by accidently breaking the ice because of a tear. He is granted a wish, for a secure home, a palace, and a queen. There the man is not so much a real king but his wish is granted, and he too would end up paying a price.

The queen would arrive, and she's the stunning red-haired Elspeth, who is a vicious natured witch. She also does truly look "fair" although that is illusion. Her appearance is glamour, and yet she is so dazzled by it all that she's forgotten how she truly looks. The king, father of Snow White, falls in love with Elspeth only after a shower of glass, using it's magic to capture his heart and it's a love spell. So his love for her isn't real. The gnomes of the palace are all not what we assume either. There is, amongst them, a dwarf who was turned to stone that sits in the garden. We as viewers get to see why this happened. Snow White grows into a young woman and the queen clearly is jealous of her.

The spell is fractured when the queen's greed of wanting the visiting handsome prince Alfred's heart, resenting the king as she cannot feel love herself, only wants others to love her. To do that she uses shards of magic mirror dust. The piece of mirror in the king's eyes falls out after the queen hits him in a rage. She tries to use her tricks again by capturing the love of a prince but it all fails. The prince accidently crushes the chink of enchanted glass but a servant has already fallen for the queen under a spell when another piece of glass enters his vision instead of the prince's. Using glass magic reflected back shows a false unreal love. Here the queen discovers that even her flawed magic is shaking when it's revealed who the true fairest of them all is: Snow White. The queen does not return the love of the servant but uses him in her game to kill Snow White and remove the princess so that she can have the prince.

Now the film gets tricky but for kids it's lovely and colourful.

The servant cannot kill Snow White but he lets her escape but in so doing, betrays the queen. Snow White runs through the night forest and attacked by trees. She's is persued by the handsome prince who becomes a bear, and this frightens Snow White away. The queen also caused that dilemna. Now the queen is exposing her hatred to all. She may have the reflection of looking beautiful, but her very inner self is twisted and vile.

Snow White reached the dwelling of the six characters with the comeback of the long lost seventh dwarf after that spell was broken too. The dwarves consist of days of the week and colours of the spectrum. Not all are pleased by Snow White's arrival at first.

As the film unravels, one can become easily dazzled by what is meant to be real and what isn't. For example, the dwarves control the elements and become rainbows. They also create snow! The prince one wonders if he's a bear or if he's a human. As a bear, he gets locked in a glass snow globe, picked up by a wild wolf, and dropped further up the stream. The illsuion shatters to extreme later and there are some weirdness, when all the gnomes come back to life and the queen shows her true colours. The film is lush in bright technicolour, and the effects of glass and mirrors create a prismic field of fakeness and distortion. All of it is the queen's own illusion and all live under her false making, cast under her illuminating spells.

The film is also like a combination of other stories, "The Snow Queen" and "Snow White and Rose Red". Is there a werewolf theme to it? The prince in the shape of a bear, the transformation and indication, of shapeshifting by a curse, and imprisonment in more glass. Both father of Snow White and the prince and future husband of Snow White find themselves trapped in glass as Snow White is locked in a case made of ice. Ice resembles glass. Much of this illusion shines on every single fragment of the film's plot. The story expands on the mirror and eyes instead on the apples. The apple in this film looks unreal too, with one half red and poisonous but natural looking, while the other half dipped in white chocolate is purified of poison. It's as though the apple was deadly anyway.

Snow White: Fairest of Them All

Huskies

2010-12-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Huskies are one of my favourite dogs. The husky dog is also called the sled dog.

They can be found in Scandinavia, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska and Canada. These dogs have very thick fur and they usually have really pale blue eyes. Some of them have brown eyes.

Huskies live in cold habitat and snowy regions.

Often used in work, such as rescue operations or commonly as a form of transport for pulling sledges, they can also make quite loyal pets.

They are becoming very popular as a choice of dog these days.

Is there anything else we know?

Okay. Huskies are one of the oldest breeds of dog.
Huskies don't really bark. They make other sounds like this you hear: Husky dog sounds
Huskies resemble wolves but they are not wolves.
Some of these dogs enjoy digging or running.
The Siberian husky tends to eat flowers and plants.
Unlike many other dog breeds, most huskies can climb up things easily.
Huskies are said to be good with children.

Huskies are a popular trend in Yule celebrations in many towns and city centres. Instead of reindeer, some councils may opt for huskies / sled dogs to pull Santa's sleigh, adding to the midwinter magic of Yule in different angles. The husky tends to be overlooked in myth and fairytales.

Here are some beautiful websites:
Everything Husky
Siberian Husky Club
SHWAUK
Dreamcatcher Huskies
Siberian Huskies
All About Huskies

If I was to choose a dog, a husky would be very helpful and also fascinating. These dogs are trusting and full of inner warmth, regardles sof the cold that they seem to enjoy.

The Winter Wolf

2010-12-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

The country freezes in almost Arctic conditions. The snows came in November, and the air was stinging of North Winds. The frosts began, with fogs, and snow followed, leaving a blanket of white beauty across the land. This lovely picturesque landscape, like a traditional card for the festive season, holds many problems. The temperatures are not only chilling and could damage the soil as well as roads, but it's killed and removed vital energy sources from residential homes. People have gone without light, heating or electricity. There is the inability to travel. Snow causes immobility. It freezes everything and shuts down the system. While people try to carry on doing their work and living their lives, or even enjoying the snow (schools closed meant that children had extra time off so that they can play!), the snow has caused a breakdown of traffic and food shortages.

It's a winter unlike other winters on record of the British weather. Since the weather reports began in the 19th Century, the United Kingdom has never been this cold. It's unknown how the temperatures were before these records began (but we did experience drastic temp changes in ancient and pre-historic times).

This is the time of winter and although it can be extremely cold in other places, it has never been so cold here in the UK before. It caught everyone by surprise. This doesn't usually happen, and it could be the thing of whatever comes in future as we may see this from now on. Maybe we'll see more winters like this? Perhaps it's the start of an Ice Age era? Maybe there isn't such a thing as Global Warming but instead Global Cooling. I personally think we're long anticipating some form of catastrophe anywhere in the world, and there is so much chaos in the world that it effects the weather and the earth. I'm sounding frantic here but not because there's been so much snow. It's observation and reports that ring bells.

The white coldness is the symbol of my post: "The Winter Wolf". The Wolf of iciness, with a heart rigid and cruel. It stops time itself. It makes our tools too difficult to use and power supply becomes useless. The Winter Wolf is not an actual wolf of the forests or parks, but a primordial sense like a force of nature, a spirit, divine being. Some might suggest it's the opposite of life, the bringer of death, the destroyer of warmth and love, clouds which cover the sun and moon from us and what makes the land infertile. It's winter itself, but also a glacial period, and a sign that nature is out of harmony. We have winter because of the technical layout of our orbital pattern around the sun and distance it moves from it. However, this does not explain why the fact that the earth is closest to the sun during winter and furthest from the sun during summer. Or why such seasons we have did not occur at the time of the dinosaurs. Look at mythology and even fairy tales. Notice how the symbol of SNOW and WOLVES appear to represent what I've mentioned here.

These are websites of interest:
Ice Age Now
Climate Cooling
Fimbulvetr

Romasanta The Werewolf Hunt

2010-11-28T03:38:00.000-08:00

The 2004 film "Romasanta The Werewolf Hunt" has a very different perspective on the subject of werewolves. The main character Manuel Romasanta (played by Julian Sands) is the werewolf in disguise but against traditional werewolf tales, this werewolf is not so much a man who becomes a wolf at the full moon. He's a wolf who becomes a man! The idea of wolves becoming human isn't much known than it is for humans becoming wolves.

The film begins in a shadowy region of northern Spain during the mid ninenteenth century. Bodies are found torn and bloodied. The story unfolds when certain key characters are introduced. Throughout the film are scenes of dark mountains and forests filled with wolves. The atmosphere of the place is so eerie. You can feel the vulnerability of the people who lived in the villages there. "I have some good news, we are leaving" said the sister of heroine Barbara (Elsa Pataky) to her daughter. However, she didn't want her sister Barabra to go with them so the younger sister returned to the gloomy village on her own. While there on edge out of fear that wolves are lurking, for she'd encountered one in the barn on a previous night, her sister and niece were with the werewolf.

The rest of the film is sad in parts, while full of intrigue. You cannot sympathise or empathise with Romasanta because he's dangerous and he kills for food while in the shape of a wolf. As a man, he surgically cut open his victims to take their fat, which he made into a fine soap. This is what he did for a living. There is something more cold and calculating about him. He pretended to be his victims and wrote letters to their loved ones about never going home to see them again. He kept items such as jewellery that belonged to them. He was a womaniser and he loved his victims before he killed them. As for feeling human, he lacked any compassion at all but he fell in love with Barbara. He said he felt human emotions for the "first time" at that point. He's portrayed as being like a werewolf Dracula as he easily enchants women but his intentions are deadly.

The film is based loosely on true historical events. Manuel Blanco Romasanta and more can be found about this here:
The Wolfman of Allariz

Light Queen of Dark

2010-11-16T04:04:00.000-08:00

Light Queen of Dark is my own made up title to discuss Queen Guinevere. Guinevere is indeed a queen of light and yet she hails from the Dark Ages or a mysterious time of myth and legend. She may never have existed either. Shrouded in mists, it leaves her as still one of the most famous lgendary queen's of the ancient British shores.

Guinevere, or Queen Guinevere, is the wife of King Arthur. She plays a significant part in the Arthurian legend when she is the love of Arthur and yet after marrying him, she betrays him. She has a love affair with Lancelot, one of Arthur's knights. Did any of this happen? If not then does the magic behind the myth hold any significance? I'm not hear to discuss whether or not it's true but to talk about the queen as myth.

The name "Guinevere" comes from the Celtic Gwenhwyfar that means "the fair", "shining," "white cloud," "white phantom" and "white Shadow." The name is linked with the English name "Jennifer". There are different variations of Guinevere and it is possible that Queen Guinevere is linked to flowers and brides. She may have origins in Celtic myth lore and be a female spirit, goddess and huntress. She may be an aspect of the triple goddess and an earth goddess.

Arthurian Women
Arthurian Legend

Here is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson about Lancelot and Guinevere:

LIKE souls that balance joy and pain,
With tears and smiles from heaven again
The maiden Spring upon the plain
Came in a sun-lit fall of rain.
In crystal vapour everywhere
Blue isles of heaven laugh'd between,
And far, in forest-deeps unseen,
The topmost elm-tree gather'd green
From draughts of balmy air.

Sometimes the linnet piped his song:
Sometimes the throstle whistled strong:
Sometimes the sparhawk, wheel'd along,
Hush'd all the groves from fear of wrong:
By grassy capes with fuller sound
In curves the yellowing river ran,
And drooping chestnut-buds began
To spread into the perfect fan,
Above the teeming ground.

Then, in the boyhood of the year,
Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere
Rode thro' the coverts of the deer,
With blissful treble ringing clear.
She seem'd a part of joyous Spring:
A gown of grass-green silk she wore,
Buckled with golden clasps before;
A light-green tuft of plumes she bore
Closed in a golden ring.

Now on some twisted ivy-net,
Now by some tinkling rivulet,
In mosses mixt with violet
Her cream-white mule his pastern set:
And fleeter now she skimm'd the plains
Than she whose elfin prancer springs
By night to eery warblings,
When all the glimmering moorland rings
With jingling bridle-reins.

As she fled fast thro' sun and shade,
The happy winds upon her play'd,
Blowing the ringlet from the braid:
She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd
The rein with dainty finger-tips,
A man had given all other bliss,
And all his worldly worth for this,
To waste his whole heart in one kiss
Upon her perfect lips.

Many poems like this can be found on various poetry websites.

Gwenhwyfar: A Cymric Heroine

Early British Kingdoms

Gwynhwfar: the Cloud who Would be Queen

Many actresses have portrayed Guinevere in different unique ways. In the 2004 film King Arthur the Guinevere character was a fierce warrior woman, who was not easily broken. The beautiful 1980's film "Excalibur" has the queen Guinevere played by Cherie Lunghi, who comes across as selfish at first but sorrowful later on. In the BBC television series "Merlin" (with a boyish Merlin) the character Guinevere is portrayed as a black servant girl played by Angel Coulby. IMHO the show is awful and plastic as well as being too PC but that hasn't forever tainted the legend or Guinevere's meaning. There is going to be a new Arthurian legend TV series called "Camelot", starring Tamsin Egerton who'll be playing Queen Guinevere. I'm looking forward to seeing this!

Le Morte d'Arthur

The above artwork is "Guinevere" by Manon

Wolves of the Stars

2010-11-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

It appears that the WOLF does not exist as an zodiac sign or does it? The wolf doesn't seem to be anywhere in astrology. Star lore literature and beliefs may include canines though. I came across few pieces of information that tends to go deeper.

The Moon - Wolves are traditionally linked to the moon, especially the full moon. In Norse myth, a wolf named Hati persues the moon in the final conflict of Ragnarok. The werewolf legends are tied with the moon as the moon is the source of power for the shapeshifting to occur. Silver, the element, is associated with the moon, and is a combat weapon against the werewolf. People suffering lycanthropy look to the moon or moonwards.

The sun - Wolves are not generally linked with the sun although they are mythically involved with the dark sun or the solar eclipse. In Norse myth, Skoll chases after the sun goddess. The purpose of this wolf is to devour Her, which reminds me of the solar eclipse or blackening out of the sun. Both wolves Hati and Skoll are brothers, whose father was the giant wolf Fenrir. The two wolf brothers each chase the sun and moon. There is a Saturn moon called "Skoll" named after the wolf giant from Norse myth.

The Stars - In many stories from diffeent places, the star Sirius is linked to canines. Certain people call it the Star of the Wolf, and others call it the Dog Star.

Astrology - The Wolf appears in the form of a Dog in the Chinese zodiac. It would be the eleventh sign on this calendar. The Native American astrological sign of the Wolf is part of the Animal Zodiac. The Birth Totem for Wolf is 19th February to 20th March.

Timeless Myths: Monsters
God Checker
What's your sign - Animal zodiac
Dog star
Hellhounds
Geri and Freki - wolf gods

So there you have it. Wolves of the stars. The meaning behind them are far greater than we can know as some of these myths and symbols are ancient. Wolves have come to represent death but benign wolves in legends have been forgotten. One exception is Lupa from Roman myths. Lupa is the nurturing mother wolf goddess who adopted human children. In the Americas, various tribes viewed wolves as teachers. Wolves appear on Native American horoscope (birth toems) and medicine wheel. Once upon a time, human beings helped to train the wolf and then domesticated them. Now they are bred as different types of dogs. We look upn them as household pets, our loving dogs who belong to the family. They're helpers, guardians and workers. However, domestic dogs still haven't lost their natural wolf behaviour streaks.

Not all of these wolves in ancient times were looked upon negatively. Their pelts were used for different purposes. Also people admired wolves for their hunting skill. Odin the All-Father had two powerful wolves, Geri and Freki, who could cross through the stars and travel worlds. From the giant wolves who swallow suns to the helpful wolves who bring healing in spiritual quests, the Wolf's starry meaning is quite buried IMO.

Above artwork "Chariot: Hati and Skoll" by Naryu

The Unexplained Kiss

2010-11-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

"The Unexplained Kiss"
by Ragna

Asleep in a canopy, sparkling
diamond tipped branches,
Bowing under a fall of rain
that caresses me,
Touching my silken cover
and dampening, damaging in
time, effortlessly, ageing,
Lost in nether.
Closed in dreams.
Whispering to the hearts of
dancing fragrant drifts,
Smoke rises from the hills,
as another, another, temple falls,
Then they, with a stamp of
face valued rulars, charging and
yelling, in darkness and chains.
I sleep, asunder, roaming seas.
The memory of my forefathers and
those kin and line of roses,
all cheat the grasps of that
curse of the overlord.
In a frozen perfumed tear,
a woman opens, anew,
then the hoof beats of stallions,
and war machines rage,
by blood for destiny
not the one given to stone.
What comes, for me to explain,
is all the churning destruction
of the frizzled painted towers
and windows of weeping dead,
A circle, not heard.

Ragna (2010)

The Lamp

2010-10-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

"The Lamp"

Shining like a star

A burning firelight so

small, as a fairy's breath,

So warm, like a tired sleeping sun.

It reaches for you,

And you can come then

to drink the essence

To taste the sweetness,

and kiss the sugary cup.

When the moths fly

You and I dance,

With my eternal glowing

and it burns your icy glance.

Red, orange, golden, amber,

it becomes violet and blue.

We turn left and right,

in sacred ground,

heavily the sky is tainted

in the fusion of past, present, future.

(Poem by Ragna Oct 2010)

Dream Wolves

2010-10-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dream analysis by Ragna.

The wolf:

A Wolf appears in dreams for a variety of reasons, depending on you. Some wolves mean a different thing to one person and an entirely different view to another person. Their dreams of wolves would, as with anything, come to mean different things. A person who adores wolves and spends their life caring for them in a park run by a charity may see a wolf in the dream as a companion. Another person with healing arts may dream that a wolf is trying to tell them something and may appear as a guide. A person who knows little of wolves, and other wild animals and fears wolves anyway will dream that their wolf visitor is trying to get them. Is that how really dreams work? Do they mean different things to everyone individually? I don't claim to have the answers but I will try and consider the possibility a little bit further.

I can interprate dreams and I've done so for other people in the past. I can examine a person's dream and come up with a conclusion for the symbolism. Some dreams are not all symbols. I could also see the person's hopes and fears. I don't see myself as very good with dream studying although I have a sense of things quickly and so strongly that I feel like telling the person who had the dream.

I believe that in general the wolf means ONE thing to everyone. But there is a secondary meaning to the individual dreamer. Then there is more to the dream than just dream symbols. Not all dreams are trying to tell us something. Not all dreams have riddles. Some dreams are reflections of many parts of us, and outside of us. Dreams could be many other things I can't think of even to explain. Let's focus on the WOLF symbol in dreams.

My father dreamt of a wolf a few weeks before he died. When he told me of his dream, he said that he knew it meant his time was coming. I asked how he knew this just by dreaming of a wolf. As my dad was suffering a terminal illness, I assumed that he was imagining his worst fear. He replied saying that "the wolf represents death". I was aware of the frightful Fenris wolf and other big bad legendary wolves. Also I knew of the benign mother wolf Lupa, the faithful wolf friends of other heroic stories, the gentle animals in captivity, wolf spirits that appear to people in order to help/heal, and even the shamanistic visions of wolf guides. Mainly the wolf is known as a wild pack animal who enjoys hunting.

This made me reconsider the wolf in a different way. I began to look upon the wolf as a far more complex creature than I did before. I studied the wolf a little and read myths and legends.

If you dream of a wolf, depending on who yo are and how you feel, the main message is that the wolf is showing you something indeed. You are looking at a wolf in a dream. This is a predator animal and hunts in a pack, yet is loyal to its own. Generally, the wolf is regarded in both a Positive and a Negative way.

Dream sites:
Dream Moods
Dream Visions

My dream interpretation is that a wolf symbol shows your inner senses and your connection to nature. It will then depend on the wolf, if there were other wolves, if it communicated to you, if it were aggressive, and so on. Then here is the following of the general meanings:

A Wolf - Your natural self. Your instincts and inner being.
An angry wolf - Your aggression.
Being attacked by a wolf - Your sense of insecurity and perhaps you are in a vulnerable position.
A friendly wolf - This would be your controlled side. The ability to calm your anger and temper.
A familiar wolf - Your wolf that you knew and your relationship loyalties.
A spectral wolf - Same as "a wolf" and could be your shadowy self or dark side.
A wolf picture - A still of your relation to nature.
A pack of wolves - Your fears and relations with new people.
Attacked by wolves - Be on your guard, take caution and not to stir waters. Be clear of certain situations and people that you are not sure of. Always be prepared.

Also apart form this basic message for the population, on an individual level, the wolf has a second meaning for you but that is for you (or someone who knows you) to work out. It could be that if a wolf is attacking you in a dream, then it might mean that you are vulnerable. However, the wolf may be WARNING you of something. Perhaps the wolf is you not being honest with yourself, or it could be that you still deeply bad about an incident. The wolf can be a visitor or a guide to show someone things. There are many possibilities.

Cat People (1942)

2010-10-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

This is the first film review I've made on this blog She Wolf Night. I haven't done any movie/TV reviews before anywhere either and it's to be my first published one.

"Cat People" made in 1942 is the subject of this day. Starring Simone Simon who plays the lead character, Irena Dubrovna, who is a fashion designer and a shapeshifter. She encounters a charming gentleman Oliver (played by Kent Smith) at the zoo and they hit it off really well. So far the introduction features images of cats or mainly panthers. Irena is at the zoo, drawing a still life panther. They become very close and Oliver is drawn to Irena and she is nocturnal in nature. She enjoys the dark. In her apartment is a statuette of a Medieval king with an impaled cat on his sword. Later Irena witnesses the king appearing to her in a dream about cats. The symbol of impaled cats throughout the film, and linking swords with keys (there is a significant key to the panther's cage at the zoo). Irena tells Oliver about the story of the king and much of this relates to witchcraft. They eventually marry and Irena meets Oliver's best friend and colleague Alice (Jane Randolph) during their wedding. At the wedding dinner reception, a mysterious woman with catlike features approaches Irena and tells her that she is one of them.

Irena is unable to show affection towards her husband, especially someone she loves, in fear that it may have terrible consequences. For that she denies intimacy and warmth. Oliver seeks a psychiatrist to help Irena and then he spends more time with his friend Alice. The plot begins like a romance story with a tension but soon it becomes clear that something else is going on, and Irena is behaving strange and the viewer cannot identify with her anylonger. She makes nuisance calls to Alice and then begins stalking her husband's friend. One of the most frightening scenes of the film, which I found chilling, was at the swimming pool where Alice is frightened by an unseen creature.

The psychiatrist Dr. Judd (played by Tom Conway) becomes almost a similar figure to Van Helsing. He talks of believing there is more to Irena than just a mere illness. Once things unfold and everyone is aware of the supernatural dangers about a large cat, Dr Judd mentions using "silver" against any attack.

This is one of the best horror films in my list and it's probably one of the classy shapeshifter movies that has been made so far.

More about "Cat People" the original...

Cat People at Filmsite
Film "Cat People" (1942) at Rotten Tomatoes
Classic Horror on "Cat People"

Oh and the name Irena Dubovna was used by Cat Woman character of the comic books.
There is a sequal "Curse of the Cat People" (1944).

Adorned in Blood

2010-10-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

The concept of a bride wearing red is unthinkable, horrific and almost kinky. Why would a bride wear such a colour on her wedding day? What kind of a bride would she be?

Certainly this is the kind of shock reaction most people would think of. I find RED is the most beautiful colour that a bride can wear on her wedding. In fact I love colourful wedding outfits, even black wedding dresses (but for the occasion too funereal). A red coloured gown looks more striking and enhances the woman's beauty both inside and outside. White wedding gowns, traditional in the West, dulls the bride, which is why I found that her bridemaids always looked prettier than her. So when a bride wears red, crimson, blush, mahogany, scarlet, rose, ect. she stands out like the sun and her starlight bridesmaids become faint in the background. The following website shows exactly what I mean:

Red Hot Brides

Why do women still choose to wear white wedding gowns? First of all this tradition goes back as far as Victorian England. Before then, women wore a variety of coloured dresses, some reserved their favourite dresses for their big day. In Scandinavia though, black wedding gowns are the norm.

Red jewellery, especially red gems worn over the skin is another thing that is associated with blood. However, what about the interesting Blood Vial jewels? Most of it contains "fake blood", made of a certain red bloodlike luid, or it's made up of certain red chemicals, or perhaps even a red dye. Some might even be red crushed leaves or even a red rock such as a a garnet. Real blood will not really last long inside a glass or metal without turning into black dust. The the sorceress - queen asking for Snow-White's heart to be placed inside a trinket box is a similar notion of keeping someone else's blood. Retaining or entrapping blood is the symbol of a fiery life force that is kept, or displayed and it also looks somewhat macabre. Blood rituals may occur in the black arts.

Cosmetically, women love wearing red lips. They look enhanced with that, or they feel enhanced as the redder the lips, the healthier they seem. Blood is darker and doesn't glow. Red cheeks are a sign of health, and women brush red rouge or mixed reddish colours on their faces to look shinier and livelier. Red painted nails is a favourite for some women, and it's considered "sexier" than wearing varnish of different colours. When a woman wears entirely red, most people will look at her because she's in a colour that is the loudest and most magnetic. Animals such as the wild bull are attracted to the colour red and it makes them aggressive, apparantly. My grandmother once told me to remove my red coat as we entered a field because it had bulls grazing there and she said I would be attacked by them if they saw my coat. We've heard these stories. It's a myth. The fact is that bulls can't distinguish the colour red.

In most fairy tales, red is a magical colour.It's the colour of life.

Crystal Links "Red"

Red brides would symbolise womanhood, sensuality, love, fertility, strength (of health and mind), good luck, power of fire, the sun, the Sun Goddess, solar magic, sun maidens, intellect, life giving and nurturing.

Unable to find the words...

2010-09-30T04:03:00.000-07:00

Empathy is a very interesting subject. I shall explore this in depth another time, but I think some people don't have it. Either they have it and don't understand it or they do have it and recognise it. Or even some recognise it's there but cannot think of it. I guess that sometimes happens. We don't always know how someone else is feeling or we'll be very clever at solving life's mysteries about why someone did this. Also I believe that empathy has been confused with sympathy and also with telepathy. It doesn't mean that those things are the same because they're not. At times people can't find the right words to describe something as intricate as emotions so they end up saying the wrong words. Is it out of pressure to say something? That's when it becomes misleading and this is when people fall out and argue. Always hear anyone complain "That isn't what I meant!" or others being defensive? It's not always (but in some cases it is) about them avoiding the issue. It could be because they didn't explain it very well as they couldn't find the appropriate words. Using words inicates that people are not able to combine their instincts and feelings well enough with complex language. For instance, people say "I love you" when they mean it or they do not. The human brain calculates and deducts the words to use. Some people have a talent.

People don't say what they mean. They act on it and they can't distinguish words and phrases. I've noticed that language is a tool and not an instinct otherwise there wouldn't be defined languages. We learn that as we grow up. Also languages change over lands and time. New words appear. New meanings to words disappear and alter. Certain swear words in the modern English language were once normal words but became twisted and fouled upon over the centuries. Things like that occur mainly because of disputes and warfare. A lot of well known profanities of the English language were, once upon a time, regular Anglo-Saxon words that became swear words since the Norman conquest.

In that sense, people will have a difficult time finding the words. They can't express verbally how they feel. People often go blank in situations. No one knows what to say to someone they don't know how to communicate with. This is a definate sign that either people haven't the ability to combine language and feeling or there are not enough words in the dictionary.

This is why we have problems knowing how the other half is thinking. Or why we feel upset when they don't talk. Some people may not want to because they cannot. It should be considered natural for this to happen instead of a negative moment.

Just quickly, I want to say a special goodbye to someone.

It came as a shock to me when I heard that you were sick. I didn't know. This made me feel quite sad but I assumed that you'll get better as I only hear stories of survivors. So far the only people I knew personally who has had this terminal illness, cancer, all died. Yet, others manage to pull through. I was very upset when my dad passed away many years ago, as he was unable to fight this illness anylonger. You attended the funeral and was good to me. You got on well with my partner. You're a family friend and I've known you since I was about seven years old. You used to be really nice to me when I was a child. Since leaving home I grew distant from relatives, and I suppose from my old friends including friends of the family, for reasons I won't go into. I recently discovered you passed away several weeks ago. Nobody ever told me that until the other day and it shocked me. I have been grieving. I sent your daughters "Sympathy" cards but they must be wondering why on earth I never contacted them before about this. That's because no one said anything to me about it. I live so far away from you all and I haven't seen them for years. I didn't know about it. So sorry I didn't make it to your funeral and I'm finding it impossible to describe how I feel. I'll remember you well, and I miss you.

For Steve, who was an old friend, passed away in August 2010.

Bad Apples

2010-09-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

In fairytales and myths, there is a lot of mention about fruit, especially apples. In the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", the apple is poisonous. Earlier stories of Snow White had her die of poisoning and not woken from a coma by a prince. The Grimm brothers sugarised the tale for the wider public. The apple is the cause of her death. In this favourite story, we all know why. The apple itself was dipped in a pot of poison by the wicked queen, who was stepmother to Snow White. The queen had always been vain and ever since she discovered that Snow White was fairer, she wanted to be rid of her. This story is an age old tale of the jealous older woman who feels threatened by the innocence and beauty of a younger maiden, for she's worried about being replaced in some way or other. Feminists that write books sympathise with the stepmother queen and fiction has retold this fairytale where the queen is a misunderstood matriarch who secretly IS the natural mother to Snow White, but became twisted and filled with inner conflict, blaming her own child's development for her own insecurities. I don't quite understand where this all originated from, and if anyone knows this then forgive me for explaining what I believe to be distortions of human psychology.

I believe that this story centres around the apple, the fruit of the earth, and giver of health and healing. This apple in the fairytale is corrupted and deadly though. My take on Snow White is this: the queen is a symbol of the Earth, or nature itself, as nature can be deadly and can take life. The earth gives life, sustains it, nurtures, heals, encourages and inspires. However, the earth, in another moment, can rise up suddenly and furiously and destroys all. The queen wanted a child, gave forth a beautiful daughter, and when the child grows up to womanhood, the force of nature within the queen goes on the attack. But why? Could it be that nature is seen to burdenise women everywhere with pain and physical hardship: menstrual periods and childbirth. These things cause women to have iron deficiencies as the blood loss contributes to the lowering of vital minerals.

The popular English saying: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is said amongst families even today as apples are, basically, medicinal and have good properties. They offer Vitamin C and can also keep us smiling (although others like myself don't like apples in its raw form, I prefer apple ingrediants in meals). Too much apples, however, isn't necessary. Fruits are IMO a naturally grown medicine and should be eaten in small quantities, not eaten excessively. Too much fruit can result in: "dental decay, osteoporosis, wasting of muscle tissue, inability to maintain a healthy weight, chronic fatigue, skin problems, thinning hair, weakening nails, and excessive irritability." Too much fruit is bad for you health

Also a recent campaign to get everyone to eat "5 a day" fruit and veggies supposedly reduced cancer. Does it? What about people who don't like eating fruit or vegetables because of the acid and the nasty taste? I suppose not one person can really answer that because most people love fruits and like vegetables apart from myself, as I have a diet plan of my own and cook specific foods such as meat, fish, dairy and bread. In the fairy tale of Snow White, a single apple killed her. The 11th Century poet Skald referred to an apple as "Apples of Hel" meaning fruit of the dead. Apples are basically an introduction to Europe from Asia and those that grew all over in Europe, especially in the north and the British Isles, tasted sour and rotted quickly. Within ancient myths in Europe developed apple legends, such as the Golden Apples of the goddesses and their gardens, the apples of immortality and youth. Some people have Oral Allergy Syndrome

Because of the small chance for a more severe reaction, avoidance of the fresh fruits or vegetables is advised. Many people already avoid the suspect foods since the symptoms are uncomfortable. Usually, the fruits and vegetables are tolerated in cooked, baked and processed forms.

Apple seeds are also poisonous. Bad Seed

"Five-a-Day" questioned

The artwork is "Apples Kiss" by Azurelle

My beloved berserker

2010-09-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

In ancient times, particularly in the North, women daydreamed of being married to warriors. Fierce warriors, such as Vikings. Some women probably sat in their chambers sewing or getting ready for sleep in bed, and thought of such ferocious men. These warriors captivated the hearts of women in many places. Saxon women were at the mercy of angry warlike Norsemen who came upon these English shores. The Viking raiders had their way with the local women. Down in the centuries, women continued to think of this subconsiously. Whenever I see an image of a Viking longship, what conjurs up for me is a group of very dangerous warriors called Berserkers.

Some know who they were. Others don't know and for that I'll offer a description. Berserkers were ancient Norse warriors who wore the pelt of beasts such as bears and wolves, and took on the animal rage in battle.

"The berserker, too, was often said to change into bestial form, or at least to assume the ferocious qualities of the wolf or bear."

The berserker's place in society was limited by the terror and violence that was associated with berserkergang. As superb warriors, they were due admiration. However, their tendency to turn indiscriminately upon their friends while the madness was upon them went squarely against the heroic ethic, which demanded loyalty and fidelity to one's friends. The berserk skirted the classification of niðingr, one who was the lowest of men and the object of hate and scorn. An eleventh-century monument raised in Soderby in Uppland, Sweden in memory of a brother reads: "And Sassur killed him and did the deed of a niðingr --- he betrayed his comrade" (Foote and Wilson, p. 426).

(Source: Viking Anwser Lady - link shown below).

Read more details about the Berserkers here:
Viking Answer Lady: Berserkers

I have a copy of the erotic romance "The Outlaw Viking" by Sandra Hill. It's about a woman transported into the Dark Ages where she encounters a rugged berserker warrior. Have a look at the title: The Outlaw Viking

The berserkers had a reputation of being able to transform into either wolves or bears. Perhaps there was some near truth to it as they certainly adorned themselves in animal pelts. They were said to become very savage in battle, and much feared by their enemy during their berserker rage. I can picture them. Raging, blood thirsty warriors, skilled in their fighting, who looked like powerful men with muscles, long hair, and also very uncouth when they're at their normal state. This makes some women tremble with a feeling so deep and so dark that it manifests in the things we imagine or create. For others, the berserker reminds most people of either good or bad things. People think of berserkers as savage Norsemen. There are werewolf stories that come from the historic memories of berserkers, and perhaps berserkers themselves were therianthropes? They were definately red-blooded and furious tempered. They loved it. I demand MORE Viking/berserker warrior literature, especially in the romantic genre and also romantic viking films.

Úlfhéðinn (plural Úlfhéðnar) is an Old Norse term for a warrior with attributes parallel to those of a berserker, but with a lupine aspect rather than ursine; both terms refer to a special type of warrior capable of performing feats far beyond the abilities of normal people. Historically, this was attributed to possession by the spirit of an animal. Úlfhéðnar are mentioned in Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga. The Ulfhednar were said to wear the pelt of a wolf upon their heads when they entered battle, similar to the berserkers use of bear pelts. Source

Interesting links and information about the berserkers:
Berserkers
Wikipedia: Berserkers
Viking Answer Lady
Therianthropes: Berserkers

Berserker and Viking romance authors:
Sandra Hill
Sara Bennett
Catherine Coulter
Helen Kirkman
Johanna Lindsey

The Howling

2010-09-13T02:54:00.000-07:00

I've just finished reading the novel "The Howling" by Gary Brandner. This was made into a film and eventually a series of "Howling" films. This blog has never done any book reviews yet or reviews of anything so this post is my first attempt at it.

I found this book very gripping. Although I'm familiar to the film that was made after this book was originally published, I do find that books include things that are left out in films. There are differences here and there to the characters and storyline.

This plot is eerie. I couldn't put the book down. The story begins with a tragedy, set in the Arda Forest in 1583. Mysterious deaths are pinpointed to an entire village. Then the story moves fast forward to the 1970's California. A young married couple, Roy and Karyn, have their perfect lives in suburbia turned upside-down when an intruder comes along to destroy it. After the attack, Karyn becomes traumatised and is persuaded to take some time out in the countryside. Her husband Roy invests in doing up a holiday home in the centre of a forest, and they both leave the city to get away from their troubles. Now where they move to is isolated and shadowy, with a very small community nearby. An unfriendly sheriff is the first person they encounter there. As they both settle in and get to know a couple of shop keepers, more things don't make sense. First of all Karyn wakes up to the sound of howling at night. Then their pet dog vanishes outside. Then Karyn is wondering what has become of her husband, who started behaving oddly since they got there because he was enchanted by the place. Things unfold and it becomes very tense and creepy.

The book was well written and it was almost poetic in style. In the novel are also some references to actual werewolf reports that went on throughout history. A particular book was mentioned called "The Book of Werewolves" by Sabine Baring-Gould and I happen to own that book.

"The Howling" movie cast and characters are slightly different though. Some of the names are changed and the plot isn't exactly true to the book although another film titled "The Howling: The Original Nightmare" was closer to the book. The book is serious and yet the film version is tongue-in-cheek but it was atmospheric and entertaining enough to want to see it again. I think Hollywood should do a remake of "The Howling". Oh btw yes "The Howling Reborn" is in the making right now.

Gary Brandner
The Howling

Dahlia

2010-08-31T04:27:00.000-07:00

The heart of Dahlia
was a palace and a garden
her dreams of him
swollen by rain
as storms brewed in the sky
horses fled
a plague swept
across the land
many dead.

Dahlia was a princess
daughter of a king
Alone and fragmented
her heart twisted by tears
dark trees
ravens by the towers
graves upturned by wind
brave men long gone.

Dahlia wanted to kill
the ones who broke her
and release herself from turmoil
and despite that
she carried her gold-handled knife.
In a gown of white silk
cold and shivering
she, Dahlia, wept and felt
unnerved by her untrained skills.

Fire burned on the hill
and her dream came true.
She put down her knife and drew
deep breaths so as not
to feel afraid.
Now she would not kill
herself
or
her pain.
The man of her wants came
and lifted her away
carrying her to
somewhere clear and full.

Dahlia wanted to know
why all the suffering
what was it for?
Her lover said:
"To build your strength."
In all women are the stones
and metals of anger and rage
but intelligence and bravery
found first in pain
whether it be
childbirth or loss.
Sometimes joy makes it glow.
As always, that is a gift.

(This was a poem I wrote last year.)

Othala

2010-08-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

Call of the breeze.
Horses flee.
The sky shouts huge,
thunder new.
Come into view,
an army spread,
fierce and dark
boiling red!!!

Fury swords,
Backs of metal
helmets horned
.. some..
not manufactured!
Made by the hand,
By young and old men.
Gold and silver, running belt
shouting men... wearing pelts.

Dead are burning
smoke riding high
black collumns plough the sky.
The dragons and woodcraft,
gleaming rich,
cooking barley and animal meat.
Hungry, starving, chewing raw
some like it that way
and falling seasonal days.

Night is near,
dreadful start,
look to the West...
watchout for the stars.
They make masters
and lords they do,
taking plenty in rivers
sleep is over for you.

He pulled my hair.
He bit my neck,
the angry lover
of the big broad chest!
You've never seen
so much mean...
vicious warrior men
around the princesses
Vikings came
tearing strength.
I am a Saxon woman,
at their mercy, yes.

My home, my family, my land...
blood, graves, war and children ground,
Its where I belong,
where I belong..
where I die.
In the fire,
follow my dead husband,
at his pyre funeral.
A warrior's sight.
A warriors sigh.
The ravens fly...
They fly.

by
Ragna.

I originally called this "Othala" to talk about land and what it means really. I wrote this a year ago after recovering a severe illness, after having been through a tough period and also when I was at my most vulnerable. I'd been wrong about things. This poem was inspired by little except expression so it's anger or fear.

The wild scent

2010-08-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Wolves have a very sensitive sense of smell. So in folklore tradition, werewolves are said to have a delicate nose and they can smell things more acutely in their transformations than when they are in human form. They despise garlic and they adore the night. There isn't much information about what werewolves do like, only what they don't like. Therianthropy is not the same as the werewolf myth. One of the things female therianthropes love is chocolate, as well as flowers and fragrant things including insense.

To make the woman therianthrope's den into a boudior, it's vital to have fragrant flowers during night. There are flowers that give off perfumes at night time and others that bloom. Nicotiana, Cestrum Nocturnum, Dama de Nocha, Iris and even some species of roses. Bring in night blooming flowers into the room, beside an open window and in a vase filled with fresh water to keep the night with a touch of magic: Moonflowers, Angel's Trumpet, Night Scented Stock and orchid. White flowers tend to shine when it becomes dark. Incense can be used as one of the best to use at night is vanilla.

Some types of flowers and plants are offensive, such as garlic. There is some history behind it as well as myth. In ancient times garllic was fed upon to increase physical strength and health. It acts also as an insect repellant. Garlic is an old medicinal ingrediant and it reduces cholesterol. Regardless of these benefits, some people just hate garlic with a passion and they avoid touching it. Garlic also wards against evil monsters. Wolfsbane (Aconitum) is a poison that also repels and destroys werewolves. It has links with magic and the occult but the plant is quite dangerous for many.

It's not realy considered when werewolves (particularly females) are self consious about perfume and insense. The therianthrope can like anything from fashionable body sprays to scented candles. As the nose is delicate, let's consider the gentle and sweet aromas that a werewolf can love.

Roses are the most popular scented flower. White roses or "Alba" shine luminous in the evening and they glimmer at night. They look perfect for the garden for nocturnal individuals. This rose represents purity and innocence. Snow White with the paleness of snow is the symbol of girlish and maidenly innocence and vulnerability. Brides wear white. Virgins are associated with white. It is true that not only is Snow-White as white as snow in the fairytale but her hair is ebony, she has a double in "Snow White and Rose Red". This fairytale features her with blonde hair and she has a dark haired sister called Rose Red. Red roses are linked with love and passion. The scent of a red rose is vibrant and the white rose smells fainter.

There are far more flowers with perfumed scents that are good for the garden and the lycanthropic! Lavender is one that I have in my garden. Have a look at this page that is informative: The Essential Werewolf's Garden

It might be worth mentioning that the poisonous Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) was used as a cosmetic throughout the centuries but this plant should be avoided.

"In Norse Mythology, Ithunn was the goddess of the early spring. She was the guardian of the golden apples which the gods would eat to make them youthful again when they felt themselves growing old.

Golden apples and tender apple blossoms touched by sweet honeyed nectar and the faint dew of osmanthus, lilac, and jasmine."

Apple trees blossom in Spring and apple blossoms are white as well as finely scented. It attracts bees when these blossoms are full of honeyed nectar. They should be visible at night also when they blossom.

Perfume in myths and legends
Wolfbane
Garlic
Snow White and Rose Red
Atropa Belladonna
Night blooming flowers

Dark side of farming

2010-08-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

It's a worldwide reported issue that wolves attack livestock. This problem has been going on for centuries since humans became farmers and kept animals. It hurt families and smaller communities when their livestock were killed. Wolves have been lurking near farms and during the absense of people, this is when animals are killed. Wolves have been looked upon as a menace to farmers. The answer has always been to kill wolves on sight but larger communities sought to make drastic measures by destroying any visible wolves as far as possible. Certain wolves disappeared in many locations. The native wolves of Britain and Ireland have been wiped out. Why do wolves attack livestock? It's a simple enough answer, because wolves that don't find enough prey in the wilderness turn hungry so they resort to killing farm animals for food. Humans need food also and have to protect their livestock. Unfortunately the timeless problem of wolves attacking farm animals coincided with horror stories about wolves and werewolves that demonised the wolf. Yet, strangely despite this problem, wolves have been revered as a divine animal in many cultures especially in ancient myths and legends.

It isn't just the wolf. Many other carnivorous wild animals attack livestock. Diseases infect livestock also and in some cases making them a biohazard to all. To protect humans and other animals, all those sick livestock (including non-infected animals of the same breed) have had to be slaughtered. Horror stories and urban legends tend to show during a period of serious livestock disease. An outbreak of illnesses among humans came from them eating infected meat. Apart from wild predators now, another concern is livestock diseases posing a serious threat to to the health of people, other animals and the environment.

Some are worried about eating GM (genetically modified) food and having pesticides in farming. Many are preferring to get their food that comes from organic farms but apparantly they are not perfect. Some say that organic products are dirty and cannot feed everyone. I've noticed that organic food is expensive and not everyone can afford it either.

Humans rely on crops and livestock, vineyards, fresh water wells and fire. Without it we go hungry and cold. Fire burns away any bacteria in meats when cooked properly. Cold pantries, freezers and refrigerators chill food to keep them fresh. Without those we would be struggling like our ancestors again, relying on basics OR going hungry. If we had no farms, then humans would find themselves on the verge of starvation until we learn about hunting and gathering. Human beings (not all of them) feel they are somewhat seperate form nature and the animals. This is not true. Humans are a part of nature and also humans are an animal species.

Surrounding farms is land, much of which is unknown beneath the soil. The farmer deals with the surface. Deep below the ground there could be anything or nothing except soil and rocks. Some farms might be over ancient burial mounds or covered over grounds where ancient battles took place. I know of several farms that are located exactly where manor houses, castles, monestaries, temples and paths used to be. Some farms, including their farm land, is situated on sacred sites, some that are not quite discovered or known. Now we have the farm land phenomena of strange and unsual crop circles.

To the human psyche, farming is a sanctuary and also a place of superstition and the unknown, as well as production of fear. People are afraid of wild animals and the wilderness. People can't live with the wild anymore, only a few individuals choose to or some people in other parts of the globe live as hunter-gatherers. It's human nature to be a hunter gatherer, IMO and it was out of desperation (perhaps during the Ice Age) to spread farming and domestication.

Links and information:

Grey wolf and info on wolves
Werewolves
Werewolf Page
Info on livestock animal health and infections
Animal Diseases for Dummies
The Tracing Paper
Negative Effects of Organic
Crop cirlces
Pesticides
GM food

Finding inner peace

2010-07-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

This is about my inner turmoils.

Having a severe illness can be crippling, not to mention ruining your days. Imagine if this lasted weeks or even months. An illness you never had before that you don't even know was there. An illness that causes you unecessary problems with everyday life, making you unable to eat or sleep.

I had such an illness but it's classed as one umbrella. It's regarded as "silly" or just downright self pitying but it's far worse and for each woman it can be different, as it depends on who she is and how well she can cope. I could not cope with it.

The illness is called Post Natal Depression or PND. I did not have depression but I suffered the consequences of hormone imbalance. Some women prefer to call it "Baby Blues" where women find themselves feeling sad and weepy. However, I wasn't feeling sad, tearful or depressed. I wouldn't regard it as a Baby Blues syndrome or even a post natal depression but this is the phase I had it and this is what the umbrella illness is called. It's misleading. A lot of women that have it are depressed though but some are not suffering depression, they feel okay but they become ill in other ways. It's just that PND is the tag fixed to the hormonial imbalance. It should be called Post Natal Illness or PNI.

I had a post natal type of illness. PNI is also branched off with different names. What I had was PNI and Post Natal Psychosis or "puerperal psychosis". When I looked into this a year after recovery, I found to my shock how I could identify with what other women suffered having puerperal psychosis.

I will not enter a discussion about my personal experience as it was awful and will take so much time to talk about and also I don't want to think too heavily about it. This is quite a "rare" illness or is it?

Puerperal Psychosis
PNI

The illness resulted in throwing me into complete discord. I found myself out of balance, no settlement and no peace. I was constantly wondeirng about what was going on during my illness and also angry with the reaction I received from people who are supposed to care. Today some women who suffer PND are treated almost like criminals and there is little info on this. Being a mother is wonderful and a new stage in life but no one ever warned me that I could get an illness like puerperal psychosis. The illness can cripple a woman mentally and psychologically if not treated quickly. I started going without food, not realising I was hungry and lost track of time. I felt different in the world but also vulnerable and half-asleep or basically I was not all there.

It might be worth considering that this is also not entirely an illness but could be regarded as one of women's mysteries, and some of these women are without guidance or sympathetic helpers to assist them on a path to an inner health. Instead women are thrown into wards and given medicines like seroquel and bracketed by others around them as a "nutcase". Some PNI experiences are almost paranormal but it doesn't mean that it is. I believe women suffering that illness are open to all kinds of negative forces and will need protection or to retain their own identity so they would be safe from (or as they imagine) deterioration. Also negative entities may be attracted to a woman suffering PND, especially if she dabbles in the occult without prior knowledge or assistance.

It has been said the illness returns again after another pregnancy but some women can be helped to prevent it from happening again.This can be through a doctor or a registered CPN (community psychiatric nurse). The medical profession are still trying to understand PND and what actually causes it, why, and why most women on the grand scale don't have it, and why others do and why some types and degrees. Doctors have a lot to look for if PNI is really a complex and deep subject, far more deeper than usual human brain activity. What if it is not just a mind imbalance but an impact of the sensitive woman's mind caused by something going on outside?

There is very little info on helping women suffering PND via spiritual groups. There aren't any mystic gurus and witches that have really said anything about it and if there are, do they help women? As a Heathen I found no comfort from those around me who are pagans themselves (they were not sympathetic) but eventually I found help came in an unusual way and this enhanced me in mind and spirit after recovery. I may discuss my illness another time. For now though I posted a couple of links in case you or someone you know might have PND.

I give my thanks to those who helped me (you know who you are).

Sharing bands lyrics

2010-07-30T03:27:00.000-07:00

As my music playlist has been on my "She Wolf Night" blog for a while, I felt it had to come off to give the page's loading some breathing space. Now I just wanted to share what was on my playlist so you can have a look at it. I had a total of three tracks on it but here are song lyrics from two tracks on my music playlist. First this is from Leaves Eyes album "Njord":

My Destiny

My destiny
I made a promise I couldn't keep
I left my love on northern ground
My destiny
My destiny...

I'm so lost, I am damned
In this grey lonely valley (I'm damned)
Starless night, so vast and so black
My prayers slowly sink to a whisper
I see your smile, but then I see your eyes
Through the mist of tears

I'm falling into the deep
I'm falling
Drowning in memories (my destiny)
I made a promise
A promise
I'm drowning in destiny (my destiny)
My destiny
My destiny...

All my hopes
Fearless pride
Drowned in smoke and ash (and ash)
A color red
Forsaken blood on ice
The evening dance on me
And do you care
Where I sleep
Do you mind my destiny?

I'm falling into the deep
I'm falling
Drowning in memories (my destiny)
I made a promise
A promise
I'm drowning in destiny (my destiny)
My destiny
My destiny...

The color red
Blood on ice
The evening dance on me
Do you care
Where I sleep
Do you mind my destiny?

I'm falling into the deep
I'm falling, falling
Drowning in memories (my destiny)
I made a promise
A promise
I'm drowning in destiny (my destiny)
My destiny
My destiny...

My destiny (it's my destiny)
My destiny (my destiny)
My destiny

This is another one I have on my music playlist by Bathory:

Nordland

Land of unforgiving winter
Cold, clad in white, under a dark grey sky
Silent, the wind, it whispers
Pale sun of gold, gazing from far up high

Endless forests, lakes of water dark and deep
Misty mountains, where giants sleep

Nordland

High about all, the ravens
Spreading their wings to fly to the hall up high
Messengers of the all fathers
Oden behold all with his one eye

Eagle soaring, old crow cries
This land and heaven, forever tied

Nordland

Cold the waves along the shoreline
White wolfs realm from here to mountains high afar
Land of ours since it rose out of deep cold sea
Shine on our path, yes brightest of all, Northstar

Foreverdark woods, cold winds sweep
Barren landscape, untamed and bleak

Nordland

Further links:

Bathory

Dark Lyrics
Leaves Eyes

My playlist

Anger

2010-07-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Anger is part of nature but on some levels it needs control. Some anger is necessary but other times it is not. Some forms of anger isn't supposed to happen because the person trains themselves into feeling angry when they shouldn't. Anger is born from tensions and also when someone takes an event to heart and feel betrayed, belittled, ridiculed and hurt.

Wolves get angry. Werewolves obviously get very angry. It is my attempt, as a Therianthrope to control the rage, and calm the inner wolf, so that I can live peacefully. Being restless is a form of disharmony and some types of anger is proof of self imbalance.

Anger itself is linked to fire.

Inside everyone is an internal fire.

It can feel like a star, or a flame. It grows intensly and then reduces to smouldering embers and sparkles.

Fire is a positive tool as it helps us to be creative and passionate and enjoy wonderful sex. When we experience the internal fire it can feel like "butterflies" and it alters in different moods. During a heat of passion, we feel this flame grow softly and tingling and then exploding to orgasm.

We also get hot about many things, including writing, painting, forming ideas, going on adventures and even shopping! However, this inner fire can also be tapped into when we're feeling more negative. It creates a build-up of tensions and it may result in us sweating and having burning sensations on the skin that could be linked to going red-faced. Shy people and socially anxious people experience this sensation when they go jittery with nerves, feel embarassed and red, perspiring and twitching muscles. This isn't easy to control as shyness or bashfulness isn't logical but more intuitive.

You can't always control these fires, especially if they are caused by chemicals in your brain and body that associates this mood with that event. You subconsiously train yourself to react to certain patterns. You can channel the fire to alter its temperature, colour and direction, by using visualisation, breathing techniques, change of diet, more excersise, finding outlets to let off steam, other stimuli, doing meditation, getting plenty of sleep, adopting new things, and so on. You won't change it right away as it takes practice until you find something that you are most comfortable with. Anger is used by the inner fire and as I mentioned this angry fire is in everyone. In small children as well as young animals, the inner fire is untamed. This is why they must be disciplined by adults with various techniques, that offer them stimulus and outlets, a way of being creative is a way of channelling aggression. Learning to control your anger is like making your own psychological alchemy.

It is often important to analyse what you're doing when you feel angry. Understand:
1. WHEN you become angry
2. WHY you are angry
3. Who you are being angry with.

These three things are key answers to solving your anger problems. Once you have established the causes, you can ask yourself what made you think this way. Don't forget that you must never take anything personally. If things are said directly at you personally, why let this matter? It depends on who says it. If you don't know this person, you should feel satisfied knowing you are at an advantage here because you know the truth, you know the answer and you understand who you are. Anyone who says something unpleasant might be "looking" for a fight and don't give them that. If you know the person who upsets you, discover why they are trying to press your buttons and if they don't tell you why, look for the following clues:

Are they happy themselves?
Have they lost something or are they irritable about something besides you?
Do they feel physical pain?
Are they afraid of something large and simply taking it out on others?
Do they seem unable to control the way they are?

If you feel angry, and I bet most of the time when you're angry you don't really want to be, consider all those things before the angry fire takes over you. You must settle and calm down. Take deep breathing excersises and drink fluids, especially cold water. The opposite of fire is water. Find something cold and wet, and symbolically wash yourself down, or do so literally. Think of cold thoughts like the arctic basin or a shimmering waterfall or a deep blue sea. Think of stuff that makes you feel cold "spine chilling" sensations, like the topic of ghosts for instance. Alter your mood. Let this anger fade. Anger happens and it's channeled/controlled by warriors. Turn your anger into calmness.

A self help guide to controlling anger
Advice on anger

Black Widow

2010-07-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Most of what we know about spiders is vague. People are frightened of them. Like the wolf, spiders are associated with the night, death, fear and horror.

I, too, suffer from arachnophobia. This type of phobia is, according to some psychologists, an evolutionary fear instead of a nursery influenced fear. Most people say spiders cannot harm you because they are more afraid of you being of larger size. Some others believe that the spider fear comes from learning about rhymes such as Little Miss Muffet, that is supposed to make a child run away from a spider. Others are beginning to think it's more than that.

Spider fear occurs before the indoctrination of nursery rhymes. The fear of spiders was noticed among small children who knew nothing about Little Miss Muffet yet except the cute cartoon spiders on TV shows and the "Incy Wincy" rhyme. Children are already scared of spiders after they just encounter them. No one has told them to be scared. People think that arachnophobia is a stupid and childish fear that has no logical sense. They believe you must get over it so they suggest councelling to tackle it. I think that arachnophobia is part of natural human intuition of many people to avoid creatures that could be venomous. Although spiders are far smaller than we, some spiders can be poisonous. It may be a genetic fear that comes from our ancestors who met poisonous spiders in early human settlements.

There is a wide belief that British spiders are "safe". A few people have been taken to hospital in critical condition after a spider bite in this country. What caused this was a particular species of British spider called Steatoda or "false black widow". This spider resembles the black widow spider and there are different types of the Steatoda in the UK. They are regarded as the most poisonous spiders found in the British Isles. A bite from such spiders can cause severe burning pain. More info on false black widow bites

There are many spiders to watch out for as they can bite but they don't attack. They like the warm weather and this is when they appear. Women and children are more afraid of spiders than grown men. The effects of many spider bites vary from a burning sensation, flu symptoms, fatigue, nausea and even death. If you have arachnophobia, please don't let other people make you feel ashamed of it but the phobia mustn't take over you.

False Black Widow
Poisonous spiders

Regardless of the fear of spiders all around us, spiders feature positively in some traditional cultures. Apart from the friendly spider themes in popular kids fiction like Miss Spider, Charlotte's Web, Spider Woman and Spider Man, the spider appears widely in myths and legends. It's well known that the Native Americans believe in The Spider Grandmother who created life. The idea of the "dream catcher" derives from these stories. The Celtic Goddess Arianrhod was said to be a spider goddess, as her name means the "silver wheel" and "queen of the wheel". She has been associated with stars, mainly the Corona Borealis. In Greek mythology goes the tale of a princess named Archne. She was so skilled in her weaving craft that she was challanged by Athena, the Goddess of art. This led to Arachne transforming into a spider. There is little about spiders in Germanic mythology but I personally consider the Norns to be a close connection with the mysticism of weaving and webs. There are three Norns who are demi-goddesses of destiny, named Fate (Urd), Necessity (Verdandi) and Being (Skuld). They are responsible for the destiny of all things in the cosmos and they weave, or spin, the web of wyrd.

The Norns
Wyrd
Arianrhod
Spider Grandmother
Arachne

Not all spiders are scary. Not all of them can make webs or behave in the manner we think they do. There are some very unusual types of spiders. There is Bagheera kiplingi species of vegetarian spider, recently discovered in tropical climates. The Nephila genus includes a species of glamorous spiders called "Golden Orb Weavers" or "Banana Spiders" who spin shining gold webs. In Japanese folklore, this Nephila spider is considered a Joro Spider and "Jorogumo" is an enchanting spider that can transform into a beautiful sensual woman.With unusual spiders there are the Skytodidae or spitting spiders; Then there is Anyphaena californica the transparent "ghost" spider; The Theridion or community gathering of social spiders; The Portia is a mimic spider; The Mimetidae are called Pirate Spiders because they only prey on other spiders and attack other spider's webs. In modern folklore spiders are identified with vampires.

Arachnology stories
Golden silk spiders
Vegetarian spider
Spiderz Rule

The above artwork is "Spider's Soul - Aracne" by Cris Ortega

Mother wolf

2010-07-06T02:52:00.000-07:00

The mother wolf is fascinating as a subject, as such myths circulate around it, and figures appear in memory and imagination. The most well-known being the shewolf mother who nursed Romulus and Remus the twin boys. She is associated with the triple goddess, who goes by many names.

"The Amazons, who worshipped the Triple Goddess, incorporated a tribe called the Neuri, who "turned themselves into wolves" for a few days each year during their main religious festival, presumably by wearing wolf skins and masks. The same story was told of a certain Irish tribe in Ossory, who became wolf-people when attending their yuletide feast, devouring the flesh of cattle as wolves, and afterward regaining their human shape."
(Source):
She Wolf

Mother wolves have been responsible for the upbringing of feral children. These children have been discovered in a wild state, behaving with wolflike characteristics and were raised by wolves from an earlier age, possibly when they were infants.
Feral children

The shewolf spends between 60 and 65 days of pregnancy until giving birth. The nursing mother wolf is called a lactating bitch and a shewolf is called a bitch. This is also the same for a female of any of the canid species. Now the fact human females are called this in a derogatory way as a woman was considered similar to a shewolf during heat. It comes from the Old English "bicce" and Old Icelandic "bikkja" meaning a female dog. This is used as a form of insult made at a woman and sexual behaviour. Another word similar to this is when calling a woman a "dog" is said out of insult. This is either made towards a promiscuous woman or an accusation of a woman's behaviour. Since ancient times women have been called canine names as a form of verbal abuse. "Shewolf" has always been titled for women of infamy, aggression, bad temper or blood thirst.
Bitch

Coming away from the negative side, the shewolf mother is considered nurturing, kind, protective, maternal, warm, loving and comforting. This is how she is to her pups and also the rest of the pack. The mother and grandmother wolves (including aunts, sisters and other shewolves) behave maternal and loving with their young. It is the gentle side of the wolf that most people are unaware of. Study nature in all it's angles and you'll discover how these wild animals behave and coexist in harmony like this, and always guarding their young.

The woman has always been menstruating once a month or every 28 days since the end of her last cycle. Between that period is her ovulation time and there is a peak when she is considered mostly fertile. Also a woman capable of having a child is in her teens, twenties, thirties and forties. There are some who may differ and today with modern science older women can have a child. In nature, normal fertility for a woman starts to wane after the age of thirty. When a woman is pregnant, gestation lasts nine months athough it may be seven, eight or ten months for a few other women.

Many women are finding it difficult to nurse their young as they cannot properly feed their babies or because some have no milk! These women are finding it difficult to cope with the fact they cannot breastfeed their children in the ideal sense as they've been pressured into doing something that everyone tells them is considered "natural" and "proper". There is no information in maternity units about women who are unable to breastfeed and there isn't any support for women who can't breastfeed, except guilt because they cannot. Midwives do tend to support women who find it difficult to feed their newborns. What there is constantly is the slogan "Breast is Best" seen and heard everywhere, adding even more pressure on women. This makes a lot of mothers feel quite depressed if they haven't been succesful at breastfeeding their babies. Hospitals have decided to withdraw information on formula/powder milk and hygiene/sterilising bottles. The breastfeeding campaigners want all women to cease bottlefeeding their young and so they put pressure on the medical profession to encourage mothers to do this, implying it is not "forcing" any woman to feed a particular way. This puts babies at risk who have mothers that cannot simply feed them breastmilk.Some women who can breastfeed choose not to do so in public as they either want to be discreet or use bottled milk (that may include formula). It seems as if there is no such thing as a woman who cannot breastfeed from the way doctors, breastfeeding campaigners and other sources go on. How come I know many women who couldn't breastfeed, including a nurse and also myself? In the past, especially during pre-industrial ages, some women employed wet nurses because they could not feed their own babies. Some women can't get their babies to suckle and babies have even rejected their mothers if hungry. It's one of life's mysteries. Things are not simply black and white.

A site on breastfeeding problems

A woman is not like her earliest ancestors. A domestic dog is not like its earliest ancestors or its wild relatives. There are many physical differences between a modern domestic dog and a wild wolf. The shewolf isn't like a shedog of the house. In captivity the wolf can live 20 years and that's longer than the lifespan of a domestic dog. The bones of the animals are not the same. The howls are not the same (woves don't always bark). The charateristics of behaviour are not the same, not even the eyes. Perhaps it explains why evolution has a reason for why wolves behave this way and not dogs. Or why women behave differently than others, such as being fertile, less fertile, more sexually active, not interested, milk production, no milk, genes for types of diseases, no such genes, ect.

Wolf's Head

2010-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

In merry old England, the term "Wolf's Head" was a title of an outlaw. A "Wolf's Head" was also a name for certain archers in England who used long bows. There are some groups of archers today that specialise in this sport who call themselves "Wolf's Head". In Norse legend, the wolf-headed warrior is called "Ulfhednar" that means "wolf's head". It is also another name for "werewolf". An earlier shorter term is "werwolf" and this is like "war wolf". The "were" and "wer" is man, and "wear" as in to adnorn, since warriors wore the pelts of wolves.

As it was associated with men and warriors, had it been ever associated with women? Most people today generally forget that the term "Man" as in everyone and all, is also plural of humans and that includes women. So the earlier languages will have "wer" for human and not just men (males) but also women. The name "man" comes from the rune Mannaz, plural for both sexes. The woman was once called a "wifman" or "wif" that became "wife" after marrying. "Wif" sounds like "wolf". The name for a young woman or girl used to be "maiden" and is still used today, such as "bridesmaids".

There is a wolf's head woman in the English legends of Robin Hood. Her name is Maid Marian and she is often considered the lover and wife of Robin Hood. She is like a medieval aspect of the Valkyrie: Huntress, chooser of the slain, a maid of Odin (Odin has been associated with Herne the Hunter). The Old English name for Valkyrie was "wælcyrge". Valkyries rode upon wolves in some particular versions, and one Valkyrie named Gondul who was considered a shapeshifter and she turned into a wolf. She was also regarded as a wand Valkyrie, and a wand resembles a bow. Gondul's name aso means "enchanting wand", "magic wand" and "stave". A wolf changing Valkyrie of the wands. In Tarot there is a wand weilder, the Queen of the Wands.

There are many other valkyries of Norse and other Germanic myths who represent battle, warfare, death, fighting and magic. Brynhildr (Brunhild) is another valkyrie in Norse myth with an appearance in a fairytale of the sleeping princess, The Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. The opera version of her, where she's called "Brunhilde", sleeps in a circle of flames until she's woken by Sigmund or Sigfried the hero and dragon slayer. He is the lover of Brunhilde, but in the story Sigfried falls under a witchcraft spell so that he is lost to her and she's broken-hearted. In the 80's TV series "Robin of Sherwood", the episode of the Second season "The Enhantment", a theme appears then. Robin falls under a similar spell so that he no longer recognises any of his friends and doesn't love Maid Marian.

Love is, they say, like a magical spell and some use enchantment or witchcraft. It (love magic or spells using witchcraft) draws someone close enough but not too close. In a sense a werewolf woman can use her occult made charms. The wolf woman/she-were wolf is both or either a fighter or an enchantress. The female outlaw is viewed generally as being more of a witch than a criminal. That doesn't mean all Therianthrope females are witches and outlaws. The etymology of these terms link somewhere far back in time when it's in ancient history and it has different root words.

In movies and series and books, female werewolves are sensual, dangerous and magical. In the horror film Ginger Snaps the main she-werewolf character is different to the she-werewolves in the Howling series. The movie she-werewolf is always attractive and on the prowl for mates but there is a message of destruction. Once upon a time, a woman who behaved a certain way was condemned by society and made an outcast of. It's interesting that criminals (including outlaws and outcasts) are connected linguistically to wolves in Germanic languages. The merry men of Sherwood Forest live wild and free like a wolf pack. The alpha male, Robin Hood, is a central figure and also a very mysterious man. He's considered one of England's national mythical heroes. His mate is the alpha female Lady Marian of Leaford. It's said that her character may have been added later to the folkore and she comes from a tradition based upon solar worship.

Middle Ages
The Original Valkyries
Etymology
Robin of Sherwood
Robin Hood myth and folklore
Werewolf movies

Midsummer

2010-06-21T03:49:00.000-07:00

I give thanks to the Oak Tree:
I give bread, cake, fruit.

I also give thanks to the gods,
for helping me recover.

As the sun grows and central to the highest point in the sky.
Summer is at it's brightest and longest.

Tonight there is going to be a ritual.
I will be present at the rite of Midsummer.

Summer Solstice

Musical wolves howling

2010-06-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

"Listen to them. Children of the Night. What music they make" - Dracula (1931)

The howl of a wolf is one of the most magical sounds on earth. It captivates the soul. It also frightens people as well as inspires them. I love listening to the sounds of wolves howling. This was very common to hear in the Dark Ages of Britain. It's also a pleasure listening to them howl in regions like isolated wildernesses of Europe and the Americas. Yet in England, hearing a real wolf howl is actually possible today! (You only have to visit an animal park).

Click on these links to hear the howling of wolves:
Wolf Sounds
Howls and growls
Wolf Country: sounds
A variety of audio wolf sounds
Wolf Talk

It's so beautiful!

There is a lot of musical numbers and albums combined with the backdrop of howling wolves. Music from any genre like classical, folk, metal, and relaxation, add wolves to their songs.

This is an incredible video: Wolf Song (Celtic Version).
Another is classical with Wolf images and howling.
Black metal: Carpathian Wolves by Graveland.

The sound of the wolf is compelling and enchanting. The wolves communicate in a special way and their sounds create a vibrant energy, that either sends chills or makes us weep, or locked in thoughts, or even tuned into the realm of the imagination. There are some who'll feel "oh not that again" when they hear wolves because they've worked on farms and have had problems wih them, or otherwise because some simply don't appreciate the howling of wolves.

Interesting info on wolves:
UK Wolf Conservation Trust
Guardians of the Wolf

Bite Culture

2010-06-02T02:24:00.000-07:00

This poem is called "Bite Culture". Not many people will understand it or even like it. Some can interprate this in any way they like as people have their own ideas. What this poem says isn't what is obviously written. Deep inside there is a lot I want to say but I can only do that indirectly. The poem isn't political or about frustration with life or society, btw.

Bite Culture

A storm passes...
The water drifts up, the waves flatten, rain comes heavily
And the skulls appear on the banks.
As the ship sails away,
Clouds with diamonds bring sorrow.
Armies fade off into the mist,
Trees shed their blossoms,
Swords are sharpened,
Shields defensive and spiked that few are,
I feel pain and anguish when it shouldn't be,
What is coming of this?
Why do all seem easier with it?
Fires burning dead things on hills,
Wasted away...
One half suffer, the other half play,
One half feels agony and the other half fake.
That's the way they want it to be.
They are afraid of wasps,
But they eat the tortured,
Some like vaggie and some like cheese.
Once they asked ...What am I doing here?... Who am I?...
They later say that they ...Know...
Bite with their minds and hearts.
Fouling the waters and fouling the smoke
Let's pretend...
Come all... I like to teach the world to....
Harmony... Blessed be... Love and Light... Give away all you have...
Money... money... buys love...
Whatever you say,
give me... give me...
It's all there for all who hear,
The animals listen,
I can hear you, visible enough to me.
by Ragna

Okay here is what this poem really meant going by each verse.
It's been almost a Century since the end of the last great war.
Mist, or mists of time and forgotten elements of history, tepid seas and little wind meaning slow travel. The weather alters quickly and this represents tears.
Skulls or fossils have been discovered, with plenty of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. We're learning a lot about pre-history when the mists of time unveils a little.
As people leave and head off on conquests of their own, they feel optimistic.
Clouds or depression among the wealthy "diamond" owning women make some struggling women feel inadequate and imperfect just as they do to some I've encountered recently.
Men on the other hand are losing a battle of everyday life, by succumbing to those above or around them. They are shadows of themselves or shadows of their forefathers. They can't see their own powers or strengths.
Summer is now coming so what do trees do?
We must have our wits about us and use our intellect.
When dealing with the occult in any shape or form, shield ourselves, and call upon a spirit guide as the "armour" with spikes.
Things can get on top of me too and if only things went okay all the time.
That was a question for what will happen in the future of the world as a result of today.
People boast that they don't have the same problems when it's hard to believe they don't because everyone struggles in some way or other, so that line meant don't believe what advice you get on the internet.
The Volcano in Iceland.
Soldiers fighting for a just cause don't know what will happen to them but they go ahead anyway. This line is about bravery and how others regard them as cannon fodder.
Our positive and negative qualities.
Our subcionsious and personality.
People are afraid of change and want to stay in this forever.
Yes generally some people are. I knew people who felt panic after a wasp entered the room.
As an omnivorous species, the modern human is far from being a Hunter Gatherer, and some can't even stomach farming either! Modern people are even scared to go camping. They don't fully comprehend how their supermarket bought food was prepared.
There are those who preach. Be aware of this.
Human beings always ask that.
They also believe they know everything and have the answers.
The way they know this is from what what others have said, dreams, or taking credit from other people's blood and sweat.
Bad language.
Media and celebrity obsessions.
A christmas carol and 70's coca cola advert.
Mantras.
Eurovision and the UK's fall from popularity on that show since the glory days of the 20th Century.
Gameshow talk.
Demanding people, often spoilt brats.
There are books to research things but there are those who don't do that and accept what they're being told.
Animals have better senses and people forget they're part of the animal kingdom.
As a therianthrope I'm sensitive to things.

So this poem of mine was basically about my observations of different people in comparison to ancient people and therianthropes.

Wolf Goddesses

2010-05-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Wolf as Goddess. In my previous Wintry entries, I have dealt with a couple of subjects about the Wolf Goddess. There are many but with so few references, or few known with a doubtful notion. So I have decided to make a single entry about as many of the wolf goddesses that I can think of.

Anyone is free to send me or post comments with their own ideas or reminders in case I missed someone out. With that please anticipate editions.

The most famous Wolf Goddess in Europe is Lupa. Other names that she has been knowned by is Luperca and Acca Larentia. She is a Roman goddess of fertility and the earth, who took on the shape of a wolf. She is the foster mother of the mystical twin boys, Romulus and Remus. The boys are sons of the god Mars and vestal virgin/priestess Rhea Silvia or Llia. Lupa was the wife of Lupercus, a Roman god of fertility who was celebrated as a festivity "Lupercalia" on February 13th to the15th. Lupercalia has ancient Greek roots in the Lykaia festival, named after the Lykaian hills or "Wolf Mountain" the largest peak in Arcadia: Source. Now the modern version of Lupercalia is Valentine's Day, celebrated on the 14th February, with Roman origins also.

The Valkyries (or Valkyrja) are said to have ridden wolves instead of horses. Regarded as swan maidens and battle maidens, the Valkyries are divine women or goddesses have been linked to wolves. One Valkyrie named "Gondul" was considered a shapeshifter who became a wolf so her other name meant "she-were-wolf". The Valkyries or "choosers of the slain" entered a battlefield and led the souls of dead warriors into the afterlife. Some warriors were sent to Valhalla and others were taken to Einherjar. Valkyries are linked wih ravens as well as warfare and death. They were regarded as sinister far back in the past although the modern idea of a Valkyrie is a shining warrior woman figure.

Closely resembling the Norse Valkyrja is "The Morrigan" of Celtic myths. This goddess is said to have been called the "Great Queen" or "Phantom Queen". Also she is perhaps a triple goddess and her three identities are Badb, Macha and Nemain. Transforms into a wolf and also a raven.She's a war goddess of death.

I also mentioned that Hecate and Artemis are wolf goddesses that I discussed in previous entries.

The Sumer goddess Inanna was a goddess of love and war had a wolf at her side.

Returning to Norse myths, the giantess Skadi was associated with wolves and winter. Angrboda or Angerboda, is the mother of Fenris the giant wolf.

If you dig deeper you'll find that many goddesses, giantesses, mythical women and female spirits have some brief connection to wolves. What I found is that, unless I research even more intensely, a catalogue of association of wolves with gods and goddesses differs. When it comes to folklore about human societies and people, wolves are only seen as quite dangerous animals who should be feared.

The divine aspect of the wolf can be found in far more ancient myths and among different cultures. The divine wolf is mostly found to be with gods and men but hardly for goddesses and women.

Today in modern culture there is folklore being created, but I should say resurfaced from the deep wells of the subconsious human psyche. Therianthrope is a spiritual sensation, movement, development and embrace of the divine within us towards the divine animals. Plenty of novels and games have sparked off the divine wolf aspect of females and women. More women than ever are becoming fascinated by werewolves, wolves and mystical canids. The she-wolf goddess comes in all aspects and guises. She may even resemble a beautiful woman.

Check out these sites:
Therianthropy
Encyclopedia Mythica
A Guide to Ancient Ireland
Timeless Myths
The Obscure Goddess Dictionary
Sacred Texts

Above is a beautiful painting by artist Julie Bell

The Wolf Wheel

2010-05-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

The symbol of the sun is a wheel. The sun wheel is shaped like a disk and it has an interior cross like the spokes of wheels. The cross of the sun cross represents a spinning and cycle of nature. The seasons are divided into four groups: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. The cross of the sunwheel shape can be a symbol of the seasons, a circle of the year or wheel of the year.

(I have a very beautiful wheel shaped calander at home. Look at this website for details of the astro calander 2010 who created it and see for yourself).

The sunwheel cross could also be a navigational cross showing: North, South, East, West. Again the wheel of the disk is both for direction and time. The system of the wheel cross is what I'm going to explain here. The "Wolf Wheel" is something I invented. It shows a selection of elements as in the above picture like Earth, Air, Fire and Water. In divination when making casts, the wheel image showing the four elements is used. The elements, time and navigation can be associated with one another.

SPRING - EAST
SUMMER - SOUTH
AUTUMN - WEST
WINTER - NORTH

With the elemental feelings and colours (earth, air, fire, water) they are sometimes including extra elements such as metal and ice and spirit. People place earth, air, fire and water in a category of their choosing. The Spring is linked with East because of the rising sun and dawn, it means earliness, youth, blossoming daylight, gentle sunlight, warmth, newness. The Summer is linked with the South because it shows the heat, bright sunlight, long days, scorching weather. Autumn means Fall, when leaves turn dry and red and harvest time and lowering sunlight, cooler temperatures and darkening days. This is what sunset reminds me of so therefore that season belongs to the West. Winter is the darker season and it's very cold, so it represents the North.The basic elements of earth, air, fire and water are associated with their behaviour and temperatures.

FIRE - SUMMER - SOUTH
WATER - WINTER - NORTH
AIR - SPRING - EAST
EARTH - AUTUMN - WEST

According to the ancient Greeks, the properties of those elements are described as being "hot, warm, a little wet, wet," ect.

Now the WOLF WHEEL acts in a similar way. The NORTH wolf is Arctic, from the snowy landscapes, appearing as the brightest wolf in dreams. This white wolf, and ice wolf, is the spirit of the northern lost lands, legends of Britain and Scandinavia (even wolves from Alaska, Greenland and Siberia). The Husky is considered a "Polar Dog" and it is a cousin of the wolf but husky's don't tolerate hot weather. The EAST wolf is the Forest Wolf, or Eurasian wolf. Found in mainland Central and Eastern Europe. The SOUTH wolf is the ancient wolf of Africa, the Middle East and Australasia Ancestor of the Wolf but wolves thrive better in cooler climates. There are many other different canids that dwell in hot regions. The ancient Egyptian god Anubis was a jackel. Jackels are relatives of wolves. The WEST wolf is the Timber wolf or the grey wolf of the Americas. If people wish to associate their wolf elements with literal and geographic wild canids then that's pretty cool.

EARTH WOLF - The WEST.
AIR WOLF - The SPRING
FIRE WOLF - The SUMMER
WATER WOLF - The WINTER.

Above art by Wolfdog

Hay fever, Canola and poisonous flowers

2010-05-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

There are fields in the north of England, glowing the most brilliant yellow. As a therianthrope, I'm often getting hay fever this time of year. I'm sneezing and have a runny nose. Up and down the country there are crops with such bright, beautiful golden flowers like those around me. The fields are of luminous yellow like the shining halo yellow of the sun's rays. One can only dream of dancing in those fields of rich bright flowers. I wandered there to one of the local fields of yellow flowers and I stood beside a yew tree. Bees and other insects danced there and it felt like being in a fairy glade. These yellow dreamy flowery fields are scattered like patchworks of precious gold around this part of England. So what are these amazing fields of golden flowers?

They are fields of rapeseed, or otherwise called Canola. It's grown for production. It gives us plenty of Vitamin E and Omega 3 and it has only 6% of saturated fat when other oils have 14% fat. The oilseed rape is an ingredient used in food, medicines, soap and as a form of cooking oil. It's also a less fattening substitute for butter and margarine in bread. Canola or oilseed rape (rapeseed) is different to other oils because it's cold pressed (sqeezed dry). Other oils are refined and cut at high temperatures.

Some people believe that Canola is not fit for human consumption and should only be used for industry. Canola is related to the mustard plant family and rapeseed has been used in cooking for centuries. There are many For and Against debates about this but there is a lot of negative feeling towards this particular plant. I personally think this debate is endless but we're given a choice. Some say sugar is bad for our health while others insist we don't have enough. Now salt is apparantly no good either and yet our bodies need some amount of salt. People are taken in by eating "5-a-day" portions of fruit and vegetables but dentists say too much of that causes tooth decay! Canola is a diet that gives us an amount of vitamins and omegas. Also this plant isn't popular because it's considered a "gmo" export and it makes some people feel a bit scared to touch it (although they probably eat chocolate and drink tea). Canola comes from a natural plant that has benefitted human beings since time began. It's like a turnip or a potato or a tomato and possibly bread, even!

Oilseed Rape (Canola)
Canola Info

The Canola blossoms are scented like burnt honey. And just like any other plant, Canola pollen causes hay fever. This season is when I have rhinitis because of pollen floating in the air or it's from household dust. Pollen from trees, grass, weeds and dandilion seeds.

"Win the war against allergies" (One of my favourite TV commercials)

Canola is quite safe and edible. It looks golden and lovely in fields, and people may find them strangely luminous. There are far more dangerous gold flowers to worry about such as these: Yellow orleander, calla lily, daffodils, horse chestnut, Laburnum, pyrethrum and yellow starthistle. Most people assume that daffodils are harmless because they appear at the beginning of Spring and last a while into Summer, and they look nice in gardens or in vases. But the truth is daffodils are really quite noxious flowers. Their bulbs contain an alkoloid that will cause an illness if eaten. This site shows you more about other poisonous plants and flowers: Poisonous Plants

Mermaids in crisis

2010-05-14T02:30:00.000-07:00

The sea is important but sadly doomed,

for it's waters have turned bleak and polluted.

In the fairy story, "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Anderson, link the heroine is a young mermaid who fell in love with a handsome man. After rescueing him at sea, the mermaid wanted to become able to walk on land so that she could be with him. She confided in the deep undersea witch, where the waters are murkier, and darker, and teeming with more sinister creatures. The sea witch is a frightening character and the mermaid is told that in order to do this wish, she must make a gamble. So the mermaid accepted the deal and returned to her cavern dwelling to drink a magical potion given to her by the sea witch. The potion works its magic and the mermaid collapses. She awoke to find herself on the sandy beach, wearing nothing except her flowing hair. No longer did she have a tail but a pair of slender legs. Now she could walk on land and this filled her with optimistic pride. However the mermaid lost one very important feature: her voice.

Throughout myths and legends, not to mention fairytales, mermaids capture sailors with their beautiful voices. They sing the songs of doom. Their voices draw sailors to them and sometimes death happens. Sirens and mermaids have enchanting, desireable and magnetic voices that whirl above the seas and pull at the hearts of men on boat and ship. So without her voice, the heroine of the traditional story is lost. She doesn't win the heart of the man she loves because his heart goes to another. The mermaid tragically took her own life, realising all she did was for nothing.

There are some important things to realise. One is that you must be who you are and any attempts to be something else will only cause problems. That seems to be what the story is telling. Another is that for a woman to make a man love her, she goes about it the wrong way if she thinks it means changing who she is. Love features so definately in mermaid tales. So does sadness.

The leaking of oil from the well at the Gulf of Mexico is spewing out roughly 5,ooo barrels or 210,000 gallons each day Source

Such a disaster has an impact on the world especially for sealife and ecology. Human error and incompetence resulted in this massive spill and will cost to repair the damage.
Gulf oil spill

"Oil from a ruptured drilling rig could harm all kinds of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic tarpon and bluefin tuna that have key spawning areas nearby to endangered sea turtles, commercial fisheries, migrating song birds and marine mammals."

It isn't the first event of its kind. Polluted dark waters in the age we live in, the Wolf Age. This is apparantly near the coming of Ragnarok, the final time of the battle between gods and giants. Some view this as an Armageddon type of story. Others see it as symbolic and cosmic.

Fairytale analysis - Like the magical voice of the mermaid, the water is also very fertile, beautiful and strong. Without her voice, the mermaid is lost, as revealed in the fairytale. "The Little Mermaid" is like a warning tale of the sea itself. The voice of the mermaid is a metaphore of the power of the sea. Once the sea's vital power is gone, the sea cannot be what it was or be able to sustain its living creatures. It becomes poisonous and deadly (much like the sea witch in "The Little Mermaid"). Parts of the sea has been tainted already and sealife was affected badly. Some creatures have been rescued by people.

Mermaids are famously women of the ocean, with fish tails instead of legs. The sea legends of mermaids are often and always usually about lust, desire, mystery, tragedy, magic and beauty. The sea fills us with emotions and positivity, romantic setting, love, anger, fear, mystery and certainly beautiful splendour. Also the sea, or Water as an elemental sign, is associated with femininity and women through the ages. Women are psychologically linked with Water and it shows in ancient stories. There are plenty of water goddesses. Note the truly interesting wave maidens, nereids, oceanids, sirens, water nymphs, all of whom have names and legends.

One other thing: the sea can fight back.

Greek myths
Ragnarok
Call of the Sea (Check out "Myths and Legends")
Mermaids on the Web

Fire and Ice

2010-05-13T03:36:00.000-07:00

Raykjavik Volcano erupts as the British parliament undergoes radical, new and different changes. A new PM as well as a coalition not seen in the UK since the Second World War. During this phase a cold spell hung across Britain as the temperatures plummet to frost, wind and some light sleet in the northernmost uplands. The volcanic ash veils across the country and other parts of Europe. Fire and ice. A time of fire and ice is the symbolic and alchemical metaphore of two elements. Fire and Ice coming together is a form of union and procreation. There are giants of ice and giants of fire in Norse mythology. The age of fire and ice is a phase when life begins. The ice world Niflheim and the fire world Muspellheim both togther produced life.

Raykjavik Volcanic webcam
Volcanic update
Creation: Norse mythology

Ice doesn't move. It's stable, rigid, kept in place. It only forms and melts. Fire moves. It's noisy, can spread around, flexible. It only grows and settles. They both create patterns within. One provides warmth, the other provides coolness. To extremes they can both take life but also in gentler stages they can sustain life. Life wouldn't exist without them.

What of the fire and ice or ice and fire within us?

Ice and Fire have qualities that we need. Fire is the ability to dream, think, imagine, desire. Ice is the holder of memories and recognition, the keeper so to speak. One is the library, the other is the book maker. Fire is the urge to create an art form. Ice is the ability to retain and display the art form. Subconsious and then consiousness. Dream and reality. Spirit and understanding. Thoughts and actions. Fire is inside us and we feel it when we have emotions and ideas. Ice is the reaction or the response and even the result. Fire is the dream to make a beautiful toy made of anything. Then ice is the result of that dream, which is the physical reality that you hold before you. I want to do this... and here we are, I've done it now.

Can fire be outside and ice inside? Yes of course it can.

External fire is the act of will, and the display and character, the personality traits, the physical appearance, the style, the glamour. Internal ice is belief, faith, ambition and those things that anchor a person. Yet both can change.

Ice is recognised as being Winter and Silver. And even the Moon. Therefore, some would and could say that Ice is winter, Yule, a time of snow and darkness, the metal of silver, the moon, and yes WOLVES. Fire is associated with Summer and Gold and the Sun or solar. Then the Fire is summer and light, flowers, warmth, sunlight, the metal gold, the sun and WILD CATS. Absolutely!

Cats and dogs. Wolves and wild cats. Most of the wild cats, all of them really, are found in warmer and hotter climates. Fire animals. Animals associated with fire. Even though the domestic cat is associated with the moon and night, that is mere supersticious rings.
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Above art from Dyan Allaire

Beside a river

2010-05-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

The river that passes by the village town is beautiful, gentle, rippling, healthy and clean. It moves over the rocks. It sounds very soothing. It carries leaves, twigs and blossoms. The river looks enchanting in the day but eerily cool at night as a place that Therianthropes would love to visit. Near this river is a field of growing corn. The wolf within senses that there are small wild animals living around there. I ventured further out and I stumbled upon burrows and hiding places. I knew who was in there, or who wasn't. Today I found a fallen eggshell from a bird's nest, and it was beside the rose bush in my garden. A bit further away is a very creepy looking old barn yard. At night, when stars shine above it, the bard yard is probably haunted. I need a camera! The visions and scents of the place is magic.

When you look at the eyes of a wolf,
You seek itself.
The wolf stares at you,
and you are afraid.

A wolf's ancient journey is embedded in the land across the countryside. It's still there from times past, that long ago, when the last wolves of the British Isles roamed freely. I found a way to track it. Find rare ancient wolf bone and teeth, that would interest a museum.

The campaign against wolves in this country by Edward I was quite successful and allusions to them became fewer in historical documentation. At an abbey in Herefordshire, an iron wolf head is supposedly a memorial to Edward’s campaign.

Source

The demise of the native wolf has never been forgotten. Humans are afraid of nature. This is tragic. People should get to grips with nature and learn they're part of it and NOT seperate from it.
A worrying thought that what happened to the British wolf is almost happening now to the landscape.

Wolves and Humans
Its Nature
Reintroduce Wolves

Blossoms and the full moon

2010-04-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last night it was the Full Moon. It was quite invisible behind some of the silvery grey clouds, tinged with the volcanic ash from Iceland. Barely bright, and yet shining still, the full moon still glowed and it wasn't as dark outside last night as it was previously. I bring you some health tips from a female Therianthrope. Please ignore if you wish, argue if you want to, debate about it, copy it or simply ignore it. I'm no dietician and I haven't the faintest about herbs or spices. I will say that I like flowers, and I enjoyed the walk in the woods today. I saw many blossoms, some were pink, red, blue, white and yellow. Canopies of leaves with sprayed out branches made me think of laced parasols. The fir trees and pine trees sang with bird song and a few had little cones. Wild flowers in many shades of sunlight and moonlight scattered on the grass. A stirring came upon me to strip off naked and run through the woods, climb up the trees, lay on the ground among the petals, and dance. However though, the woods are public and I didn't do it. A shame really. I was overcome by immense love and gratitude, belonging, and I felt happy.

So here are some health tips from me.

Evening primrose oil ideal for PMT/PMS, stress, depression and moodswings. It's especially good for women going through a hard time or having that time of month. This can be an ingredient to use in cooking instead of fat, olive and vegetable oils.
Rose petals, nice bath remedy, and a soother on the skin. Nice ingredients for romantic dinners and afternoon garden tea.
Violets are a mind healing flower for the sense of well being, and is edible that can be used as a form of garnish in salads and savoury dinners.

More on Edible flowers are Here

Other links of speial interest:
Magickal Herbs
Gode Cookery of the Middle Ages
Viking Answer Lady: Viking food
Tree and Plant Lore

In memory of my dogs

2010-04-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

I just found out that Sheba, my beloved family dog living with my grandparents, has died. She was ten years old and a beautiful German Shepherd. She was probably the largest dog of her breed that I have ever seen, as she came from an interesting heritage. Her father was a large police dog and her mother was also a pretty big dog. She had a long fluffy tail like a wolf's tail. Her fur looked wolflike but ever so silky and soft. She was golden, brown and light blonde haired. Her eyes were dark honey coloured. As a puppy she was very exciteable and she made me feel uplifted and happy. She brightened things around her. As an adult, she became a strong and proud animal, but unlike most dogs that I know, she had this air about her that was very proud, almost ladylike. We called her The Queen. She lived up to her name "Sheba". I lost my own father in 2005 after a battle with cancer, and Sheba comforted me during those dark times. I then left Hampshire and came up here to Yorkshire to be with my boyfriend. I haven't seen Sheba since then but I have a photograph of her. I will post this online when I get my camera uploads fixed. Sheba was in later times suffering a condition that was causing her pain in the legs and she couldn't walk properly. She was one of those characters that you just can't imagine dying. For weeks I've been thinking of her a lot but it wasn't until yesterday that my grandmother told me Sheba died in January this year. I miss her much. Other pets have died and it's saddened me. I lost many pets of different animals and they made me feel sad. My grandparents now have a new puppy.

In loving memory of my dear dogs. Here is a list of all the dogs I can remember and who I've loved, then lost.

1. An Old English Sheepdog, my first dog. I can vaguely remember him but there is a photograph of me aged two years old and he's stood beside me. He died when I was a toddler.

2. I grew up with this dog, he was a pale brown colour and a cross-breed. He was playful and protective of me. There are dozens of photographs of me as a child with this friendly dog. He died when I was 10 years old and I grieved for a long time.

3. Two years later my family got a new puppy, a very pretty black and tan cross labrador and German shepherd. She was playful as a puppy, then as an adult she became really affectionate, gentle, loving and protective of children. She was sweet natured. She died in 1999 of old age and an illness. This upset me and I still cry for her now and then because I do miss her.

4. The late Sheba, who died in January 2010. She was born in 2000. I have pictures of her as a puppy and then growing up. She was a proud, haughty and noble dog. She was feared by other people and animals because of her appearance but I felt safe with her. She was a true guardian of the house. She didn't have any puppies of her own but she had maternal instincts, she was protective of children and young puppies that visited.

In memory to other pets and dogs who've been loved.

Twilight hunting

2010-04-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

The hour of twilight, both evening and morning, is a very important place. It's when the air shifts and it turns into a different temperature. Morning twilights always feel cold for me as the night passes and the sun rises. That sends a chill eveywhere. This breeze can be felt by some people and a few of them are were creatures or otherkin of some kind but the many don't seem to recognise it.

In this breeze there is a special sound, scent and even colours. Each can be identified at different times of the year or felt by different people. It also depends on where you live and who you are. For instance, a teenaged therianthrope living in California won't recognise the same thing that an old werewolf Master living in Norway. However, for the teenager, he or she will begin to experience the various levels of sensations that each clock time, day, weather pattern, season, month and even ritualistic event ("holiday") is going to be like. That person can grow to understand it. For the many it's visual too.

During the Spring mornings when it's twilight and not yet sun-risen, the breeze is very cool. At times it can be frosty. The breeze can sound like birds or rustling leaves, sighing, the shore, twirling movements on grass and the lightest rainfall. It smells like candy and flowers. Depending on what carried it and where the twilight breeze travelled from, the scent can be like trees or rocks. The morning early Spring breeze is a very soft, transparent pale pink. It's glowing colour is so swift and brief that it looks like a drifting shawl. The style and type of breeze changes every time and sometimes each individual person will understand it in their own way. It won't even be the same as what I feel.

Then late twilight it's also different again. Sunset, moonrise, starlight, before then when it turns darker and the sky is still quite colourful. This is when the air becomes dense and closed, as if a blanket is being covered over the world. For werewolves we might shapeshift and transform, depending on the cycles. When we do transform, it's during twilight and NOT dead-of-night with the moon up already. Werewolves become who they are as the night approaches, and before the sky blackens.

In forests there are large amounts of deer and other wild animals. They are part of the landscape. Werewolves do feed upon them but it's not true that they always do this. People have a large meal before they become wolves. It isn't true that werewolves attack people either or simply become hungry once they've altered shape. This process of transformation is not a physical change as people know it as they've seen it in horror movies. Therianthropy isn't clinical lycanthropy and others do tend to confuse it together. Often the medical web definitions of Lycanthropy might mention the word Therianthropy as to judge the matter as going downwards, to lump this all together, darken true werewolves and because the topic itself needs a more wider, friendlier understanding. If no one understands the differences of the types of werewolves there are from the Therianthrope to the mystical lycanthrope, to the nicknamed infamous associates and the clinical lycanthrope illness, then let's show them. Werewolf myths, stories and fables, reports, misunderstandings and uplifting healing experiences, that would make a whole subject worthy of studying.

Anyone interested in Lycanthropy or Therianthropy:

Werewolves and Lycanthropy
Monstrous Werewolves
The werewolf and shapeshifter codex