In Honor Of His Dark Materials Coming Out Today/tomorrow, And Finding Out That The Writers Were Playing

Silly His Dark Materials headcanon: daemons’ fur/feathers/skin does actually go through periodic changes. Any part of their body that comes off - fur, claws, antlers, teeth, molted feathers, molted skin for reptile daemons, exoskeletons for some invertebrates - disappears after like a day, but many species with fur do blow their coats in the spring. Fortunately daemons can’t trigger people’s allergies but sometimes there’s just fur everywhere.

Hester’s real winter coat didn’t start coming in until after she’d been in the north for a couple years. She sort of wishes it didn’t because Lee does the “make a second rabbit out of all the fur that comes off when brushing” joke Every. God. Damn. Year. and still thinks he’s absolutely hilarious.

Unsettled daemons don’t do this, and can give themselves seasonal coats at any time of year. If Hester thought she was a jackrabbit for years, there is someone out there, probably numerous people, whose “ermine” daemon settled in winter and they were very surprised to discover that an ermine and a stoat are the exact same animal.

My top three feminist exploitations of male-default language. (Insp)

Just got an incredibly generous job offer, so naturally I’m passing these vibes to you!

“I will be blessed with a generous job that works for me”

📥💸💻⏰💡🎊💡⏰💻💸📥

Likes charge, reblogs cast

Rereading/reading His Dark Materials can be so satisfying as a daemian because of stuff like this; because you know exactly what it's like to have them "call you silently", because you also clock their form at any given moment...seeing those experiences in print is nice.

August 2023 witch guide

August 2023 witch guide

Full moon: August 1st in Aquarius

New Moon: August 16th

Blue moon: August 30th Aquarius into Pisces

Sabbats: Lughnasadh August 1st



August Sturgeon Moon

Also known as: Corn moon, harvest moon, ricing moon, barley moon, dog moon, fruit moon, grain moon, herb moon, red moon & wyrt moon

Element: Fire

Zodiac: Leo & Virgo

Animal spirts: Dryads

Deities: Diana, Ganesha, Hathor, Hecate, Mars, Nemesis, Thot & Vulcan

Animals: Dragon, lion, phoenix & sphinx

Birds: Crane, eagle & falcon

Trees: Alder cedar & hazel

Herbs/plants: Basil, bay, chamomile, fennel, orange, rosemary, rue & St. John’s wort,

Flowers: Angelica, marigold, sunflower

Scents: Frankincense & heliotrope

Stones: Carnelian, cats/tiger’s eye, fire agate, garnet, red jasper & red agate

Colors: Gold, orange, red & yellow

Energy: Authority, appreciation, courage, entertainment, finding your voice, friendship, gathering, harvesting energy, health, love, pleasures, power &vitality

Sturgeon moon gets it’s name from the high numbers that are caught at the Great Lakes & Lake Champlain in North America during this time of year. The names come from a number of places including Native Americans, Colonial Americans & European sources.



Lughnasadh

Also known as: Lammas, August eve & Feast of bread

Season: Summer

Symbols: Scythes, corn, grain dollies & shafts of grain

Colors: Gold, green, yellow, red, orange, light brown & purple

Oils/incense: Aloe, apple, corn, eucalyptus, safflower, rose & sandalwood

Animals: Cattle & chickens

Stones: Aventurine, carnelian, citrine, peridot, sardonyx & yellow diamond

Foods: Apples, grains, barley cakes, wild berries, cider, honey, potatoes, rice, sun shaped cookies, blackberry, corn, nuts, breads, blueberry. berry pies & grapes

Herbs/Plants: Alfalfa, aloe, all grains, blackberry, corn, corn stalk, crab apple, fenugreek, frankincense, ginseng, goldenseal, grapes, myrtle, oak leaves, pear, rye, blackthorn &wheat

Flowers: Sunflower, cyclamen, heather, hollyhock & medowsweet

Goddesses: Aine, Alphito, Bracacia, Carmen, Ceres, Damina, Demeter, Freya, Grain goddesses, Ishtar, Kait, Kore, Mother Goddess, Sul, Sun Goddesses, Taillte, Zaramama, Ereshkigal & Ianna

Gods: Athar, Bes, Bran, Dagon, Ebisu, Dumuzi, Ghanan, Grain Gods, Howtu, Liber, Lono, Lugh, Neper, Odin, Sun Gods & Xochipilli

Issues, Intentions & Power:  Agriculture, changes, divination, endings, fertility, life, light, manifestation, power, purpose, strength, success & unity

Spellwork: Sun magick, rituals of thanks/offerings, bounty, abundance & fire magick

Activities:

Bake fresh bread

Weave wheat

Take walks along bodies of water

Craft a corn doll

Watch the sunrise

Eat outside with family/friends/coven members

Donate to your local foodbank

Prepare a feast with your garden harvest

Give thanks to the Earth

Decorate your altar with symbols of the season

Clean up a space in nature

Plant saved seeds

This cross-quarter fire festival is celebrated on August 1st or the first full moon of Leo & the seventh sabbat of the year. It represents the first harvest when the Earth’s bounty is given for the abundance received.

Some believe this is the time where the God has weakened & is losing his strength as seen in the waning of the day’s light. The Goddess is pregnant with the young God who will be born on Yule.

In some traditions, this day honors the Celt god Lugh, the god of craftsmanship; He is skilled in many things including wheel making, blacksmithing & fighting. Though there is some discrepancy as to why Lugh is honored on this day. Some tales say it’s because he held a harvest faire in honor of his adoptive mother, Tailtiu.



Sources;

Farmersalmanac .com

Boston Public Library- The Origins & Practices of Lammas/Lughnasadh by Dhruti Bhagat

Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

A Witch’s Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

So these are my ideas of future rodents!  Can you guess what each of them evolved from? I gave them some (half-assed) latin names and colorations inspired by both the original ancestors as well as the modern animals that inspired me to create them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. You can see a detailed description of my thought process behind each creation on my Patreon.

Patreon • Ko-fi • Facebook  • Prints & Merch

Ilvermorny Informal House Colors

I know there are no official House colors at Ilvermorny, but I figured it would be good to have informal colors for competitive events (Quidditch, debate, etc.) They’re all different combinations on the overall school colors (blue, cranberry, gold).

cranberry + medium blue : Thunderbird gold + cranberry : Wampus medium blue + pale blue : Horned Serpent pale blue + gold : Pukwudgie

NOTE: At Ilvermorny, they wear more typical sportswear (jerseys and athletic shorts, plus sweatshirt-jackets and sweatpants for the cold months) to play Quidditch. The uniforms are as follows:

Thunderbird - cranberry jersey, medium blue shorts with cranberry stripes down the sides, medium blue sweatshirt-jacket/sweatpants

Wampus - gold jersey, cranberry shorts with gold stripes down the sides, cranberry sweatshirt-jacket/sweatpants

Horned Serpent - medium blue jersey, pale blue shorts with medium blue stripes down the sides, pale blue sweatshirt-jacket/sweatpants

Pukwudgie - pale blue jersey, gold shorts with pale blue stripes down the sides, gold sweatshirt-jacket/sweatpants

Jerseys and jackets say ISQ (for Ilvermorny School Quidditch) on the right breast and the player’s surname and number on the back. The sweatpants say the House name down the pant leg.

And most importantly I fight like a girl who has nothing to lose.

Emoji spell, because I need a damn good job & I need it fast as fuck:

⭐💲⚡👔💻🔥💡☄️💲⭐

Likes to charge for those who have reblogged, reblog to cast for yourself.

Remember kids, the best spells are born from hard work, and sheer desperation