posts tagged "interesting"

Fascinating imaginary beings

aniraduath:

Äbädä - a forest spirit

Allicanto - a bird with wings shining during the night with metallic colors and eyes of emit lights
Bai Ze - in Chinese mythology: talking beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits
Charybdis - sea monster in the form of a giant mouth
Emere - a pretty child with seductive powers who can come and go from heaven at will
Kelpie - Celtic folklore: strong, powerful, and breathtaking water horse
Mare - Slavic: disembodied spirit which brings bad dreams
Myling - Scandinavian: ghost of unbaptized children
Ōkubi - Japanese: giant heads of either men or women appearing in the sky is a sign of impending disaster
Patupaiarehe - Māori: pale nature spirit beings playing the flutes
Rusalka - Slavic: a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway
Tzitzimitl - Aztec: skeletal star spirit
Vrykolakas - undead wolf-human hybrid

Aníra: abnormal words

aniraduath:

abiogenesis - spontaneous generation of living matter

defenestrate - to throw out of a window

hadeharia - the practice of constantly using the word “Hell” in speaking

wirewove - very fine quality of writing paper

abacinate - to blind by putting a hot copper basin near someone’s eyes

jentacular - pertaining to breakfast

kat-nasty:

stayinbedgrowyourhair:

utnereader:

Andrew Carnegie built an impressive 2,509 libraries around the turn of the 20th century. Now Rick Brooks and Todd Bol are on a mission to top his total with their two-foot by two-foot Little Free Libraries.

The diminutive, birdhouse-like libraries, which Brooks and Bol began installing in Hudson and Madison, Wisconsin, in 2009, are typically made of wood and Plexiglas and are designed to hold about 20 books for community members to borrow and enjoy. Offerings include anything from Russian novels and gardening guides to French cookbooks and Dr. Seuss.

Keep reading …

this is incredibly cool!

This is the best idea. 

dustoncrowns: Crossroad is a symbolic term denoting the union and joining of paths. The association of the crossroad with Witchcraft goes back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Classically the crossroad symbolizes a joining of three roads, the balance of opposites, and the meeting of time and space.In the Aegean/Mediterranean region crossroads were sacred to Hecate, Triformis, and Diana. Ovid, an ancient Roman writer, speaks of Hecate as having three faces with which to guard the crossroads as they branched out. Verro, another ancient writer, equated Diana with Hecate and stated the images of Diana were stationed at the crossroads. Other writers of the period called this goddess Artemis-Hekate, and attributed the mother goddess aspect to her. In the archaic Roman religion small towers were constructed at crossroads, and an altar was placed before them upon which offerings were laid. Such towers were associated with Nature spirit worship and demarcation. Possibly this may be the foundation of the concept of Watchtowers within modern Witchcraft. Since classical times the crossroad has been a favored place for Witches to gather because of its link to Nature spirits and the moon goddess. When the symbolic crossroads were Christianized they became symbols of dread. Crossroads become the construction sites for gallows, and suspended cages that contained bodies of criminals. Also, suicide victims, who were not permitted burial in hallowed churchyards, were frequently buried near a crossroad. Christian authorities frequently urged people to avoid the crossroads, particularly at night, as it was the devil’s stomping grounds. If you were looking to meet Satan, howver, if you had a proposition or a request for him, the crossroads was where you were most likely to find him.

dustoncrowns:

Crossroad is a symbolic term denoting the union and joining of paths. The association of the crossroad with Witchcraft goes back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Classically the crossroad symbolizes a joining of three roads, the balance of opposites, and the meeting of time and space.

In the Aegean/Mediterranean region crossroads were sacred to Hecate, Triformis, and Diana. Ovid, an ancient Roman writer, speaks of Hecate as having three faces with which to guard the crossroads as they branched out. Verro, another ancient writer, equated Diana with Hecate and stated the images of Diana were stationed at the crossroads. Other writers of the period called this goddess Artemis-Hekate, and attributed the mother goddess aspect to her.

In the archaic Roman religion small towers were constructed at crossroads, and an altar was placed before them upon which offerings were laid. Such towers were associated with Nature spirit worship and demarcation. Possibly this may be the foundation of the concept of Watchtowers within modern Witchcraft.

Since classical times the crossroad has been a favored place for Witches to gather because of its link to Nature spirits and the moon goddess. When the symbolic crossroads were Christianized they became symbols of dread. Crossroads become the construction sites for gallows, and suspended cages that contained bodies of criminals. Also, suicide victims, who were not permitted burial in hallowed churchyards, were frequently buried near a crossroad. Christian authorities frequently urged people to avoid the crossroads, particularly at night, as it was the devil’s stomping grounds. If you were looking to meet Satan, howver, if you had a proposition or a request for him, the crossroads was where you were most likely to find him.

(Source: gypsymagicspells.blogspot.com)

A New Disaster: Eigengrau

tamburina:

Eigengrau, dark light, or brain gray, is the color seen by the eye in perfect darkness. Even in the absence of light, some action potentials are still sent along the optic nerve, causing the sensation of a uniform dark gray color.

Eigengrau is perceived as lighter than a black object in normal lighting conditions, because contrast is more important to the visual system than absolute brightness. For example, the night sky looks darker than eigengrau because of the contrast provided by the stars.

dollymacabre: A “Wolpertinger”, the German version of a jackalope.

dollymacabre:

A “Wolpertinger”, the German version of a jackalope.

hikikomori

Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement.

(Source: in-a-kingdom-by-the-sea)

: Some Facts About Remembering

tamburina:

- Memories that pop up involuntarily share a lot in common with those recalled voluntarily, including being equally vivid.
- Memories arrive in a series, called a memory chain, and may be either time-related or concept-related.
- Spontaneous remembering is not irrelevant mind-wandering but how we…

Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini Download the pdf and see all the illustrations and weird text. So cool.

Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini

Download the pdf and see all the illustrations and weird text. So cool.

Unusual Words

sylph - a graceful and slender young woman.
euphony - a bearable or agreeable sound.
quixotic - extremely romantic and chivalrous.
pareidolia - a psychological phenomenon, wherein a person has the notion of seeing faces of people in clouds, hearing hidden messages and other such unusual feelings.
phalerate - decorated; made beautiful.
betwixt - between.
crepuscule - twilight; dusk.
epicaricacy - taking pleasure in other’s misfortune; schadenfreud.
nepenthe - something, such as a drink or a drug, capable of making one forget suffering.
exosculate - to kiss fervently or heartily.
lacuna - a blank space or missing part.
euonym - a pleasing or beautiful name.
quarender - a dark red apple.
halcyon - calm and peaceful; tranquil. Prosperous; gold.
ubiquitous - being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.
soigné - showing sophisticated elegance; fashionable. Well-groomed; polished.

Why We Procrastinate - Psychology Today

I fit in with the procrastinators who do so out of fear of failure- oftentimes I take a while to begin a project for fear of messing it up.

Interesting article, well worth the read.

In image: The Grimoire of Honorius. Source of image here. A grimoire (pronounced /ɡrɪmˈwɑr/) is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons. In many cases the books themselves are also believed to be imbued with magical powers, though in many cultures other sacred texts that are not grimoires, such as the Bible and Qur’an, have also been believed to intrinsically have magical properties; in this manner whilst all books on magic could be thought of as grimoires, not all magical books could. Whilst the term grimoire is originally European, and many Europeans throughout history, particularly ceremonial magicians and cunning folk, have made use of grimoires, the historian Owen Davies noted that similar such books can be found all across the world, ranging from Jamaica to Sumatra, and he also noted that the first such grimoires could be found not in Europe but in the Ancient Near East. It is most commonly believed that the term grimoire originated from the Old French word grammaire, which had initially been used to refer to all books written in Latin. By the 18th century, the term had gained its now common usage in France, and had begun to be used to refer purely to books of magic, which Owen Davies presumed was because “many of them continued to circulate in Latin manuscripts.” However, the term grimoire also later developed into a figure of speech amongst the French indicating something that was hard or even impossible to understand. It was only in the 19th century, with the increasing interest in occultism amongst the British following the publication of Francis Barrett’s The Magus (1801), that the term entered the English language in reference to books of magic. Read more on wikipedia.

In image: The Grimoire of Honorius. Source of image here.

A grimoire (pronounced /ɡrɪmˈwɑr/) is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons. In many cases the books themselves are also believed to be imbued with magical powers, though in many cultures other sacred texts that are not grimoires, such as the Bible and Qur’an, have also been believed to intrinsically have magical properties; in this manner whilst all books on magic could be thought of as grimoires, not all magical books could.

Whilst the term grimoire is originally European, and many Europeans throughout history, particularly ceremonial magicians and cunning folk, have made use of grimoires, the historian Owen Davies noted that similar such books can be found all across the world, ranging from Jamaica to Sumatra, and he also noted that the first such grimoires could be found not in Europe but in the Ancient Near East.

It is most commonly believed that the term grimoire originated from the Old French word grammaire, which had initially been used to refer to all books written in Latin. By the 18th century, the term had gained its now common usage in France, and had begun to be used to refer purely to books of magic, which Owen Davies presumed was because “many of them continued to circulate in Latin manuscripts.” However, the term grimoire also later developed into a figure of speech amongst the French indicating something that was hard or even impossible to understand. It was only in the 19th century, with the increasing interest in occultism amongst the British following the publication of Francis Barrett’s The Magus (1801), that the term entered the English language in reference to books of magic.

Read more on wikipedia.

Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind is a term coined by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Sir Christopher Riegel and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge.The unconscious mind might be defined as that part of the mind which gives rise to a collection of of mental phenomena that manifest in a person’s mind but which the person is not aware of at the time of their occurrence. These phenomena include unconscious feelings, unconscious or automatic skills, unnoticed perceptions, unconscious thoughts, unconscious habits and automatic reactions, complexes, hidden phobias and concealed desires.

Observers throughout history have argued that there are influences on consciousness from other parts of the mind. These observers differ in the use of related terms, including: unconsciousness as a personal habit; being unaware and intuition. Terms related to semi-consciousness include: awakening, implicit memory, subliminal messages, trances, hypnagogia, and hypnosis. Although sleep, sleep walking, dreaming, delirium and coma may signal the presence of unconscious processes, these processes are not the unconscious mind, but more of a symptom.

nends: Detector lock -  http://collections.vam.ac.uk This detector lock was intended for the door of a private apartment or an office in a royal palace and it bears the arms of Cosimo III de’ Medici. 

nends:

Detector lock -  http://collections.vam.ac.uk

This detector lock was intended for the door of a private apartment or an office in a royal palace and it bears the arms of Cosimo III de’ Medici.