Hello I am K

Boromir, pointing at Legolas and Gimli: I definitely don’t know how either of your ages work

Boromir, pointing at Aragorn: I thought I knew how your age worked but apparently I was wrong

Boromir, pointing at Gandalf: I especially don’t know how your age works

The hobbits are the only ones given official ages in the text, and are between fifty or fifty-one and twenty-nine. Elves and dwarves notoriously age slowly, and Gimli is the offspring of one of Bilbo’s pals, so okay, we’ve established that he’s old enough to call the hobbits young, and Bilbo confirms for them that Aragorn is Pretty Old For A Bigjobs. Gandalf is, of course, eternal.

But we are never given any context for Boromir and Faramir’s ages, except that a) they are humans and, though Sons of Gondor, not much longer lived than most Bigjobs, and b) Faramir is A QuiteYoung Man. I was absolutely convinced, when I read the books as a youngun, that Boromir, being in ‘the flower of manhood’ iirc, was probably between 25 and 30.

And it would be Freaking Hilarious, okay, for Boromir to finally get around to actually asking how old this baby-faced hobbit carrying The Ring is, and get told ‘oh, he’s only fifty, but he’s very steady for his age.’

Boromir: ?!?!?!

And then Pippin and Merry start asking everyone how old they are because this is fascinating are we all official adults here except for Pippin or what.

Boromir: …. Pippin isn’t an adult HOW OLD IS PIPPIN.

Pippin is just 29, which is why everyone calls him Pippin, it’s gonna be at least another 20 years before he can make Peregrine work. Why, how old is Boromir?

Boromir, who would rather DIE than admit to being 28 right at this moment: …. 43. 

All the others, weighing up his apparent age compared to theirs: Sure, sounds legit. 

I think... there’s just a lot going wrong. There has never been in our lifetime a global stress quite like this. 

This month is the 1-year anniversary for when most of the world started taking Covid seriously, and I think you can’t dismiss that. I don’t think there’s anything mystical or magical happening. It isn’t a surprise to me that a lot of people are having a really, really hard time.

A planet being in retrograde is not the only reason that bad things happen. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that the things which go wrong in your life, in the world, can be explained by some planetary movement. 

People are going to die, it sucks, and I’m not trying to minimize that. But you can’t blame deaths on astrological phenomena. And, while I recognize that you say the deaths are not covid related, one has to also consider that over the past year many people have willingly or unwillingly had routine medical checkups delayed, trouble accessing treatment, increased stress (which has devastating effects on the body), etc. That’s not to say that everyone who died from a non-covid disease wouldn’t have died without the pandemic, but that there is bound to be an increase in non-directly linked covid deaths.

It’s not even a little shocking to me to hear that people have been breaking up, or having serious mental health declines. Particularly around the 1-year anniversary. I’m not psychologist, but I know that anniversaries hold a lot of significance for people, whether they actively acknowledge that or not.

It’s just a rough time, and there’s no way to sugar coat that. But blaming the stars or gods or anything else isn’t going to help. 

Here is a HUGE master post with links to other posts of resources for those struggling right now.

COVID Anniversary Anxiety Is Real — Here’s How to Cope [Teen Vogue]

COVID-19 Anniversary Reaction: What It Is and How to Cope [Right as Rain]

I’ve been casually working on this for a year, but here he finally is: The Modern Male Witch: Greenhouse!

The overgrown cobblestone path and the soft sound of a wind chime lead you to a little greenhouse where the witch takes care of his many plants: from saplings to drying herbs. The animals living in his garden often join him when he’s tending to his plants because they enjoy his calming energy. He will make you flower crowns and blend a personal tea for you.

This is the sixth piece in my Modern Male Witch Project.

—————————————————————————————-

Available as print on: - Redbubble (redbubble.com/people/Brenna-Ivy/shop) - Society6 (society6.com/brennaivy) - TeePublic (teepublic.com/user/brenna-ivy-art)

The Home/Family Herbalist

Going through my asks tonight, and there are several of them on herbalism. Thought I might attempt a master post, possibly a few of them, as this is always such a hot topic for witches it seems.

:: What's the Goal? ::

The first question really is, what are you hoping to do with it? Do you want to just incorporate herbs into your life, into your family's health practices? Or are you looking to work with other people? Knowing the answer to this can help direct the kind of studies and learning you want to do.

Also, witchcraft IS NOT herbalism. Sure, a lot of witches are interested in herbalism. But there's no requirement of a witch to have a knowledge of herbalism. Likewise, not all herbalists are witches or otherwise pagan. There are, sadly, a lot of herbalism information out there which is no better than snake oil. For myself, my herbalism is grounded in science. That's not to say I ignore the traditional uses of herbs. Knowing how different cultures use a plant can give a lot of insight into what it's useful for! The reason the information survives is because people see results. So, while I do believe in some energy work, and think that sort of thing is important. And mind-body-spirit is an important part of the holistic approach that I use... my witchcraft is separate from my work as a herbalist.

DISCLAIMERS:

A) I am not your herbalist. This series is general herbal advice and things I've learned along the way and is not meant to be any sort of medical advice!

B) Herbs CAN be dangerous. Even seemingly innocuous ones. Do your research.

:: The Home and Family Herbalist ::

If you are only intending to treat yourself and your family it's a fair bit simpler. Although that *can* depend on how medically complex you all are! If your family is taking a lot of medications then you're going to want a deeper understanding than the suggestions below are going to give you.

Generally, for someone looking to only practice on themselves and family, without complex medical issues, you can do a lot with "book learning" and premade formulas.

For a "typical" situation with your average health stuff I'd highly suggest Rosemary Gladstar's books.

Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide - this is where I started. It's got a lot of common herbs in it, a ton of formulas for general ailments and health boosts

Herbs For ... : She also has a whole series of small books that start with "Herbs for" and include "Stress and Anxiety" "Natural Beauty" etc. So if there's something more specific you'd like to do then getting this book can be useful.

She's popular for a reason. People wanting a deeper and more complex look into herbal medicine might not feel too satisfied. But if you want a good introduction, this is a great start.

Other book suggestions:

Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen by Brittany Nickerson

The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide by Thomas Easley

Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies That Heal by Rosalee De La Foret

So, what sort of stuff will you be making?

Fire Cider is my go to. I think everyone should make fire cider.

Teas of all kinds are great.

Cough syrups and various salves are fantastic to know how to make.

Tinctures and oil infusions, also splendid. Although you're getting a little deeper here as some herbs extract better in different alcohol contents, some don't do well in alcohol at all. Some are better dried, some fresh, etc. And there's a lot of science into optimizing the extraction of the constituents from a plant.

There's So MANY PLANTS, where do I start??

I was overwhelmed at first, so I sat down with Rosemary Gladstar's "Herbs for" book series and went through putting a little sticky note on every condition that was common in my household.

Then I went through the list and wrote up a list of herbs that were in the formulas for those things. That gave me a decent place to start.

Like. This is either a really bad coincidence, or someone knew exactly what they were doing.

don’t buy it.

our younger brothers and sisters might eat a tide pod and get us blamed for it, but we have more in common with them than we ever had with boomers or gen x.

white people wanted to make sure their new Jewish, Black, and Brown neighbors couldn’t put up “non-christian” symbols that made their homes identifiable to the point of “lowering property values”.

they would impose rules like lawn maintenance and aesthetic upkeep while threatening anyone who offered services like painting, roofing, gutters, trash, or shoveling snow to their non-white neighbors.