Thief of My Heart

bust of isis | c. 10 BCE - 40 CE | egypt, roman imperial period

I found the most immense quantity of low hanging native black cherries this morning that I have ever seen! I am very much hoping that they will ripen in time for me to celebrate midsummer again this year with wild fermented black cherry cordial combined with elderflower syrup. 🤤

Zeus Meilichios is an archaic epithet of Zeus in Greek religion, designating a chthonic figure who was both benevolent and fearsome. The name Meilichios carries several meanings: “the gentle one,” or, as Jean-Marie Pailler writes in Zeus ex machina. Le Meilichios ou l’oubli de la troisième fonction, the “Zeus of gentleness,” whom one may associate with Philios. In Robu Adrian’s Le culte de Zeus Meilichios à Sélinonte et la place des groupements familiaux et pseudo-familiaux dans la colonisation mégarienne. La norme en matière religieuse en Grèce ancienne, the term is translated as “the benevolent one” or even “sweet as honey.”

In religious practice, Zeus Meilichios was often honored as a god of purification and benevolence. In Athens, for example, he was celebrated during festivals such as the Diasia, where he played a central role in rituals of atonement and purification for those carrying ritual pollution. In Sicily, his cult is attested at Selinunte among the Megarians as a family-oriented cult, practiced not only by individuals but also by groups of people, as evidenced by the dedications that have been discovered.

His iconography often depicts him in serpentine form, symbolizing both his connection with the chthonic world and themes of regeneration and prosperity. This representation highlights the god’s ambivalence: capable both of punishing and protecting, he embodies a divine force that is at once intimate and terrifying.

This is one of the reasons why he is sometimes associated with the Agathodaimon, or Agathos Daimon, a protective household spirit charged with safeguarding prosperity and health. In several cultic contexts, particularly in domestic or rural sanctuaries, the functions and attributes of Zeus Meilichios - protection, benevolence, and serpent symbolism - overlap with those of this “good spirit.” The animal representation therefore seems to emphasize less the god’s status than his function: that of a bestower of blessings connected with prosperity, both agricultural and social in the broader sense, founded upon philia.

A particularly interesting example can be found at Amathus in Cyprus, where Thierry Petit demonstrates that Zeus Meilichios was associated with Zeus Xenios and other local divinities, such as Malika, within a composite pantheon. This configuration reflects the flexibility of ancient Greek religion and its capacity to integrate local figures into a broader cultic framework, combining the protective, royal, and hospitable aspects of the god. At Amathus, Zeus thus appears not only as a celestial ruler, but also as a polyvalent divinity linked to the protection of the city and its inhabitants.

(i'm sorry my sources here are in french :'))

I was today years old when I realized my collection of bird feathers (that I have collected off the ground and use on my altar and in amulet bags) is illegal.

The law prohibits the possession of feathers from most native North American birds, including molted feathers found on the ground, to prevent poaching. Before the law poachers collecting feathers for the fashion industry led to the extinction or near extinction of several species.

Reading about it, it makes sense, but that doesn’t mean I’m putting them back.

Masculine: Of or pertaining to the male gender.

So to say that feminine = soft and delicate is to say that these traits are inherently related to women.

To say that masculine = authority and power is to say that these traits are inherently related to men.

Early alchemists didn't have a word for the polarities of how different materials interact with each other. What they did have is a long history of describing "holy marriages" so they adapted that language to their taxonomic ends. Something being "female/feminine" in an alchemical sense means that it can dissolve something within it. Something being "male/masculine" means it can "impregnante" some other material with a property. Water is feminine not because it has any relation to women, but because it can dissolve many substances. The Philosopher's Stone was supposed to be a perfectly balanced "Rebus" of these two properties which would allow it to dissolve any material and confer any property.

During the esoteric explosion of the late 19th and early 20th century this alchemical terminology was adapted into religious practice. Under groups like the Golden Dawn Death is masculine because of its ability to pierce life and deposit the mortal substance of individuation into the continuity of life. Life was female because it could dissolve the individua into its continuity. While these concepts began to re-acquire some gendered aspects, these were meant to be transcended. The Master should be a Rebus, both esoterically masculine and feminine.

Of course the New Age sanded a lot of this nuance off the topic. The idea of cosmic dichtomy, point and continuity became lost. It was replaced with a very anthropocentric concepts of gender as a divine attribute, as opposed to a metaphor to explain something else. The aspiration to achieve an androgynous "rebus" state was ignored. This has left us with words devested of their symbolic significance, being waved around as tools to enforce the gender binary they once transcended.

I still sometimes use masculine and feminine as esoteric descriptions. My answer for what masculine and feminine are in a traditional western esoteric context is:

Masculine= The force which changes by leaving an instantaneous impression upon an Other at its point of contact.

Feminine= The force which changes by dissolving an Other within it's own continuity.

Make your home smell like flowers! Using a fragrance diffuser, room spray, scented candles, or any other method on hand.

Open the windows and the curtains, let the sunlight and the outside air in. I find that on tough mental health days, when it's difficult to even leave the house, this is enough for me to feel refreshed and in tune with the season.

Wear colorful clothes and jewelry! Let yourself stop caring what people think, and show your joy outwardly.

Eat a simple, healthy and nourishing meal! I always go for something cold, like a salad or a bowl, because it reminds me of the summer season!

On a warmer day, grab a cold drink and sit outside, in the yard or on the balcony, and just bask in the sun for a while.

Play with fire! In the gaelic tradition, Bealtane was a fire festival, symbolizing the return of the sun. If a bonfire is out of the cards, then simply lighting a candle will do!

Treat yourself to a new houseplant, a bouquet of flowers to decorate the table, or even start planning for your garden.

Engage in spiritual work related to the sun!

The shuttering after dark gets on my nerves in particular bc whenever we were out in WV visiting family during the summer, our house’s windows would be open and stay open because we did not have a lick of air conditioning. Or insulation.

Do you know what counties and communities have high Melungeon populations, what their names usually are, and why or do you just holler about possibly being Melungeon because your hair has multiple textures?

Why is it always your Cherokee great grandma and never Haudenosaunee, Shawnee, or Lenape?

Can you tell me what the cultural dynamics between Slavic/Hungarian, Scottish, and Irish Appalachians are? Are you even aware that those dynamics exist?

Better yet, can you tell me the significance of Black communities in our labor rights movements? Because Appalachia has Black people, regardless of what your stereotypes and pop culture interpretations insist on.

Y’all are all about Appalachia and it’s “wild magic” until you have to be respectful about people who have to eat roadkill or hunt off of their back porch, respect that people sincerely believe in Christianity, or until you realize that our communities didn’t just not share remedies because of skin color.

This region has been exploited to hell and back, and back into hell one time just for good measure, don’t think you’re immune to being an exploiter just because you talk about medicine instead of coal.

Anyways, if you are interested in contributing positively to Appalachian communities, Western NC is still recovering from Hurricane Helene almost two years on because the federal government has no interest in offering any real effort at aid, take a look at this site for ways to help:

Those people are not the enemy, they just need to learn that there's beautiful nature everywhere - it just needs our help. Cleaning up garbage and encouraging the planting of native plants, helping to change city/town/HOA bylaws to encourage more native plants are all things people can do to help nature around them. Guerrilla gardening native plants is one of the easiest things to do, most people don't even notice, and the natural world comes back in droves when you do.

The real enemies are Trump and the 1%, the owners of Fox news, all the data centers that are trying to build up here. The wealthy assholes clear cutting the mountain tops so they can build their 4th vacation home "for the views" but don't contribute to the local economy. Chronic lack of social services? Long term policy issues aggravated by the endless right wing propaganda here. Yes our local governments are broke as hell from the lack of FEMA funding. They spend a lot of money that was never reimbursed by the feds.

As someone in a Helene-ravaged area, never heard of cfwnc. My family gives to MANNA, the regional food bank and will continue to do so for as long as we can - and I highly encourage donations to them.

We also need tourism money from the not deer people! Come come see these beautiful mountains! Please don't feed the wildlife - you'll get them killed - but come see this beautiful region.

For two, the whole thing about Appalachia being so spiritually dangerous, which is where the darn not-deer thing got so popular from to begin with, is always framed in the context of "guys listen!!11! Appalachia is so dangerous!! you guys need to listen to us and stay out of the woods!!" which achieves rather the opposite of what you said, which is to get people to appreciate how beautiful the region is and appreciate nature.