YGGDRASIL

Sacred Flame of the Ancestors

Beneath the skin of the earth,

where roots whisper to stones,

the voices of ancestors rise—

a river of smoke,

a song of fire.

From the elder’s gaze,

mountains awaken,

buffalo thunder across crimson skies,

and the spirit wind dances

through forests of burning dreams.

We are carved from the howl of wolves,

the heartbeat of drums,

the breath of the Great Spirit

woven into our veins.

Even as the flames devour the trees,

our spirits do not break—

they rise like embers,

scorching the darkness with light.

O sacred land,

your fire is our memory,

your ashes, our story.

Through smoke and storm,

we walk unbroken,

warriors of earth and sky,

forever bound to the song

When I was a child, my Aunt Edith always lit a candle in the front window whenever someone in the family was away. She never said much about it, just that it was her way of making sure they could always find their way home. As a child, I thought it was just a sweet habit, the little flicker of light glowing against the dark lane outside.

Slumbering in the woodlands of the Peak District are hundreds of abandoned millstones, remnants of a time when Derbyshire gritstone was prized and exported throughout the world. Now they gather moss and leaves, and lay quietly amid the trees that still hold the echoes of past industry, a time when the peaceful valleys rang with the clang of metal against rock instead of birdsong. These beauties are in Bolehill, and now is a great time to start seeing them again as the bracken begins to rust and retreat.

📍 Peak District, England

The Spirit Beneath the Buffalo Skull

From earth and ember, smoke ascends,

The warrior’s breath where the spirit bends.

Tattooed face, a map of flame,

Whispers thunder, calls his name.

Horns of stone, the bison’s cry,

Echo deep where shadows lie.

Skull of power, ancient mark,

A torch of fire against the dark.

The eagle’s feather, the serpent’s skin,

Carry the storm that roars within.

Time dissolves, yet still he stands,

Guardian forged by sacred lands.

Not flesh alone, but spirit’s might,

A storm of ash, a blaze of night.

The Earth remembers, fierce and true:

☞National Daughters Day is an unofficial U.S. holiday that is observed annually on September 25th in honor of daughters. This unofficial American holiday is based upon a national holiday of the same name that was initiated in India during the year 2007.

☞The undated Victorian-Era photograph depicts an unidentified daughter with her father posing together for a studio photograph.

☞Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine…

☞Today in History -- On today’s date 220 years ago, Wednesday, September 25, 1805, during the Ulm Campaign of the 1803-1806 War of the Third Coalition, leading his Grande Armée into Southern Germany to fight the Austrian Army, Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821) of France crossed the Rhine River.

☞The Rhine was not crossed again by an invading army until World War II, nearly 140 years later, when U.S. General George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945) led the U.S. 3rd Army across it during the Allied invasion of Nazi Germany on March 22, 1945.

☞The photograph depicts an 1805 oil-on-canvas painting entitled “Napoléon I of France” by Italian neoclassical painter Andrea Appiani the Elder (1754-1817).

☞Note: There are at least two & maybe more traditional tunes in both American Old-Time & Irish-Traditional Music with variations on the name “Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine” or “Napoléon Crossing the Rhine” in commemoration of Napoléon’s invasion of Germany on today’s date in 1805.

☞Today in Old-West History -- On today’s date 158 years ago, Wednesday, September 25, 1867, legendary Texas cattleman Oliver Loving (1812-1867), “The Dean of Texas Trail Drivers,” met his unfortunate earthly demise at the age of 54 when he died from the effects of gangrene at Fort Sumner in New Mexico Territory.

☞Requiéscat in Pace, Oliver Loving.

☞Loving was born in Kentucky in 1812 & he came to Texas in 1843. By 1855, he had moved to the area of the future Palo Pinto County, where he ran a country store & ranched. In 1866, having heard about the probable need for cattle at Fort Sumner where some 8,000 Indians had been settled on a reservation, Loving gathered a herd, combined it with that of his friend & fellow rancher Charles Goodnight (1836-1929), “The Father of the Texas Panhandle,” & together they began the long drive to the fort. Their route later became known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail.

☞In the spring of 1867, the partners began a new drive, on which Loving received a mortal wound during an Indian attack. Before Loving died, Goodnight assured him that his wish to be buried back in Texas would be carried out.

☞Loving was temporarily buried at Fort Sumner whilst Goodnight drove the herd on to Colorado. After Goodnight returned to Fort Sumner, he ordered his trail hands to collect all of the old coal-oil tins that they could find & to flatten them out to be soldered together to fashion a sheet-metal coffin. Loving’s earthly remains were then exhumed & placed into a wooden coffin, which was then placed inside the metal coffin. Powdered charcoal was packed between the two containers, & the metal lid was sealed shut, after which the whole contraption was crated & transported to the town of Weatherford in Parker County, Texas for burial. Stories differ as to who accompanied the body back to Weatherford, but Loving was re-interred there at Greenwood Cemetery on Wednesday, March 4, 1868.

☞The Past is Never Dead...

☞Today in History -- On today’s date 128 years ago, Saturday, September 25, 1897, famous American Nobel-Prize-winning author William Cuthbert “Will” Faulkner (1897-1962), was born at the town of New Albany in Union County, Mississippi.

☞William Faulkner is one of the most celebrated authors in American literature generally & Southern literature in particular. He worked in a variety of written media, including novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays, & screenplays, although he is primarily known & acclaimed for his novels & short stories -- many of which are set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County -- a setting that Faulkner created based upon Lafayette County, Mississippi where he spent most of his life.

☞Buttermilk Junction has adopted the following William Faulkner quotation as our motto: “The past is never dead -- it’s not even past.”

'In the prize fight arena, if a man is down too long, he is out. In life, he gets a better break. He may be down, but he is never out until he admits it himself. It may sound odd, coming from a boxer, but my message to you is - to keep your chin up.'

Queen Mary's Crown 1911

The crown is composed of a silver frame, lined with gold, and set with 2,200 diamonds, mainly brilliant-cut, with some rose-cut.

The crown has an openwork band, set at the front with a detachable rock crystal replica of the diamond, Cullinan IV, a large cushion-shaped stone, and a frieze of quatrefoils and rosettes, each with a large brilliant in the centre, surrounded by smaller stones, between borders composed of single rows of brilliants.

Above the band are four crosses-pattée and four fleurs-de-lis. The front cross is set with a detachable rock crystal replica of the Koh-i-nûr diamond, the other three crosses are set in the centre with a large diamond each. The eight detachable half-arches each taper towards the top, and terminate in scrolls, and contain six graduated brilliants, between borders of stones. The monde is pavé-set with diamonds and surmounted by another cross with a rock crystal replica of the pear-shaped diamond Cullinan III in the centre. The crown is fitted with a purple velvet cap with an ermine band.

Queen Mary's crown was designed for the coronation of June 1911. The Daily Telegraph described it saying 'It has no jewels but diamonds, and the diamonds cluster together as if they had no support but their own light.' The design was inspired by Queen Alexandra's crown of 1902 which has similarly elegant arches. Queen Mary also wore the crown without its arches as a circlet, in particular for the coronation of her son, King George VI at the coronation in 1937.

At the 1911 coronation the crown contained the three large diamonds - the Koh-i-nûr, and Cullinan III and IV, (also known as the Lesser Stars of Africa) which were later replaced with quartz crystal replicas so that the jewels could be used in alternative settings.

The Koh-i-nûr was moved to the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and Cullinan III and IV were set as a brooch. These two stones are part of the famous Cullinan diamond, the largest diamond ever found. The full stone weighed 3,106 carats and was discovered at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in 1905. It was named after the chairman of the mining company, Thomas Cullinan.

In 1907, it was given by government of the Transvaal to Edward VII for his sixty-sixth birthday. The following year it was sent to Asschers of Amsterdam to be cut. The cuts resulted in nine numbered stones known as the Stars of Africa.

The largest of these stones, Cullinan I, was placed in the head of the Sovereign's Sceptre, whilst Cullinan II was set into the Imperial State Crown, although both remained detachable and were worn occasionally by Queen Mary as a brooch.

Queen Mary had Cullinan III, a pear-shaped drop of 94.4 carats, and Cullinan IV, a square-cut stone of 63.6 carats set into her crown, but they were also detachable to be worn hooked together as a brooch (known as the Cullianan Brooch) or occasionally as a pendant to a necklace.

Queen Mary’s Crown was removed from display at the Tower of London for modification work ahead of the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort on Saturday, 6th May 2023. Queen Mary’s Crown was used for the Coronation of The Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey.

Some minor changes and additions were undertaken by the Crown Jeweller, in keeping with the longstanding tradition that the insertion of jewels is unique to the occasion, and reflects the Consort’s individual style.

In addition, four of the Crown’s eight detachable arches will be removed to create a different impression to when the Crown was worn by Queen Mary at the 1911 Coronation.

This is the first time a Queen Consort’s Crown has been re-used since the 18th century, when Queen Caroline, consort of George II, wore Mary of Modena’s crown.

This is a nice homage to Queen Mary, arguably one of the most legendary jewel collectors in royal history.

Queen Mary was a formidable woman in many respects. As consort to King George V, she helped him lead Britain through World War I and its aftermath, and was an invaluable aide and adviser to her husband throughout his 26-year reign.

When he died in 1936, Mary remained a loyal protector of the monarchy for the rest of her life, serving as Queen Mother to King George VI until his own untimely death in 1952, and living long enough to witness her granddaughter Elizabeth's accession to the throne (Mary died in March 1953, just ten weeks before the coronation).

Mary commissioned some of the royal family's most iconic assets, from the Diamond Fringe Tiara worn by three generations of Windsor women on their wedding days, to the emerald choker so beloved by Princess Diana. She had an impeccable eye for Russian jewels and loved an estate sale, which is how she acquired Grand Duchess Vladimir's tiara, and much of the entire sapphire collection of Empress Marie Feodorovna.