Can you hear me?

The Moon represents our deepest personal needs, our basic habits and reactions, and our unconscious. The Moon is our spontaneous and instinctual reactions.

Where the Sun acts, the Moon reacts. How do we instinctively react or respond to problems? What do we feel we need for a sense of security? Look to the Moon in your natal chart for answers.

The Moon in our chart shows how we protect ourselves, as well as make ourselves feel secure, comfortable, and safe. The Moon is a mediator between the inner world and the outer world. While the Sun is rational, the Moon is irrational. Habitual behaviors and prejudices are ruled by the Moon. Prejudices may not be acted out, as our Sun may censor them, but the Moon rules our spontaneous reactions and feelings.

The Moon in the Signs

The Sign the Moon falls under shows our habits, reactions, and instincts. It also shows how we express, or deal with, our emotions at their most basic state. Our Lunar Sign shows our innermost needs. Our Moon sign is most obvious in our homes or in private, as this is when tend to feel comfortable enough to react  instinctively. The Moon also shows how we “mother” or “baby” ourselves, and our loved ones.

Friendly reminder that Rhysand had a little sister.

Friendly reminder that Cassian probably loved that little girl, because she didn’t know or care that he was a bastard. She just knew him as Cas, as the male who helped her learn how to fly and cheered her up by pranking Rhys and doing whatever he could to make her smile.

Friendly reminder that, as a baby, she would have grown up around Azriel. That while other people might have flinched at his scars and shadows, they would simply have been normal to her. And she would have held his hand with her small fingers and let him make shadow puppets on the walls without using his hands.

hp aesthetic → unforgivable curses

Educating others about self harm, one post at a time.

Self-harm includes anything you do to intentionally injure yourself. Some of the more common ways include:

cutting or severely scratching your skin

burning or scalding yourself

hitting yourself or banging your head

punching things or throwing your body against walls and hard objects

sticking objects into your skin

intentionally preventing wounds from healing

swallowing poisonous substances or inappropriate objects

Self harm recovery projects:

The Butterfly Project:

when you feel like you want to cut, take a marker or pen and draw a butterfly on wherever the self-harm occurs.

name the butterfly after a loved one, or someone that really wants you to get better.

NO scrubbing the butterfly off.

if you cut before the butterfly is gone, it dies. if you don’t cut, it lives.

if you have more than one, cutting kills them all.

another person may draw them on you. these butterflies are extra special. take good care of them.

even if you don’t cut, feel free to draw a butterfly anyways, to show your support. if you do this, name it after someone you know that is suffering right now, and tell them. it could help.

The Paper Chain Project:

For every day you go without self harming or purging, add a colorful link to the paper chain

If you relapse, just add a white link to to the chain and carry on the chain without any disruption

Over time the paper chain will grow in length and you can see your progress, and see that even if you do relapse, the are still days you go without hurting yourself. The colorful links.

Over time and through your recovery watch the amount of colored links begin to increase, and the amount of white links begin to decrease.

If you feel like hurting yourself, look at the paper chain and realize just how far you’ve made it, and realise that if you’ve resisted before you can do it again

Journaling:

DELAY: delay giving in to the urge for a set amount of time. Write down this amount of time and set a timer.

DISTRACT: do an activity that will occupy your thoughts and use your physical energy. Write a list of things you could do.

DECIDE: after the set time period, decide how you’re going to respond to the urge. Write down: advantages, disadvantages, reasons you want to stop, life goals.

You can also try distracting your mind. Do something where you are able to focus you mind on and be physical at the same time whenever you feel the urge to cut coming on.

For example:

Exercise: yoga, Pilates  zumba, dance, jogging, and if you have a gym membership go there.

Take a leisurely stroll through a park or even your neighborhood.

If you have a pet, try to teach them a trick.

Watch a crappy movie marathon, or have a marathon of your favorite show.

Take a nice relaxing bubble bath

read a book

listen to loud music and sing along to it and dance around if you have to

go out with friends, or call up your boyfriend and see if you can spend some time together (nothing special just hang out).

play video games

try tetris, a crossword puzzle, mind games

Coping skills for any addiction, self harm included:

Need to express pain and intense emotions

Paint, draw, or scribble on a big piece of paper with red ink or paint

Express your feelings in a journal

Compose a poem or song to say what you feel

Write down any negative feelings and then rip the paper up

Listen to music that expresses what you’re feeling

If you need to calm and soothe yourself

Take a bath or hot shower

Pet or cuddle with a dog or cat

Wrap yourself in a warm blanket

Massage your neck, hands, and feet

Listen to calming music

Color in a coloring book

Plant flowers

If you feel disconnected and numb

Call a friend (you don’t have to talk about self-harm)

Take a cold shower

Hold an ice cube in the crook of your arm or leg

Chew something with a very strong taste, like chili peppers, peppermint, or a grapefruit peel.

Go online to a self-help website, chat room, or message board

If you need to release tension or vent anger

Exercise vigorously—run, dance, jump rope, or hit a punching bag

Punch a cushion or mattress or scream into your pillow

Squeeze a stress ball or squish Play-Doh or clay

Rip something up (sheets of paper, a magazine)

Make some noise (play an instrument, bang on pots and pans)

Substitutes for the cutting sensation

Use a red felt tip pen to mark where you might usually cut

Rub ice across your skin where you might usually cut

Put rubber bands on wrists, arms, or legs and snap them instead of cutting or hitting

Cut an apple with your blades, scissors, knife, etc

First Aid:

For cuts:

Apply direct pressure to the area to stop the bleeding. If the cuts are on a limb, hold it above your heart.

If the cut is wide or deep, hold the sides of the injury together

Clean the area with warm water and soap

Apply an antibiotic ointment (such as Neosporin)

Apply a sterile bandage or wrap over the area

For burns:

Cool the area with low pressure cool running water or cool cloths for several minutes. Do not use ice, oil, or butter. Burned areas are weak and may become frostbitten easily. Oil or butter will trap the heat in.

Remove all jewelry and tight fitting clothing as soon as possible - the swelling may make it hard to remove later. If clothing is stuck to your burn, do not try to pull it off.

If you wish, treat with a topical water soluble burn cream to reduce pain. After 2-3 days, you can use aloe.

Do not pop blisters

Wear loose fitting clothing while healing

Call 911:

If a cut is spurting blood in time to your heart beat, you have hit an artery. Call 911 and do not remove pressure from the area.

If the cut is deep or over a joint

If you have lost sensation in the area of injury

If you continue to bleed heavily after taking the above steps

If you can see yellow fatty tissue or underlying muscle (will look like a slab of meat)

If it is hard to hold the sides of the cut together

If something is stuck in your wound/burn (in the case of something being in your cut, hold the sides together around the object and do not attempt to remove it)

You were burned using a chemical

How to respond when someone asks you about your self harm scars..

“I battle with sharks in my spare time”

“I was attacked by an evil cheese grater”

“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHO THE HELL ASKS WHY SOMEONE HAS A LOAD OF SCARS IT’S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE A TOUCHY SUBJECT YOU MORON”

“I’m slowly transforming into a zebra”

Helpful Links:

Feeling the need to self injure? Please take a look at these posts: 24 ways to avoid self injury & Alternatives to self harm.

Check out this support community for individuals who self harm recover your life.

Help Guide A site containing articles to help understand, help numbers,  “tool kits”, and self help.

Understanding self injury is a text post that explains that self injury is an addiction and the different forms of self injury.

Mental Support Community A forum to talk about self harm and how it affects your life.

Here is a  post about understanding self-injury, the reasons why it occurs and the forms it can take.

Here are some Alternatives For Self-Harm

Here are some instructions on how to make a  Glitter Jar

Here are some Safety Plan printable wallet cards

Here are some instructions on how to make a Comfort Box

Here is a master post on coping with urges to self harm:

Alternatives for when you are feeling angry or restless

Alternatives to self harm

More self harm help/recovery links

How to care for cuts

How to care for burns

Helping to calm down: 1, 2, 3

Alternatives to self-harm

Natural antidepressants

How to fade and cover scars

What to say when someone sees

Helpful websites

Tips for stopping

Suicidal?

Friend self-harms?

Anxiety

How to tell someone

“Dearest Minnie,

Hope you’re doing well! I’m the same of course, driving Lily up the wall as usual, she sends you her love by the way!

Now I know I told you that you’ll never find a chaser as good as me ever again, but it just goes to show that even the brilliant are sometimes mistaken. I’ve found you (made you!) a replacement who will one day outshine his old man by leagues! Enclosed is a photograph of your new Quidditch prodigy so that you may assess his skills for yourself. We have him chasing the cat for practice. He’ll be unbeatable by the time he starts at Hogwarts! The youngest Quidditch player in a century!

I guarantee it, Minnie. And you know I’m never wrong, though you’ll never admit it!

Missing you and Hogwarts terribly,

Lots of love,

James

P.S. Sirius says his marriage proposal still stands.”

Wiping away a single tear that ran down her cheek and chuckling to herself, she smiled down at the photograph of a small, gleeful, black haired boy zooming along in a toy broom, a pair of legs chasing after him and a young woman laughing hysterically in a corner.