#mini lesson

Who doesn’t like crystals?

If not for the meaning or symbolism, then for the look.

Personally, I’m one of those that mean to discover and memorise more about these wonderful things, to incorporate them in my hobbies/work. Yet I find it very difficult to remember everything.

So I thought, why not share a stone/crystal with some simple and easy to take in information?

I intend to share with “The magic of crystals” provided by the wonderful Soul&Spirit magazine.

I asked: what would be a good stone to show first?:

SARDONYX

“You are powerful and in control of your destiny”

Factual summary of this stone:

A variation of Onyx, defined as brown/reddish with bands of white. Mined in India, Brazil, USA.

Meanings attached:

Happiness, confidence, self control

Connections: 

Aries / Leo - August - Base chakra - Fire

My personal note:

Me: Hey! I think I know what she's about to say!

カゴメ：　ー低！ Kagome:  -tei!

Me: AWWW SNAP! Called it!

最低：さいてい：saitei: The worst

Kitchen witchcraft is often thought of as simply cooking and baking, but there is so much more to it! There’s tons of ways you can incorporate kitchen practices into your craft and make it a part of your everyday life. For example, today let’s look at a great way to keep your space clean, and involve correspondences! It’s simple, easy, and only involves a few ingredients.

Take a small jar of some type (I used a leftover pickle jar that I washed) and place some leftover lemon halves/rinds inside. I used a single lemon that I had squeezed to make a pitcher of tea. Cover the lemon with white vinegar, close the lid tightly and let sit for at least 2 weeks. (This was the hardest part for me, honestly!) Every few days or so walk by and shake it up, getting those good, good lemon particles into the vinegar. After the 2 weeks is up, pour the lemon-vinegar into a spray bottle and mix with water, about 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water. Now use it as an all-purpose cleaner! Spray on countertops, microwaves, stoves, inside the fridge, etc! It’s super useful and very simple to make.

Danny, nothing about this sounds like witchcraft. What gives?

Well, let me explain!

First, the acid in lemons is antibacterial and antiseptic, and it acts almost as a natural bleach without being so harsh. The oils in the peel will shine surfaces. The citrus smell of a lemon is refreshing and invigorating, and because of that it’s often associated with happiness, purification, and protection. Plus- you’re reusing scraps you already have laying around the kitchen (if you don’t, make some tea. When in doubt always make tea!). So, go green!

Vinegar is associated with the element Fire, protection, and guarding the home (plus its also an amazing natural cleaning agent).

Finally, and the most important ingredient is your intentions. Whenever you walk by and shake your jar, place both hands on it and close your eyes. Focus in on your intentions and purpose. Is this just intended to clean? Do you want it to also protect your home from bad energy and outside forces (of any or all types)? Pour your energy into the jar and activate it everytime you shake it.

Now spray your countertops with your mixture and wipe down with a rag or paper towel and voila! Also- make it your own! Spray your doorways if you wish, dab a small amount onto your shoes before you leave the house, or wherever you see fit! Make your craft your own and have fun with it!

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Interested in learning more? This is a miniature lesson from Acturian Academy’s Kitchen Witchcraft class mentored by Danny!

Apply for this and our 26 other offered classes in this quick two minute form:

아닥 A Dak

Phrase. “Shut your Pie Hole”

An abbreviation for “아가리” (vulgar term for “mouth”) and “닥쳐” (“shut up”). These are fighting words but in this shortened form they can also be used among friends and seen as fun or teasing. The abbreviations kind of tone down the meaning so it comes off as more cute.

Example!

Tae: Wow Yoongi! You’re really whipped for Jimin!

Yoongi: 아닥!!

Today’s order of business was making the cloak pin for the AC:Odyssey costume, like so:

I’d decided to make the first one out of tooled 10 oz leather (because I’m a one-trick pony, and that trick is leather), and then make a mold of it so I could cast subsequent duplicates out of resin, like I’d done with Leliana’s Inquisition crest before.

Only, when I finished tooling it, I was like, Huh, that doesn’t quite look like a circle anymore:

In fact, it turned out to be a full quarter of an inch wider than it was when I’d started:

Leather stretching! Which I’d forgotten was a Thing, because I’m not usually working with pieces this small, but here are some tips and tricks on why it happens and how to avoid it:

- Generally, leather just compresses when you stamp it -- it’s a very spongy material, so stamping will compact it without pushing it outward. What causes it to spread like this (sort of like rolling cookie dough) when you’re tooling it is when the surrounding area isn’t sturdy enough to keep its structure.

- Thin leather is more prone to stretching than thick leather. I don’t work with thin leather much, but I’ve seen people suggest coating the back with tape, or gluing it to cardstock in order to keep it from moving while you’re tooling it.

- The closer you get to the edges of the hide, the more prone it is to stretching. (This is one thing I did wrong here, because I took the piece for this from my scrap leather bin.) By virtue of how the leather is stretched flat during the tanning process, there is always a directional stretch inherent to the structure, even if it’s not visible. You can often find this by holding the leather and attempting to pull it from various angles -- it’ll stretch one direction, but not another. (Or if it’s too thick to stretch by hand, see if it has a preference for which direction it wants to bend.) The sturdiest, least-stretchy leather on the entire hide comes from along the backbone -- this is where belt leather is cut from, because belts need to hold their shape even under stress.

- Lastly, if you’re tooling a very small piece like this, do your tooling before you cut it out. (This is how I do the Wonder Woman tiaras too, because they’re also very narrow.) The heavy leather surrounding your tooling area will help hold its shape and keep it from smushing outward. Especially in this case, since it needs to be a perfect circle, cutting it out as your last step ensures that the overall shape (which is what makes the strongest impression on the eye) is going to be correct.

when a or de comes before the definite article “el”, the two words combine to form a contraction, or two words become one.

“a la/el” means to the and “del la/el” means of the

examples ✘ a + el = al de + el = del

a + el is always contracted.

examples ✘ ¿Mañana vamos a el estadio.? ⟷ ¿Mañana vamos al estadio.?

de + el is always contracted.

examples ✘ Soy de el Reido Unido ⟷ Soy del Reido Unido (I am from the United Kingdom)

De + la, de + las, de + los, a + la, a + las, and a + los are never contracted.

Be careful with the difference between the article EL (the) and the pronoun ÉL (he). Only the definite article (el) is contracted. The pronoun (él) is not.The definite article (el) does not have a written accent. We do NOT contract the words A + ÉL or DE + ÉL

examples ✘ el televisión / the television él mira televisión  / he watches television

here are some practice sites: 1  |  2  |  3  |  4    

that’s it for this mini grammar lesson! Adios, mis amigos.

feel free to ask me anything about this lesson, previous lessons, and request for future lessons below! If you have any tips or feedback, don’t forget to comment it below!!

Hello in Korean