#sedir

For many of us, magic happens when the gods speak. Apparently, Hel is calling rather loudly.

Hel doesn't get much press overall. And what she does get isnt particularly favorable. She is depicted as half flesh, half corpse, queen of the underworld that shares her name. Her name is connected to necromancy, secrecy and torment. As if that weren't enough, she is said to be a child of Loki, which seems to predestin one for a less that happy fate.

And yet she never once felt the need to apologize for who and what she is.

So often we as women feel the need to modify ourselves in order to be more appealing to the world around us. We change our face, our personality, our clothing and our goals to fall in line. We make ourselves lesser so as not to be "too much". We apologize for taking up space, for having our own ambitions, and for not being enough.

Hel does not apologize for being fierce looking. She does not apologize for being grand. She is not sorry for herself and rules her dominion with fairness. She cares little if at all as to what others think of her. She keeps what belongs to her by right and once it is hers she does not let it go. She is the daughter of chaos and sister of doom. And she owns it.

I think there is a lot to be learned from this. That it is not always necessary or to your advantage to be pleasant and joyful. That you are not responsible for how others perceive you. That you are not greedy or selfish for keeping your household in order or wanting nice things.

As a reminder, I have a prayer list in which I make offerings to My Gods on your behalf!

Cleopatra's beach

The sand you see here gracing this rather ordinary beach on the Turkish island of Sedir did not originate here, and was not brought to its resting place by the action of waves or other natural forces but by the hand of man some 2,000 years ago in antiquity recording a romance that has fascinated people including Shakespeare, which is why this sand is protected by the government.During the civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March Octavian (soon to become better known as the first emperor Augustus) was pitted against Marcus Antonius and his ally Cleopatra, ending in his victory over the ill fated couple at the battle of Actium.

The sand is made out of limey oolites, formed when supersaturated water starts to form a kind of natural pearly as grains roll in the waves and have calcium carbonate precipitated in layers over their central nuclei (see https://bit.ly/1WHE33i). They were transported by ship (legend says 16 large barge loads were needed) and hard graft from Egypt to make a perfect bathing spot for the amorous pair. The ruins of their local palace lie on the hillside opposite, and it may have been linked to the beach by a secret tunnel. Analysis has shows them to be identical to those on beaches west of Alexandria, at the time their main base, demonstrating that legend often contains a kernel of truth, however distorted and partially forgotten. .

Loz