#springtime asks

A little list of OC questions based on Spring Symbolism in North West European Heraldry. Obviously many of these things have different symbolic meanings in different cultures and have had different associations at different points in history - this list is intended more for diversion than serious historical analysis.

Green Leaves and Blossoms - The Promise of Renewal.

Does your OC hold onto hope for a better future? For themselves? For those they love? Or for their society?

Has your OC ever made a conscious decision to make a fresh start? Or have they even reinvented themselves completely? What did they hope to leave behind? Was it truly possible to do so?

Is your OC skilled in repairing or rebuilding what is broken or worn? Or would they sooner dispose of something and replace it with something new and (perhaps) better?

Does your OC find their moods affected by the seasons? Do they struggle more during colder and darker months? Or do they find unique pleasure in each season?

What would social or cultural renewal mean to your OC? A return to a previous golden age of freedom, tradition or peace? Or a fresh beginning for society into something new and enhanced?

6) name some tree or animal species endemic to your area you’re close to

10) what marks the change of seasons where you are?

14) for my animist friends, what spirits do you feel/hear most strongly now? Why?

🌻🤞🏿 hoping you find your lovingly gifted needlecase 🤞🏿🌻

Thank you!! Godddd if it doesn't turn up I'll be so sad and SO embarrassed 😔

1) what’s your cosmology like?

Oh wow big question hell yes. Hm so first off, this is not something that I think about that much in my day to day that was a lie, I do, but uh. Yeah let's just go and see where we end up.

I picked up a lot of neoplatonic and adjacent stuff growing up and that still remains with me to some degree, even if I'm kind of unpicking what about it I actually believe and what I just accepted in the past (there is religious trauma here!! But I found most of what I believed on my own, it just so happened that you could - or I could - find traces of it in the cult my mother was involved with. It's complicated). It has evolved through the years and currently, what it means for me is that I believe in some kind of creator force that is... bigger. Is it external to the universe? Maybe. Is it the universe itself? Also maybe (and importantly, if it is one of those, I think it has to be both. The will/force/word creating the universe, creating itself to observe itself). Is it what I think about when I think about capital G God? Kinda!

It is hard to write about this because words can't grasp it, just like the mind can't grasp it because it's just too much. The apophatics have it right - if you want to talk about it you kind of have to define it by what it is not, or by highlighting how its qualities contradict themselves and at the same time do not? As you can see, I find myself only able to refer to it as "it" - using the smallest word I can because by doing so I'm trying to capture it as little as I can. It cannot be captured, so why even try.

But! This thing (another vague word) is so incomprehensibly immense and so everything that it's functionally kind of meaningless? Not in a negative sense! But it's not something I can interface with in my practice (and yet, everything I do interfaces with it, does it not?), it's not something I can pray to (although I can meditate on it), it doesn't even have a will (but it is will). It just is.

If I am able to name it - it just means that is not the thing I am talking about.

The other big thing is the whole "we come from someplace else and we will eventually return there". I do believe that, but I don't agree with the idea that we need to do everything we can to expedite that - I believe we (all enspirited beings probably) chose to incarnate and that we all had our reasons for doing so. I chose to incarnate in a physical vessel so let's fucking explore!! I'm here to live! To experience things I could not as a discarnate being! Some experiences will be good and some will be shit and that's life. Now go play, eat sand, cook a banquet, dance, fuck, cry, make music. That's what we're here for.

As for the gods and spirits, I find plenty of room for them, and plenty of ways to interpret them. We are all different kinds of beings, having a myriad of experiences, transforming into one another and back like some big complicated cosmic dance.

6) name some tree or animal species endemic to your area you’re close to

Ouuuhhh I don't know about endemic... the species truly endemic to Sweden tend to be so because they are very rare and mostly only found in one small region - and at this point I'm not aware of any such populations near where I live. But I'll talk about a local tree!

Pilemor - Willow Mother - is an old name for willow in general in this region but also one particular willow that I like to spend time with down by the river. She is motherly like the moon is motherly - a distant sort of love, but always keeping an eye on me. She lives in two worlds and she teaches me to see them both. I have woven with willow, fences and trellises for the allotment, and I want to explore using her fibres too.

The standard Swedish name "pil" means arrow, so she's the arrow mother as well. Whole bunch of fun moon - arrow - Artemis associations to make from that but I haven't delved into that yet.

10) what marks the change of seasons where you are?

Winter into spring is wet, it's muddy fields and paths and the delight I feel when I see rain for the first time in a long time. It's snow drops and winter aconite, followed by crocuses and the promise of seas of scilla. It's the birds starting to sing - mostly great tits in my garden, but I heard a skylark on my walk last week and it was amazing - and the migratory birds starting to reappear from their travels: long lines of wild geese, the occasional magical trumpeting of the cranes that make you swivel your head to try to spot them.

14) for my animist friends, what spirits do you feel/hear most strongly now? Why?

April - what’s your favorite time of the year?

Apples - favorite fruit?

Bees - what’s your go to spring outfit?

Blossom - what’s your favorite flower?

Bubbles - Do you like bubble tea?

Changes - what signals the changing of the seasons to you? 

Collegiate - did you go to or are you going to university? what are you or did you study?

Comfort - who is your go to comfort character?

Cream - do you wear make-up?

Crush - any irl or online crushes?

Daffodil -  do you like to garden?

Daisy - do you have any pets? If not, do you want any?

Exciting - ideal type of unplanned adventure?

Favorites - what’s your favorite show, movie, and book?

Flowers - what’s the nicest thing someone has surprised you with?

Fun Facts - what’s something people would never guess about you?

Grass - do you get hayfever or spring allergies?

Hobby - what hobbies do you have or want to get into?

Holiday - favorite springtime holiday?

Introspective - what’s one thing you would have done differently in your life?

Jam - favorite thing to bake?

Kiss - what was your best kiss?

Lemons - what’s your favorite type of dessert?

Light - night owl or early bird?

Love - what’s your love language?

Matcha - what’s your go to coffee/tea order this time of year?

Meadow - do you prefer the beach or the woods?

Money - what would you do with your life if money was no object?

Music - what’s been on repeat lately?

New - what would you do if you won the lottery?

Ocean - what’s your favorite sea creature?

On/Off - what are your biggest turn ons and offs?

Partner - describe your ideal partner.

Past - what advice or wisdom would you bestow on your younger self?

Persona - what’s your mbti? your enneagram type?

Picnic - describe your ideal spring afternoon.

Pride  - what is something you’re proud of?

Quaint - do you prefer the city, countryside, or suburbs?

Rain - what’s your favorite type of spring weather?

Recommendations - do you have any fanfic recommendations?

Sage - what life advice would you give to someone younger?

Stars - are you into astrology? If so, what are your sun, moon, and rising signs?

Striking - what’s your favorite color?

Status - what’s your relationship status?

Thrill - what is one thing you’re looking forward to?

Touch - do you like hugs?

Travel - if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Universe - do you think there’s other life out there or are we alone in the universe?

Vernacular - what language do you wish you could speak or want to learn?

Warning - what would your warning label say?

You - what’s one thing you like about yourself? One thing you dislike about yourself?

Youth - do you feel your age?

Thanks for the ask!

🌷 Tulip: What springtime activities does your character do with the people they love? What do they do with who?

🐝 Bumblebee: Does your character get allergies? If so, do they tough it out, become entirely incapacitated, or just take some medicine?

I’m going to do Athenir for 🌷 and Clara for 🐝

For Athenir:

Okay, he has this absolute obsession with flowers. So when spring comes and the flowers start opening up he’s just the most excited half-elf in the entirety of Middle Earth! He drags Clara and Brenior out to go flower-picking with him, and sometimes he’ll spend hours just sitting outside and drawing all the flowers in his flower log (yes, he has a flower-log), and pressing certain flowers in a separate journal. He also likes going on picnics with Clara (though he’ll never admit it).

For Clara:

Bird Song: Top 3 favorite songs?

Kittens: Do you have any pets? What are they and what are their names?

Clover: Favorite springtime outfit?

Sunrise: What's your morning routine like?

Rain: What do you do when you're stuck inside?

Bumblebee: What book(s) have you read recently?

Cut Grass: What's your favorite smell?

Bicycle: Favorite springtime activity?

Blooming: How tall are you?

Dandelions: Do you have any allergies?

Breeze: What's an ideal day like for you?

Chicks: Do you have a big or small friend group?

Watercolors: What are your hobbies?

Spring Cleaning: A chore you don't mind? A chore you don't like?

Rainbow: Favorite color combination?

Tadpole: Do you have any siblings? Are you the oldest/middle/youngest?

Butterfly: What's something you like about yourself?

15) describe your region rn using only colors and sound

Oh yay I was thinking about this one while biking today and I'm really glad someone asked it!

Morning pastels and birdsong, crunch of gravel between boot and asphalt. The first shades of green in the trees are yet to come but they're already bursting with colour, birch and alder glowing purple, willow shoots coming out yellow and orange. The startling red of dogwoods, the occasional bright pink of winter flowering viburnum - all set against a backdrop of shades of brown.

Clicking and whirring of my bike fresh from winter hibernation (the oh shit when my gears froze mid-ride this morning and suddenly the only way they shifted was up). The shock of green winter wheat sprouting in the fields.

2) how do you make holy a space prior to magical working?

Also asked by @lukawarrioroflight Thank you both.

Humble is trying to become more confident in giving his opinions, rather than waiting to be guided by the views of others.