Teh Mimzy's Grotto

It's called The CheeseKate Factory! Because I thought it was funny and I like to bake too, so there you go.

Yes, I'm another fucking asshole with a newsletter!! But don't worry, there's no subscription fees and no content tiers! I am not monetizing this, so it is completely free!! Please read this whole post before subscribing.

The internet has become hostile to creatives, as most of us know. So I've pulled away from publishing any writing on any existing website/app. Part of my effort to carve out a small corner of the internet for my creative projects is this newsletter. I hope to get my Neocities website up and running in the next while, which will host back issues of TCKF as well as several of my ongoing projects.

Until I do, TCKF will be where I talk about and “publish” my writing. Each issue will be different! I write essays and poetry as well as fanfic and original fiction, and because lots of other media influence my writing, I'll talk about them too as well as my fiction, including SNEAK PEEKS of my WIPs and free copies of my finished works, including anything that was once up on AO3!!

If you're not already familiar with my writing, sometimes I write about sexy stuff (including monsterfucking), nasty stuff (gore, body horror), violent stuff, and other topics that the owners of the wider internet find disagreeable. That's a big part of why I pivoted away from posting on existing websites/apps to this format! If you don't like that stuff either OR if you're under 18 years old, please do not subscribe to my newsletter. If there's Gross in a particular issue, I'll put content warnings at the beginning so you'll know which kinds of Gross you'll be dealing with.

If this interests you, I'd love for you to sign up! The first issue will go out December 20th. Issues will be sent out every other week at most, probably once a month. We all get enough emails as it is!

Sign up here!

• Mother’s night (or Mōdranicht) •

“Tonight we celebrate mothers. We celebrate the warmth and comfort that our moms have brought into our lives. Our mothers may be the women who had given birth to us. They may be the women who took us in and adopted us. They may be grandmothers or aunts who raised us alone. They are the single moms who raise 5 kids without a mother in her own life.

We grew up with one or many women in our lives. They were the wise women. They were the women who taught us how to ride a bike, how to walk, and how to create a resume. They are the women who stood silently in the background supporting us while we dance on stage in a play or walk across a stage to receive a diploma or walk through the stages of life. They are true heroes! These women were our teachers, our guardians, and most of all, our mothers. Tonight we honor them whether they are here with us on Midgard or they are beyond the veil of life waiting for our return.

Hail to our Disir! Hail to our mothers!! Hail to all those women who told us wild ghost stories by candlelight! Hail to all of the women in our lives and hail to all who came before us. Hail to all who made us and who helped us become who we are today!!

Tonight we honor Frigga! Hail Frigga! Hail the Allmother! Frigga is a mother to many children. It is said that children who die early return to her hall to be greeted and comforted by her. Frigga took on a great quest for the love of her son, Baldr. In dreams and prophecy, Baldr’s death was foretold. Frigga set out asking an oath, from all things in creation large and small, animate and inanimate, and everything in between except Mistletoe. She took on this quest knowing that she knew of Baldr’s fate or Wyrd, but she could not reveal it. She knew that the Mistletoe dart was to be his end. She knew she could not change it. But she did everything in her power to stave it off. She knew that his Wyrd was not to be there at the Ragnarok and that he would return. She knew that the light would return. Frigga reminds us that we must do what we can stave off the darkness and have faith that light will always return.

The lesson for tonight is about the light’s return. It is about having hope and about having faith that hope will return. The days will get longer and the weather will get better.

Hope is coming!! Light is returning!! Rejoice in this!! Hail Frigga!! Hail to our Disir! Hail to our mothers! Hail Baldr! We welcome you back with the return of the light! We welcome back hope!!

Tonight, we sit in our warm homes. Take a moment and be thankful for all of the women who were and are your mothers. For the lessons taught. For the scary stories of the Wild Hunt told. For their protection. And for the love given, which has always been and will always be in your hearts!!

Be careful and don’t look outdoors tonight!! Let Sleipnir pass on!!

Happy Mother’s Night!! The Yuletide has begun!!”

(From The Sacred Yew on Facebook)

On this night, Mother’s Night. I hail three Great Mothers For nothing is greater,   than a mother’s love, than a mother’s strength, than a mother’s wisdom.  

Hail Queen Frigg! Mother to Hod and Baldr; Gods of light and dark Wife of the All-Father, Who claims the slain. Queen of all Asgard. I hail You All-Mother. In hopes of being blessed with love.

Hail Angrboda! Mother to the Brood of the Trickster, Your three powerful children. Guardian of the wolves of the Ironwood, who come to Your command. Protector of all the outcast children, who wander alone, I hail You Mighty Sorceress. In hopes of being blessed with strength.

Hail Jord! Mother to the Mighty Thor, Protector of Midgard. Whose body is the Earth, where I tread daily. Lover to the King of Asgard, Whose hand gave us breath. I hail You Mother Earth. In hopes of being blessed with wisdom.

I hail these three Great Mothers and ask for, Strength, to continue my daily duties. Love, so that I may care and nurture others. Wisdom, so that I may withstand all the chaos of our human world.

Winter has fallen, it’s battles hard won For darkness has conquered the sun The longest of nights has come tonight The coldest of seasons is here The wind heralds, the hunt howls, tonight We have near reached the end of our year Draw near to the hearth, and keep you warm From outside where cold winds blow and storm Tonight is Mother’s night, tonight we remember Our mothers, grandmothers, who to sheltered us here Listening to them spin tales next to dying ember’ Tonight, we once again lend them our ear

Three candles we light, one just an old stub, So well used tis only a small nub For our foremothers, we give thanks

Second, for our own mother(s) who here or not, Has (Have) us so much given and taught For our own mother(s), tonight we give thanks

Third, one candle brand new, never lit For daughters who one day beside a hearth will sit For (our) daughters, now and future, we give thanks

Remember the goddesses, for candles three Weaving and spinning together your family tree Tonight, give thanks to all mothers come and gone as we await the rising of the Yule dawn.

If you are in a red state, your state either has an abortion ban in place or is rated by the Guttmacher Institute as likely to enact a ban. Your focus should be on protecting yourself and others who need abortions.

stop using electronic period tracking apps or software

educate yourself and others about pregnancy prevention and join groups that are making preventative birth control more accessible

learn the nearest and most accessible routes to states where you and your loved ones can access abortion

contribute to mutual aid funds to help transport people over state lines if they are in need of abortion

consider joining The Satanic Temple so you can claim protections under the Religious Abortion Ritual if you are prosecuted for obtaining an abortion

keep a stock of by-mail abortion pills for yourself and/or others who may need them (you may need to travel out of state to obtain them)

form community provider networks and see if you or someone you know can be trained to use manual vacuum aspiration kits or a Del-Em

all of the above should be done in complete secrecy using verbal communication, end-to-end encrypted apps such as Signal, or a VPN

If you are in a yellow state, you currently have constitutional abortion protections but they are in jeopardy. Get active in local political groups NOW to fight back against constitutional amendments to ban abortion. Your focus should be purely on political action.

If you are in Michigan, you currently have a ban in place which is being challenged, and your governor is working to add abortion protections into the Michigan state constitution. Your focus should be on supporting the work that is currently under way.

If you are in a green state, your state has constitutional protections for abortion that are unlikely to be challenged. Your focus should be on helping others to enter your state for abortion care.

connect with abortion access groups such as Aid Access, Abortion on Demand, the National Network of Abortion Funds, or Just The Pill

volunteer to help people enter your state for abortion care, either with transportation help or letting someone crash on your couch

if you live in a green state with no current or predicted primary routes from other states for abortion access, you can focus your efforts on supporting political action in other areas

Shamir Worm, 2021.

the shamir worm is one of Jewish folklore’s “miracles of creation,” made at twilight on the sixth day (along with things like the rainbow and Moses’ staff): a tiny creature that could cut stone - either by its piercing gaze or with its mouth - it was used by King Solomon to build the first temple, due to the fact that no iron tools or other potential instruments of bloodshed could be used to build a holy monument to peace. some say it was also used to engrave the tablets with the 10 commandments, and to engrave the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on the stones in the priestly breastplate. the mystical shamir is a symbol of creative destruction and a reminder that powerful things can come in tiny forms.