The Language of Birds

it is true that in modern media very often the nakedness of the hag is used as a disgust factor but i have to say that in folklore the reason for the hag's nudity is because nudity is a liminal marker. clothes are a sign of civilization, they signify your place & your status in society. the naked hag is beyond those borders, she is a woman that is kind of a beast, a woman that is kind of a dead (or un-born) person

tbh the fact that we find nudity abject at all is kind of connected to this concept as well. when you see another person nude it's like a violent intrusion into your symbolic structures that you've built in your head. you are used to seeing people as how they present themselves in society and suddenly you see a person as they Just Are. but that's also what's erotic about it (abjection and desire have interesting relationships with each other...)

old fave

Studies show that engaging in ritualized behavior significantly improves outcomes on measures of grief and feelings of control, even when the person participating in the ritual has little or no belief in the ritual’s power. Just a reminder for no one in particular.

The turn of the century was very troubling for tigers. Big hauls of tiger skins were reported across India and the booming illegal trade in China had put a price on every tiger’s head. It was in this climate that Machli conceived her first litter. There was a severe drought in 2002 and most of the lakes were drying out; it was at this time that the tiger–crocodile conflict was at its peak. One hot afternoon, while Machli and her cubs fed on a sambar deer, an enormous crocodile tried to join the feast. Machli’s devotion to her cubs was legendary, and to protect her food and her cubs, she raced towards the 12-feet crocodile. Her ferocity was unimaginable and the battle lasted nearly an hour. Machli smashed its head with her powerful paws — the crocodile died a slow death but Machli had rewritten the natural history of tigers for the world to see. It was the first recorded encounter of a fight between these two predators and remains etched in the annals of natural history. Fateh Singh had been proven right — she became a star as several BBC documentaries recorded her life. She was the tigress of the lake and entertained every visitor with her unruffled demeanour. More than anything else, she stirred the soul of those who saw her. Her base for herself and all her litters was the ruined Mughal summer palace at Rajbagh on whose balconies she lazed and watched the world go by. Today, her daughters do much the same.