Alittleanxiousbadger - A Little Anxious Badger

Forever trapped between the Romantic era poet vibe where I stand in withering nature and cry over the beautiful philosophical messages in the river while drunk on wine and the Victorian era poet vibe where I sit in my chamber with a raven 'tapping on my window, thinking of the darkness and death and nothing more.

American Homeschool Gothic

A/N: The last time I was homeschooled was fourth grade, so someone hit me if this is all garbage. It gets weirder the further you read. Requested by @amerraka.

Everyone worries that you will have trouble socializing in the “real world”. This is true. You can only talk to your parents.

You got a new textbook today, recommended by a education magazine. You look at the copywrite page. It was published in 1876.

You’ve been doing the same math problem for what seems like days. You look up from your work for the first time and realize that it is now winter. You started in the spring.

You put in earbuds to listen to music while you work. You notice that the longer you listen, the better the sound quality becomes. It is now lunchtime. You try to take them out. You can’t. They have grown into your brain.

You have done school in your pajamas every day. You no longer know how to wear real clothes.

The word “homeschool” has become toxic. You speak the word in public, and everyone turns to stare. The government has programmed them that education without their interference is a crime. You will now hang for treason.

You take a history test. You come upon a question asking for an example of Renaissance art. The answer is communism. The answer to every question is communism.

You are told there is a girl/boy that is exactly like you at a public school. They are friends with all of your friends. You long to meet this parallel universe doppelganger. 

You are driving past a public school at the end of the school day. Students leave in droves with dull eyes, slack jaws, and withering minds. You wonder if you too will become a zombie when you go to college.

You have been reading for hours and haven’t moved an inch. You don’t remember when it got so dark or who turned on the overhead light.

Your family left one day to go get groceries. There is a sticky note from your mother on the fridge telling you your lessons. It’s the same yellow note every day, but with different lessons. You haven’t seen your family since 2009, and the sticky note is starting to fray and crumble.

You have begun to suspect that your homeschool group is not actually a homeschool group, but a cult. Whenever you bring it up, people’s eyes glaze over with a blank stare. “What homeschool group? There’s no homeschool group here.”

Your textbooks are centuries old. You can hear them scream as you crack their spines opening them every day.

College stands on the horizon. Public school kids say it’s a brilliant light, a beacon of hope. You see it for what it truly is. Bloody arms stretching, broken nails clawing at any student it can, devouring and demanding souls.

this ones for the girls

the water warriors fighting for access to clean water for all

the teenagers imprisoned for fighting back against oppressive regimes 

those fighting for access to education for all

for the future of the planet 

for gender equality 

for safety and protection from gun violence

for governmental representation and engagement for youths 

for the rights of immigrants 

for syria and the rights of refugees 

for literacy and the representation of WOC in books

for trans and queer rights 

for protection of girls against forced marriage and child slavery

i hope that one day we live in a world where children are allowed to just be children, where they dont have to fight tooth and nail for their rights and their futures, but i could not be prouder of this generation 

(from top to bottom: Autumn Peltier, Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny, Ahed Tamimi, Malala, Greta Thunberg, Melati and Isabel Wijsen, Artemisa Xakriabá, Ridhima Pandey, Jamie Margolin, Rowan Blanchard, Jaclyn Corin and Emma Gonzalez, Shamma bint Suhail Faris Mazrui, Sophie Cruz, Bana al-Abed, Marley Dias, Jazz Jennings, Sonita Alizadeh, Payal Jangid)

Corpse Bride (2005)

Getting To Know Plant Allies

photo source

Use It!

One of my teachers was very insistent that before I was allowed to study a plant, I had to get to know it first. Head knowledge is one thing, but when you are working as a herbalist you have to have more than that.

Before using any herb, even for these exercises it is important to look up contraindications for the herb. Herbs are medicinal, even in small doses. Personally I like to use this book. And remember to always tell your doctor if you are taking any herbs!

Based on the type of herb, make a decoction or infusion. Fragile herbs, usually dried leaves or flowers, are better suited to an infusion (let steep in nearly boiling water for 20 minutes). Hardier herbs such as roots can be simmered in the water for 20 minutes (decoction).

Sip slowly, taking notice of how the tea feels in your mouth. Does it trigger a salivary response? How does it taste? Anything your experience is worth taking note of. I’ve never been sad I took too many notes!

Take a bath with it. If a full bath isn’t possible, do a foot or hand bath. I was taught to start with water as close to room temp as possible. This can be a good way to determine if the herb has warming or cooling properties.

Again, make notes! Lots of them.

Get creative with how you experiment. Cook with them, use them for facial steams. Any way that you’re called to, and remember, take notes!

Study It - Materia Medica

It’s time to make your own herbal! We’re going to take our observations and start a Materia Medica. This is the term herbalists have been using since the 1st century AD, thanks to the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides. Modern science now often uses the term pharmacology but I greatly prefer the Materia Medica.

Some witches will combine this with a Materia Magica which goes into the magical correspondences for the herbs. But this post won’t be covering that.

How each herbalist organizes the Materia Medica is going to vary, but it should hit a few key points. And, of great importance, is to track your sources! Any information that you include in your MM needs to have a citation so that you can track your info.

Latin Name

My Materia Medicas always start with the Latin name for the herb. Herbs have many, many different names. Both through history and throughout the world. The best way to ensure that you’re using the correct plant is to use the latin name. But then, after that, I make not of common names and historical names.

History/Lore

If a herb has an interesting history, or appears in folk lore I make note of that next. It can be interesting and is helpful for knowing the herb. There’s a lot of knowledge to be gleaned from old stories!

Description

If you’re inclined for either wildcrafting or foraging, a section on the cultivation and appearance of the plant.

Chemicals

Now, we get into the medicine of it. Herbs work because they contain chemical compounds. A lot (all?) of modern medicine is derived from the manufacturing of these chemicals.

Make a list of the chemicals that are found in the herb. Making note, where you can, of what these chemicals actually DO. Over time you’ll want to get to know which ones are the active ingredients and how the work. Yup, it’s science!

Herbal Actions

Actions come next. Herbal actions are a whole language to learn. But as you are putting together the Materia Medicas you’ll start to get the hang of things! An action describes the way a herb works on the body.

It can seem a bit overwhelming, so here is an example.

Bitter is an herbal action, and it is aptly named. Herbs with this action typically taste… bitter! The action that they have on the body usually starts in the mouth where it stimulates saliva production as the first step of aiding in the digestive process. (they do a lot more but we’re keeping it simple for the example).

Examples of bitters are: arugula (also called rocket), dandelion greens, and black coffee.

Here’s a very simple way to experiment yourself! Take some time to sample one of the above mentioned bitters and see how your body reacts.

Christopher Hobbs is an herbalist I respect a lot. He has a handout that he uses in his classes which lists herbal actions, indications (we’ll get into that next), and lists example herbs.

http://www.christopherhobbs.com/webdocs/class-handouts/keville-hobbs-2016/Herbal-Actions.pdf

I highly suggest printing this sheet out and keeping it handy, reading it over often. Eventually it’ll become more intuitive, but it takes time and practice.

Indications

Indications are where we want to use the herb. IE: where is the herbal action of the herb indicated? This is going to be a list of conditions that the herb in question is good for treating.

For example, Corn Silk (zea mays) is an antiseptic, demulcent and a diuretic. Because of this, it’s indicated for use with a urinary tract infection. (it’s indicated for other things too, but I’m trying to keep things fairly basic!)

The demulcent soothes the irritated skin, the diuretic helps to increase urine output, and the antiseptic of course helps to prevent the growth of harmful organisms.

Medicine

The last section of my Materia Medica deals with dosing and contraindications. 

I like to include dosing for both teas and tinctures as they are my personal favorite ways for treating people.

Contraindications means anything that counteracts with the herb. St John’s Wort is a popular one for this, as it has many. It is a highly reactive herb and can interact negatively with many drugs! 

It is very important to know how the herb interacts. People think that because herbs are natural/plants that somehow this excludes them from the realm of medicine. But the very reason that herbs are effective is because they ARE medicine!

When I am working with a client, I do my best to take a detailed history, even things they don’t think is important. But I also inform them of every herb I am giving them and encourage them to do their own research. And it’s important to be aware of your body when you are taking herbs. From the practitioner to the person taking the herb, everyone needs to do their own due diligence.

If you found this post useful, or have any comments/thoughts/etc I would love to hear it. If there is interest I can do posts on salves, tinctures, etc. And perhaps examples of my own materia medicas.

❤️ You Have Recieved Good Vibes & Success!! ❤️

By reading this post, you have recieved good vibes, positivity and success in your magick! No exceptions!

✨feel free to share the vibes!!✨

remember when it was safe® to go outside and you could throw on a coat and grab your bag and take the bus downtown and wander around the street, maybe dipping into a few bookstores along the street, as the sky got dark and the air got that little bite of chilliness into it and you could flip through all the notebooks and paperbacks and touch things and have a conversation with the vendor and see their entire face and then go sit in a cafe and drink coffee and eat a bagel, bumping into people but not minding bc it wasn’t like they could give you a deadly virus, and then go home all happy and rosy-cheeked without a care in the world? yea, me neither.

The Elder and Young tom

GOOD STUDYING VS BAD STUDYING

GOOD STUDYING

Use recall. When you look at a passage and try to study it,  look away and recall the main ideas. Try recalling concepts when you are walking to class or in a different room from where you originally learned it. An ability to recall—to generate the ideas from inside yourself—is one of the key indicators of good learning.

Test yourself. On everything. All the time. Flashcards are your best friend. Use quizlet if you don’t want to hand-make flashcards. Get somebody to test you on your notes.

Space your repetition. Spread out your learning in any subject a little every day, just like an athlete. Don’t sit and study one subject for 2 hours, do half an hour every day.

Take breaks. It is common to be unable to solve problems or figure out concepts in math or science the first time you encounter them. This is why a little study every day is much better than a lot of studying all at once. When you get frustrated, take a break so that another part of your mind can take over and work in the background. You need breaks in order for your brain to retain the information. Try the Pomodoro method if you have trouble timing breaks!

Use simple analogies. Whenever you are struggling with a concept, think to yourself, How can I explain this so that a ten-year-old could understand it? Using an analogy really helps. Say it out loud, like you’re teaching it, whether it’s to an imaginary class or your sister who couldn’t care less.  The additional effort of teaching out loud allows you to more deeply encode.

Focus. Turn off your phone / iPad / any distractions and clear your desk of everything you do not need. Use apps like Forest if you can’t stay off them!

Do the hardest thing earliest in the day, when you’re wide awake and less likely to push it aside.

BAD STUDYING

Avoid these techniques—they can waste your time even while they fool you into thinking you’re learning!

Passive rereading—sitting passively and running your eyes back over a page. This is a waste of time, frankly, and doesn’t do anything to help information pass into your brain without recall.

Over-highlighting. Colouring a passage of text in highlighter isn’t helpful at all. It’s good for flagging up key points to trigger concepts and information, but make sure what you highlight goes in.

Waiting until the last minute to study. DON’T CRAM!!!

Doing what you know. This isn’t studying! This is like learning how to juggle but only throwing one ball. 

Neglecting the textbook. Would you dive into a pool before you knew how to swim? The textbook is your swimming instructor—it guides you toward the answers. 

Not asking your teachers for help. They are used to lost students coming in for guidance—it’s their job to help you. 

Not getting enough sleep. Your brain practices and repeats whatever you put in mind before you go to sleep, as well as retaining information and repairing itself. Prolonged fatigue allows toxins to build up in the brain that disrupts the neural connections you need to think quickly and well. 

by HCY Bunny